Mr. Musk is by far the most productive African-American!
Flamethrower Elon Musk floated for House speaker as government funding mayhem ramps up.  Some Republicans are daydreaming over the prospect of billionaire guru and occasional literal flamethrower Elon Musk clinching the speaker's gavel in the wake of a revolt against House GOP leadership over government funding.  "The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) underscored on X, becoming the first Republican to publicly muse over the idea in recent days.  "Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk ... think about it ... nothing's impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka 'uniparty,' lose their ever-lovin' minds)."

Trump Effect — Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland Abruptly Quits.  Those who followed the details of the U.S, Mexico and Canada trade agreement, can easily see how Chrystia Freeland was never going to be the right person for Canada to have as Finance Minister while they attempt to navigate President Trump's economic policy again.  In fact, I would not be surprised if someone in Mar-a-Lago told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau he needed to ice her out if Trudeau wanted to stand a chance of a relationship with Donald Trump.  As many people noted during her gleeful confiscation of funds from the trucker protests, Deputy Prime Minister/Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is a conniving, scheming, and all-around nasty piece of work.

Sic semper tyrannis!
South Korea's parliament votes to impeach President Yoon over martial law declaration.  South Korea's parliament on Saturday impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his stunning and short-lived martial law decree, a move that ended days of political paralysis but set up an intense debate over Yoon's fate, as jubilant crowds roared to celebrate another defiant moment in the country's resilient democracy.  The National Assembly passed the motion 204-85.  Yoon's presidential powers and duties were subsequently suspended and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country's No. 2 official, took over presidential powers later Saturday [12/14/2024].

West Point Apologizes, Confirms It Accepted Trump Nominee Pete Hegseth to the Academy.  The U.S. Military Academy has apologized for falsely saying President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Pentagon, Peter Hegseth, was never accepted into the school, known as West Point.  "A review of our records indicates Peter Hegseth was offered admission to West Point in 1999 but did not attend.  An incorrect statement involving Hegseth's admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024," a spokesperson for West Point told The Epoch Times in an email.  "Upon further review of an archived database, employees realized this statement was in error.  Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a prospective member of the Class of 2003.  The academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error."

The Perfect Storm that Allowed an Islamist Victory in Syria.  Three key factors came together.  First, Russia has been focused on Ukraine.  Second, Iran has been weakened by its ties to Russia and its ongoing conflict with Israel.  Third, Israel's devastating strikes on Hezbollah, one of Assad's main supporters on the ground, have further destabilized the regime.  With Assad's main backers either distracted or weakened, Turkish-backed HTS (Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham) saw this as the perfect moment to act.  They had been waiting for the right opportunity, and they struck decisively.  In a matter of about 10 days, they moved from controlling a small corner of Syria to taking over much of the country — though not all of it.

The Horrors Of Syria's 'Human Slaughterhouse' Spill Into Public View.  The fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad opened a Pandora's Box of revelations about the cruelty of the country's hated internal security services.  Exhibit A is the Saydnaya prison, the military-run complex north of Damascus where tens of thousands of prisoners have been held, tortured, and executed over many years.  Between 2011 and 2018, more 30,000 detainees were executed or died of starvation, medical neglect, or from torture, according to estimates by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor.

The kaleidoscope is shaken.  The fall of Bashar Assad in Syria has prompted understandable elation at the departure of a tyrant responsible for the killing of some 600,000 of his citizens.  The revelations of his gruesome prison and torture chambers, and the evidence emerging of the hideous way that so many were treated, can only arouse horror, revulsion and pity.  The Assad regime was also a menace to Israel.  The Syrian route was essential for transporting Iranian weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Tehran set up weapons production centres on Syrian soil.  Assad's flight, however, does not mean that Syria has now emerged from darkness into light.  Assad was deposed by Islamists.

Trump is Right:  America Must Stay Out of the Crisis in Syria.  After the sudden overthrow of Syria's brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad, there has been plenty of media commentary expressing optimism about the likely new Syrian government led by the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).  Although this group is a former al Qaeda offshoot, it claims to have reformed, intends to establish a moderate and tolerant government, and plans to hold elections.  The Biden administration appears ready to give a new HTS government the benefit of the doubt.  Biden officials have said they will recognize and support a new government in Syria if it makes certain commitments to the U.S., including renouncing terrorism and destroying chemical weapons in the country.  The Biden administration also is considering lifting U.S. terrorist designations from the HTS and its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

America's War on Terror Ends with Al-Qaeda Running its Own Commercial Airline.  Few ironies stand as stark as the U.S. involvement in Syria — a misadventure that began under the auspices of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).  Initially designed as a broad mandate to pursue al-Qaeda and its affiliates following the 9/11 attacks, the AUMF became the legal linchpin for countless military engagements, including the Syrian Civil War.  Yet, the perverse irony of this legal justification is manifest in the rise to power of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, an al-Qaeda stalwart, now presiding over a 'free' Syria.  This irony underscores the broader implications of U.S. foreign policy, wherein efforts to combat extremism have, paradoxically, empowered one of its most notorious figures.  Such outcomes challenge the credibility of American strategic objectives and highlight the unintended consequences of interventionist policies.  American military might, financial resources, and strategic miscalculations facilitated the ascent of a man whose organization that is STILL designated a terrorist entity by the US State Department, the European Union, and the United Nations.

Assad flees.  The murderous tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled Damascus.  His regime has fallen.  Terrorist groups supported by third-parties have sent Assad running as the Syrian army proved unequal to the task of defending the regime.  I should like to say Barack Obama hardest hit, but it could be Russia.  It could be Iran.  It's too soon to say.  The terrorists are described in the news reports as "rebels."  Soon they will be "militants."  The prevailing forces seem largely to be backed by Turkey and they seem to be one flavor or another of Sunni Islamist terrorist.

Jubilation and gunfire as Syrians celebrate the end of the Assad family's half-century rule.  Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire on Sunday after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family's 50 years of iron rule but raising questions about the future of the country and the wider region.  Joyful crowds gathered in central squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad flees into exile as Islamist rebels conquer country.  Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who used chemical weapons multiple times on his population, has fled Syria after rebels stormed the capital city of Damascus, according to Reuters.  Assad, who was trained as an eye doctor in the United Kingdom before succeeding his father, and his British-born wife, Asma al-Assad, fled with their three children, according to Syrian television reports.  It was not known where they were headed.  A video statement from a group of men on Syrian state TV said that Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners have been set free.

Pete Hegseth's Stand.  [Scroll down]  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) claimed that the allegations against Hegseth are "very disturbing," which is ironclad proof that the swamp despises Hegseth.  This is a preview of what Hegseth's hearing is likely to be.  It will be a kangaroo court.  Despite not being charged with any crime, Hegseth will treated as guilty.  This isn't only a violation of the norms of any confirmation process but also due process in court which mandates the presumption of innocence.  This is the treatment Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Clarence Thomas received. [...] The reason for this staunch opposition is that Hegseth stands against the swamp.  Hegseth is a staunch critic of DEI initiatives in the armed forces.  In a recent interview, he pledged to sack Joint Chiefs involved in woke initiatives.  He believes that the function of the armed forces is to protect the nation.  Amazingly, this is a controversial opinion in contemporary D.C. [...] The idea of Senate confirmations was conceived in an era when D.C. consisted of patriots who placed the nation's well-being first.  Alas, those days are long gone.  It's time to rethink this process.

Major car manufacturer 'on the brink of collapse' as official claims company has 'just 12 months to survive'.  Car manufacturing giant Nissan could be on the brink of collapse with only 12 months to survive, it has been warned.  The Japanese auto firm which employs 7,000 people in the UK and 17,000 in the US has embarked on a huge cost-cutting programme after suffering heavy losses.  Nissan said last month it would axe 9,000 jobs and 20 percent of its global manufacturing capacity, as it scrambles to reduce costs by $2.6 billion (£2 billion) in the current fiscal year amid a sales slump in China and the US, its two biggest markets.

Stunning $4M Connecticut mansion destroyed in Thanksgiving fire when owner tried to fry turkey in the garage.  A gigantic inferno erupted inside a $4 million Connecticut mansion after residents attempted to fry a turkey in the garage on Thanksgiving.  Firefighters faced several challenges on the holiday afternoon after the stunning mansion at 40 Weston Road in Weston went up in flames.  The aggressive blaze quickly spread throughout the home, and soon, its structural collapse created dangerous conditions for responding firefighters.  Residents were attempting to fry a turkey for the big meal Thursday afternoon when the garage went up in flames and began 'rapidly extending into the residence,' according to Weston Volunteer Fire Department.

Coup Underway in Damascus As Two Major Cities Fall to Islamist Insurgents; Assad and Family Flee.  Multiple sources report that a military coup may be underway in Damascus.  The Republican Guard is reportedly engaged in combat with a division of the Syrian Army.  Ordinarily, the Republican Guard is the regime protection force, but the situation is so confused in Syria that it is hard to tell.  Speculation has identified the coup leader as a member of Assad's inner circle. [...] Adding further fuel to the fire is the fact that Assad and his family were in Moscow while Putin attended a conference in Kazakhstan.  Many members of Assad's family are reportedly holed up in the UAE.

When EVerything Green Starts to Turn Brown.  In the United Kingdom, the ruling Labour party is in a bit of a pickle.  A petition demanding [the recall of] the reviled Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had 2.7M signatures and counting (2,824,368 right now) after less than three days of being active.  [Tweet]  The man truly has been a disaster since the first picture was taken of him smiling outside of 10 Downing Street.  People have had enough and this is the first step to removing him.  It's been very popular.  Besides Labour being jack-booted, totalitarian thugs in the literal sense... [Tweet] ...and potentially catastrophically ignorant about 'where food comes from' thanks to their dangerously blind ideological devotion to climate cult beliefs... [Tweet] ...they're finding out their Green schemes are tripping them up in other ways.  For one thing, Labour's climate-related NetZero aspirations and associated arbitrary goals are running against an immutable force known as 'reality.'

Walmart Abandons Wokeness.  [Scroll down]  Indeed, [Kevin] O'Leary called the Bud Light debacle "a complete combination of idiot management and the inability to read the room."  This particular turn of phrase stuck out to me, because I remember, very clearly, that the phrase "read the room" was used like a club to justify whatever woke idiocy was coming down the pike at the time:  Football players kneeling, defunding the police, treating #BlackLivesMatter riots as justification to break Flu Manchu quarantine, etc.  It was a lie based on systemic preference falsification then, but more than true now, as America as a whole is done with wokeness.  Walmart is a big, big domino, and expect most of American companies looking to toss all their woke idiocy on the dunghill of history, no matter how much their HR department might object.  Pink slip by pink slip, progress is made.

Third-World Grifters Reject Climate Deal on Wealth Transfer.  The Conference of the Parties(COP)29 ended in anger as the developing nations rejected an agreement by the wealthy nations that would have given the greedy little grifters $300 billion in funding for projects to combat climate change.  It's a "disaster," some of the representatives claimed.  The $300 billion in aid would come "from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources."  Nigeria branded the deal "a joke."  Ralph Regenvanu, envoy for the island nation of Vanuatu, stated: "The dollar amounts pledged and the emissions reductions promised are not enough.  They were never going to be enough.  And even then, based on our experience with such pledges in the past, we know they will not be fulfilled."  Regenvanu has figured it out.  The industrial West is not going to give a blank check to third-world kleptocrats without strings attached.  That's exactly what the developing nations and their NGO lobbyists wanted.  They're angry because their demands for yearly $1.3 trillion in no-strings-attached grants were rejected.

State approves Bible curriculum for elementary school students.  The Texas school board approved a measure Friday allowing lessons on the Bible to be taught in elementary schools.  The Texas State Board of Education narrowly approved the measure in a 8-7 vote, allowing schools to optionally implement Bible-based curriculum as soon as 2025, according to NBC News.  Schools that choose to teach such lessons will receive additional funds from the state.  "The materials will ... allow our students to better understand the connection of history, art, community, literature, and religion on pivotal events like the signing of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Movement, and the American Revolution," Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement earlier this year, according to the Texas Tribune. [...][ Oklahoma in June began requiring Bible lessons be taught in all schools, and Louisiana mandated that all classrooms must display the Ten Commandments, though the law has faced legal challenges.

Trump names longtime ally Pam Bondi as his new attorney general pick after Matt Gaetz withdraws.  President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that his new pick for attorney general is Pam Bondi.  Bondi was Florida's attorney general from 2011 to 2019.  The announcement came just hours after former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., withdrew from consideration.  "For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — Not anymore," Trump said on Truth Social.  "Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again."  Trump also praised her work against "the trafficking of deadly drugs."  Bondi previously worked on a Trump commission focusing on ending the opioid crisis and combating drug addiction.

Mapped: Data Center Electricity Consumption By State.  Data centers have become major electricity consumers in the U.S., driven by continuously rising internet usage along with cloud computing and AI systems that require substantial computational resources and cooling infrastructure.  In 2023, data centers were estimated to consume around 4% of the U.S.' total electricity, according to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), with their consumption is projected to reach between 4.6% and 9.1% by 2030 depending on growth scenarios.  This map visualizes the percentage of U.S. states' electricity consumption that data centers consumed in 2023 using data from EPRI.  Only 44 states that had significant data center loads were included.

'All the options' are on the table to get Trump's Cabinet picks through confirmation, Sen. John Thune says.  Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune said "all the options" are on the table to get President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks through the confirmation process amid concern that some appointees won't receive enough votes to be confirmed.  Trump in recent days announced his choices for key government positions, from Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence to Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary.  Thune (R-SD) told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier on Thursday on "Special Report" that Senate Republicans are going to work with Trump to "see that he gets his team installed as quickly as possible so he can implement his agenda."

Did the GOP Senate Leader Say Recess Appointments Are on the Table for Matt Gaetz?  Time will tell, but it's interesting to see that newly minted Republican Senate leader John Thune (R-SD) pretty much say that all options are on the table regarding the nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as attorney general.  The nomination dropped a bomb on Washington, as everyone within the political class' circles was freaking out.  The panic was palpable in DC, but also the foreknowledge that this would be a nasty confirmation fight that President-elect Donald J. Trump could lose.  Gaetz isn't precisely what you'd call a smooth confirmation, not one bit.  [Advertisement]  [Tweet]  If we ever get to the hearings, and that's a big "if," given the obstacles ahead, then it will a) make for some of the best television in years regarding a cabinet post nomination and b) be downright dirty.  There's also the question about whether Gaetz has the votes.  He doesn't (right now), with reports showing as many as 30 "no" votes among Republican senators.  Trump is playing with fire a bit — losing a nomination like this is a body blow.  Yet, Mr. Thune seemed open to recess appointments should things hit rocky shoals.  We'll see if that holds — I wouldn't bet the mortgage on it.

Matt Gaetz Resigns From Congress Following Attorney General Pick.  Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday evening that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz will be resigning from Congress "effective immediately," following President-elect Donald Trump picking him for attorney general.  The former president took to Truth Social, announcing he would be appointing Gaetz as his choice for attorney general, stating he is a "deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law," who will be seeking an end to "weaponized government."  Johnson spoke to the press, confirming he had received Gaetz's resignation and highlighting his accomplishments within Congress.

Oil giant Shell wins appeal against landmark Dutch climate ruling to slash emissions.  A Dutch court on Tuesday dismissed a landmark climate ruling against Shell, after the oil giant was ordered to drastically reduce its global carbon emissions back in 2021.  The outcome, which comes during the opening days of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, marks the latest twist in a precedent-setting case that could have far-reaching implications for the future of climate litigation.  The appeals court in The Hague said that while Shell is required to reduce its carbon emissions, it could not determine the extent of these cuts.  The case against Shell, therefore, was dismissed entirely.  In May 2021, The Hague district court ruled that Shell must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% from 2019 levels by 2030.  The verdict, which came when Shell had its headquarters in The Hague, also said the company was responsible for all emissions across its value chain, including those from the products they sell — known as Scope 3 emissions.

Speaker Johnson Orders Entire Biden Administration to Preserve and Retain All Records and Documents.  House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday ordered the entire administration of President Joe Biden to preserve all records and communications in the waning days of the outgoing Democrat administration as former President Donald Trump's team prepares to take over.  Johnson, Breitbart News has learned exclusively, has sent letters to all 18 federal Departments ordering them to retain and preserve documents.  This could become an explosive storyline if outgoing Biden administration officials attempt to delete or destroy documents that shed light on some of the radical policies they pursued or scandals with regard to censorship or other major storylines of the past four years, such as the deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan or the wide open border.  If anyone is caught destroying any records, that could lead to serious federal criminal penalties — and with President-elect Trump's team coming in to take over on Jan. 20, 2025, the new incoming administration will find all evidence on this front.

Fed Up Average American Wins Texas House Seat.  Shelley Luther, a former hair salon owner, won a seat in the Texas State Legislature last Tuesday.  Luther defeated her Democrat challenger, Tiffany Drake, with 78 percent of the vote for Texas State District 62.  Luther will represent the residents of Fannin, Grayson, Franklin, and Delta counties.  Luther, like a lot of Americans, said she was not very political until it became personal.  As COVID spread across the U.S. in 2020, so did heavy-handed lockdown mandates.  To comply with the mandates, Luther shut her salon down.  Within a month, Luther was getting desperate phone calls from her hair stylists.  "After about a month, my hair stylists were calling me, saying, 'I can't feed my kids.  I don't know what to do,' so, we just made the decision to open back up, and I ended up in jail."  To keep her hair stylists working, Luther defied the lockdown order and reopened her salon.  For her troubles, she spent one week in jail and paid a $7,000 fine.  All of this as the dog grooming business next door to her salon remained open.

Republicans retaking the Senate spells great news for the nation.  Sorry, Chuck Schumer:  You're set to become Senate minority leader as Republicans recapture the Senate.  That's [good] news for the nation, especially with Donald Trump winning the White House.  The GOP went into the race holding 49 seats to the Democrats' 51 (including independents caucusing with them), with a near-lock to pick up more at least two seats.  Sure enough, in West Virginia, Republican Jim Justice flipped the Democratic seat Sen. Joe Manchin left open — and did so in what seemed to be the making of a landslide.  In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno beat incumbent Dem Sherrod Brown, with Tim Sheehy overwhelmingly expected to oust Sen. Jon Tester in Montana, that's plus three.

Republican Dave McCormick flips Pennsylvania Senate seat, sends Democrat Bob Casey packing after three terms.  Republican Dave McCormick showed three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey the door in the Keystone State's high-stakes Senate race, bringing a Pennsylvania political dynasty to an end — and securing the 53rd seat in the GOP's 2025 Senate majority.  McCormick, an Army veteran and former hedge-fund executive, beat Casey by just over 30,000 votes, netting 49% of votes to the Democrat's 48.5%, with 99% of votes counted, the Associated Press reports.  The minuscule margin could trigger an automatic recount, as Pennsylvania law dictates for any race decided by 0.5 percentage points or less.  Such a recount would have to begin by Nov. 14 and be completed by Nov. 26.

She Lost All Seven.  The election is over.  It was over around 1:30 AM Wednesday when Pennsylvania was called for Donald Trump.  He's the 47th president of the United States.  It's one of the most remarkable political comebacks of all time — a true Phoenix from the ashes.  They tried to assassinate him; they tried throwing him in jail via lawfare and tried damaging his reputation through non-stop media attacks.  They all failed.  Trump won 312 Electoral College votes, the most for any Republican since 1988.  Trump swept every swing state on the map this cycle.  The red tsunami carried Trump to victory in North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.  Ex-MSNBC analyst Mark Halperin's sources were right about Harris in these states.  Halperin analyzed the various private polls and spoke to pollsters on both sides.  Things got increasingly bearish for Kamala once she started that ill-fated media blitz that only sunk her approvals and standing in the polls.  One thing they all said:  Harris was at risk of losing most, if not all, the swing states.

The race is on to replace JD Vance in the U.S. Senate.  Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has been busy — having calls and meeting with U.S. Senate hopefuls trying to take Vice President-elect JD Vance's seat in the nation's capital.  President-elect Donald Trump and Vance are set to take office in mid-January, but another race is heating up.  "Some people have already contacted me," DeWine said during a press conference before the election.  "I've already met with some people — at their request."

What else could they say?
43 monkeys escape from a South Carolina medical lab.  Police say there is no serious danger.  Forty-three monkeys escaped from a compound used for medical research in South Carolina but the nearby police chief said there is "almost no danger" to the public.  "They are not infected with any disease whatsoever.  They are harmless and a little skittish," Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said Thursday morning.  The Rhesus macaque primates escaped from the Alpha Genesis facility Wednesday when a new employee didn't fully shut an enclosure, Alexander said.

The Editor says...
Let's hope the monkeys don't encounter a bunch of hungry Haitian immigrants, like the ones in Springfield, Ohio, who will apparently eat anything.

Biden-Harris Housing Crisis:  First Time Buyers Fall To Record Low.  The share of home purchases made by first-time buyers fell to the lowest level on record this year as many younger Americans were priced out of the market by home price inflation, high interest rates, and increased costs of living.  First time buyers made up just 24 percent of purchases in 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors.  That's the lowest market share since the NAR began collecting data in 1981.  It marks a steep decline from last year, when first time buyers made up 31 percent of purchases.  During Donald Trump's presidency, the average was 33 percent.  The median first-time buyer age jumped to 38 years old this year from 35 last year, highlighting just how hard it is for young families to purchase homes.  The median age during Trump's presidency was 33 years old, close to the historical average.

Major Web Archive Attacked Pre-Election:  Coincidence?  I may be forgiven, I hope, for raising an eyebrow at the curious timing of a large-scale assault on the most prolific and relied-upon web archiving service, Archive.org, which offers a running public record of who said what and when.  As an instrument of journalism, web archives can be employed to easily suss out how present narratives or stories presented in corporate media, or anywhere, may conflict with past narratives — in other words, the ultimate check on historical revisionism of the kind that powerful actors engage in regularly. [...] Given that web archives are, again, immensely powerful tools for catching governments, corporations, NGOs, and other powerful organizations with their pants down, it doesn't take too much chin-scratching to figure out why getting rid of the ability to glimpse the past and compare it to present rhetoric on any given topic would be attractive to bad actors.

They Are Scrubbing the Internet Right Now.  Instances of censorship are growing to the point of normalization.  Despite ongoing litigation and more public attention, mainstream social media has been more ferocious in recent months than ever before.  Podcasters know for sure what will be instantly deleted and debate among themselves over content in gray areas.  Some like Brownstone have given up on YouTube in favor of Rumble, sacrificing vast audiences if only to see their content survive to see the light of day.  It's not always about being censored or not.  Today's algorithms include a range of tools that affect searchability and findability.  For example, the Joe Rogan interview with Donald Trump racked up an astonishing 34 million views before YouTube and Google tweaked their search engines to make it hard to discover, while even presiding over a technical malfunction that disabled viewing for many people.  Faced with this, Rogan went to the platform X to post all three hours.  Navigating this thicket of censorship and quasi-censorship has become part of the business model of alternative media.

Steve Bannon Released After Serving 4 Months in Federal Prison.  Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was released from prison early Tuesday after serving a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the January 6 Select Committee.  He is now free one week before the 2024 election is decided.

Trump ally Steve Bannon released from prison after serving 4 months for contempt of Congress.  Steve Bannon was released from a Connecticut federal prison early Tuesday after serving four months behind bars for failing to comply with a subpoena related to the Jan. 6 congressional committee.  "Steve Bannon is a Free Man," Natalie Winters, who co-hosts the former Trump advisor's "WarRoom" podcast, posted on X just after 6 a.m.  The federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Bannon, 70, had been released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn., where he'd been since reporting on July 1.

Silencing the Patriot:  How Stephen Bannon's Imprisonment Rigged the Election Narrative.  Tomorrow marks the return of Stephen K. Bannon from his unjust incarceration in the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut — a return that comes far too late, with just days before election day.  It was a calculated act of election interference.  By the time Bannon is able to speak, as many as 30% of Americans will have already voted, and the vast majority of the rest will have already made up their minds — without the benefit of hearing Bannon's words and insights.  This was no accident; it was a deliberate move to silence him during the most consequential election of our lives, effectively rigging the narrative in favor of the Democrats, with Bannon — one of the loudest, most passionate critics of the Biden-Harris regime — removed from the battlefield.  This wasn't just a brief stint; this was a calculated, politically motivated act to strip a man of his freedom and, more significantly, to silence his voice during a critical time in the campaign.

Regulators Take Over First National Bank of Lindsay, Fraud Suspected.  Customers with more than $250,000 in deposits are in trouble.  Dear Fed, how about a safekeeping bank!? [...] Contrary to popular myth, 100 percent reserves would not stop lending.  Banks don't lend deposits.  Rather loans create deposits.

The Biden-Harris Iranian Spy Problem Blows Up.  If this sounds familiar, it should.  In recent years, the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community have been plagued by leakers stealing highly classified intelligence and exposing it to the public — and our enemies.  First came Bradley (later Chelsea) Manning, an Army junior intelligence analyst who in 2010 stole more than a half-million classified documents and passed them to WikiLeaks.  Worse arrived in 2013 when National Security Agency IT contractor Edward Snowden stole then fled to Russia, via Hong Kong, with over a million classified documents from NSA and a host of DoD and IC agencies.  In early 2017, Reality Winner, a former U.S. Air Force enlisted Persian linguist [...] Most recently, there was Jack Teixeira, [...] All these cases raised fundamental questions about DoD and IC security vetting procedures as well as issues regarding the suitability of maladjusted Millennials and Zoomers to hold sensitive national security positions.  What's happened in recent days is similar, but more politically charged — and potentially much more serious.

Why experts say keeping standard time is 'undeniably' better for us.  We're just a couple of weeks away from the end of daylight saving time, the back half of a twice-a-year practice the U.S. has observed for decades.  The country has had a back-and-forth relationship with the seasonal changing of the clocks, with recent polls showing a consistent desire among Americans to do away with the practice altogether.  Whether the U.S. should observe permanent daylight time or permanent standard time will depend on who you ask.

The Editor says...
The experts' opinions are irrelevant.  Public opinion is irrelevant.  Daylight Saving Time will never be eliminated by the spineless impotent Congress we have in place today.  They can't accomplish the simplest tasks because every action is "divided along party lines."  The only way DST will be discontinued is if the Republicans give away something much more valuable in exchange for the Democrats' votes.

Google, Amazon, give up on national grid, ignore renewables, and buy their own nuclear plants.  Two weeks ago it was Microsoft reviving Three Mile Island's nuclear plant.  Now Google is buying seven small modular reactors, and Amazon is spending $500 million USD on part of a nuclear energy company.  Too bad for the deplorables who get stuck with the expensive wind-solar-battery clunker spaghetti-grid forced on them by the arts graduates in Parliament.  An AI datacentre needs all the same thing a human city does — cheap gigawatts, 24 hours a day.  The number-nerd men with money have all decided the cheapest reliable answer to running their AI data center cities, while pretending to fix the weather, is nuclear power.  (Coal, of course, is cheaper which is why China uses so much, but it's against the religion).  The unwashed masses won't get that choice, of course, to sign up with whatever generator they want.  Only the uber rich get that kind of luck.  Every one of these tech giants could have poured that money into wind farms and gardens of solar panels, backed up with acres of batteries and ten thousand miles of high voltage towers, pumped hydro, and synchronous condenser flywheels.  But none of them want to pour in their own billions anymore, despite the social credit points bonanza and the bragging rights that would bring.

Ted Cruz Leaves Colin Allred's Campaign in Shambles With Masterful Debate Performance.  In a race too close for comfort, with everything on the line, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivered a masterful debate performance on Wednesday night.  Facing off against Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), the current senator pummelled his opponent on issue after issue.  Allred wasn't ready for primetime, contradicting himself at multiple points and walking right into numerous receipt-laden traps set by Cruz.  Cruz came into the debate planning to expose Allred for the radical he is, not the moderate he claims to be.  I think it's safe to say he succeeded.  [Tweet with video clip]

WV Lawmakers Propose Legislation to Prevent State from Recognizing Winner if the election is enabled by illegal or fraudulent acts.  Courageous West Virginia Republican lawmakers proposed legislation this week that prevents the state from recognizing the winner in a US election if the election is enabled by illegal or fraudulent acts.  The lawmakers added that the state will not recognize any election of the Democrat candidate for President in the 2024 election cycle if the Republican candidate is assassinated, seriously injured during an assassination attempt, incarcerated, or eliminated from the ballot in any states, or is subject to legal actions that preclude the candidate from campaigning.  Absolutely amazing!

The Editor says...
This idea will never work.  It's a trap.  All the socialist Democrats have to do is show one illegal alien voting for Trump and have him disqualified.

New estimate puts Hurricane Helene damage as high as $47 billion.  A new estimate reveals that Hurricane Helene damage could cost as much as $47.5 billion as another storm barrels toward Florida.  Helene, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on September 26, devastated parts of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.  An analysis from the data analytics firm CoreLogic found that many residents with property losses from Helene did not have a flood insurance policy.  CoreLogic "offers unmatched insights across the entire property ecosystem to help our clients rise to the biggest challenges in the market," according to its official website.

Pope Francis [Intends] to Make [a] Gay Rights Advocate a Cardinal.  Pope Francis has announced his intention to make 21 new cardinals on December 8, among whom is the pro-LGBT Dominican friar Timothy Radcliffe.  In 2023, the pontiff chose the woke friar to open the Vatican Synod on Synodality, who began his words by confessing, "I am old, white, a Westerner, and a man!  I don't know which is worse."  "All of these aspects of my identity limit my understanding, so I ask for your forgiveness for the inadequacy of my words." said Father Radcliffe, a leader of the Church's progressive wing for decades, who was largely sidelined during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II but has found new life under Francis.

What lovely people.
Haitian gang slaughters at least 70 people as thousands flee.  Gang members brandishing automatic rifles stormed through a town in Haiti's main breadbasket region, killing at least 70 and forcing over 6,000 to flee, causing widespread shock even in a country grown accustomed to outbreaks of violence.  More people were severely injured in the attack in the early hours of Thursday at Pont-Sonde, in the agricultural region of Artibonite in western Haiti.  Gran Grif gang leader Luckson Elan took responsibility for the massacre, saying it was in retaliation for civilians remaining passive while police and vigilante groups killed his soldiers.  Some 6,270 people had fled their homes due to the attacks, the U.N. migration agency said.  Most of these are being sheltered by families living in nearby Saint-Marc and other towns, while others are staying in makeshift camps.

Hurricane Helene Victims Lash Out at Biden, Harris: 'Disgraceful'.  North Carolina Hurricane Helene victims are furious at the government for what they say has abandoned them without proper resources or supplies.  Even so, the storm has taken more than 200 lives, and the feeder Al government's response has been less than urgent.  More than a week after the storm hit, North and South Carolina states continue to be isolated, with hundreds without power and lousy service, making it difficult to communicate outside their community.  Sue Riles, who lives in the tourist-friendly city, told the Associated Press that she longs for a hot shower.  The storm severely damaged water facilities, resulting in thousands of homes and businesses without running water.  Officials said it "could be considered unprecedented" and that repairs could take weeks.  An NBC News anchor asked a woman if she had any confidence in getting government aid, to which she replied, "No."

The Editor says...
Express your anger on Election Day.

No Time Like the Present for the UK to Give Away Diego Garcia.  [Scroll down]  The US has withdrawn — rather been thrown out — of countries in Africa we desperately needed strategically because of Biden admin officials' arrogance and bluster, and the Russians and Chinese smoothly moved in right behind us.  They have been caught flat-footed time and again.  Frozen in immobility in crises you could see coming a mile away.  Crumble, crumble, crumble.  Our bulwarks and outposts against the evil in this world are dropping away, and we are doing nothing to keep them.  And now another one of our stalwart outposts hangs in the balance.  Starmer has agreed that Britain will return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, subject to a treaty signing.  They include our remote air and naval base at Diego Garcia, for which the Brits have signed a 99-year lease.

'Strategic Disaster': UK Gives Up Islands Holding Secret US Military Base.  The United Kingdom agreed on Thursday to give up control of islands that hold a secretive U.S. military base to another country.  U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer — the country's new socialist leader — shared a "seminal moment" with Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on Thursday as the two agreed that the U.K. would give up the disputed Chagos Islands to Mauritius, according to a joint statement on Thursday.  The U.K. took control of Chagos from Mauritius decades ago, and Mauritius has long asked that the islands be returned to them in a bid to move toward their renewed independence.  The islands contain a key joint U.S.-U.K. military installation used as a hub for naval and air assets, according to the Navy.  The base is positioned in the Indo-Pacific, which is of consequential strategic value given that China has become increasingly hostile to other nations in the region.

The Biggest Drug Fraud in History.  The rise of Ozempic and similar drugs for weight loss involves fraud of unprecedented scale that could have devastating consequences for millions of Americans, especially children.  Ozempic, a drug initially developed for diabetes, has become a sensation for weight loss.  Its popularity has skyrocketed, with everyone from celebrities to college students clamoring for prescriptions — but at what cost?  The active ingredient in Ozempic is part of a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists.  These drugs stimulate hormones in your digestive system that signal fullness.  While this makes it easier for people to eat less and lose weight, the reality is far more complex and concerning.

Red Alert: 'Intentional' Faulty Welds During Maintenance on Our Subs and Carriers?  [Scroll down]  It makes you wonder what else is going on even though you almost don't really want to know.

Josh Hawley: [A] Whistleblower Claims [the] Trump Campaign [was] 'Forced' to 'Cancel' [a] Wisconsin Rally Due to Insufficient [Secret Service] Manpower.  A whistleblower claims that the Trump campaign was "effectively forced" to "cancel" an event in Wisconsin due to the Secret Service not having "sufficient assets to secure" the rally.  In a letter addressed to Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) questioned "recent public statements" made by Rowe regarding the level of protection Trump was receiving from the agency in light of the whistleblower allegations.  [Advertisement]  Hawley went on to question whether the Secret Service ever informed former President Donald Trump, "his campaign, or any related business entities" that the agency was unable to "secure a rally" held in Wisconsin and questioned whether President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris had been told the Secret Service was unable to "secure a campaign event" for them.  [Advertisement]

Senate Unanimously Passes Bill Offering Trump Same Secret Service Protection As Biden.  Last Friday, [...] the House unanimously passed a bill from Reps.  Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) to offer nominees for president and vice president the same U.S. Secret service protection as the sitting president and vice president.  The Senate did so on Tuesday by unanimous consent in a move offered by Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Tim Scott (R-SC).  [Advertisement]  Fox News' Chad Pergram noted the bill goes to President Joe Biden's desk to sign.  [Tweet]  "We all know why this legislation is needed:  in the span of just 65 days, President Trump, our former president and the Republican nominee to be the next President of the United States, has been the target of two assassination attempts," Florida's Sen. Scott reminded as he spoke from the Senate floor.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Holds Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Contempt of Congress.  The House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly voted 26 [to] 25 to recommend Antony Blinken be held in contempt of Congress following the diplomat's failure to appear for Tuesday's hearing.  "Secretary Blinken's refusal to comply with the Committee's subpoena — despite months of notice and offers of accommodations — warrants contempt," the resolution read.  The Republican-led committee has long sought to host the secretary of state as it investigates the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan over three years ago that left 13 U.S. service members dead.  Earlier this month, committee chairman Michael McCaul issued a subpoena for Blinken to testify for the committee's investigation.  The hearing was scheduled for September 19 despite Blinken's tight international travel schedule.  McCaul then moved the hearing to Tuesday, when Blinken attended the annual United Nations Assembly.

Destruction of Hezb'allah.  Almost four decades since Hezb'allah killed hundreds of Americans in the bombing of our barracks in Lebanon, the perpetrators finally received justice, though not at our hands.  (The U.S. just offered bounties and did nothing to capture the perpetrators.  France under Macron was worse. [...])  The figures of the eliminated and disabled fighters keep changing but the best intelligence is that since Monday Hezb'allah has lost at least 60 officers and fighters and one of its senior leaders.  Five hundred Hezb'allah terrorists have been eliminated, with 12% of those sustained this week alone.  Many more have been seriously injured and are certainly out of commission.  Most injuries and fatalities were occasioned by exploding hand-held devices, a few more by precision bombings by the IDF. [...] When Hezb'allah learned their cellphones were compromised, they bought 5,000 pagers and instructed their people to use them; when the pagers simultaneously exploded, they instructed their people to use walkie-talkies; and when those exploded, they had to meet in person where they were eliminated in a precision bombing.

'The party is over' as Tupperware files for bankruptcy after years of troubles.  Tupperware, known the world over for its plastic food storage containers, has filed for bankruptcy after years of falling popularity and financial troubles.  "Over the last several years, the company's financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment," Laurie Ann Goldman, president and CEO of Tupperware Brands Corporation, said in a statement late Tuesday [9/17/2024].

The Editor says...
In other words, the internet put them out of business.

"Monster Trains" More Than 3 Miles Long Have Become Traffic Jam Nightmares In Texas.  Texas freight trains are become a problem when they cross busy roadways.  With some trains now 3 miles or longer in length, places like Pleasantville, Texas often see traffic waiting for up to 7 minutes for them to pass.  The town is near rail yards run by Union Pacific, Wall Street Journal highlighted in a new article.  It says the 'monster trains' are a way to make higher profits because they can haul more goods with less locomotives and less crew.  There are no federal limits on train length, though regulators are reviewing the issue, the report says.  Over a dozen states, including Texas, have proposed limiting trains to 1.6 miles, but they can't enforce these laws due to interstate commerce rules.

The Editor says...
A train that's one mile is plenty long.  Lots of train traffic shows the railroads are far from obsolete, but unfortunately the tracks go right through the middle of every city.

Tiny Israel flips the tables of warfare itself on the terrorists of Hezb'allah.  Today's second wave of electronic bombings on Hezb'allah members in Lebanon, apparently by Israel, has got to have the Iran-backed terrorists freaking out.  Yesterday, some 3,000 terrorists got their Hezb'allah-approved pagers detonated on them at once, killing a few and leaving a lot with blown off hands, eyes, or private parts.  At least one of them got it on the toilet:  [Tweet] [...] They got walkie talkies, solar panels, smartphones, intercoms, a slew of electronic devices.  If I were a terrorist, I wouldn't go near a car, an oven, a garage door opener, a PC, a television set, a radio, anything.

Israel turns the pager on terror with ruthless psychological masterstroke against Hezbollah.  Nobody likes to see humans writhing in agony, but Israel's daring operation to simultaneously explode pagers in the pockets of Hezbollah terrorists and their associates this week was a ruthless tactical masterstroke.  In bloody scenes captured on video on social media, men could be seen shopping or sitting on a motorbike one minute and on the ground moaning and covered in blood the next.  At least 12 people were killed and nearly 3,000 people were injured in Lebanon on Tuesday, and a similar detonation of Hezbollah walkie-talkies the next day killed another 20 people and injured 450.

How Did Thousands of Pagers Used by Hezbollah Explode at the Same Time?  Thousands of people were injured and 12 killed Tuesday when pagers exploded in Lebanon in an apparent Israeli attack against the militant group Hezbollah.  On Wednesday, Hezbollah was hit by another wave of exploding devices across Lebanon, this time involving walkie-talkies, people familiar with the matter said.  Why are Hezbollah operatives using pagers?  Hezbollah acknowledged the vulnerability of its communication networks earlier in its escalating conflict with Israel, which began in October last year with the start of Israel's war in Gaza.  In February, the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, urged its fighters to get rid of their smartphones, saying Israel could use them for surveillance or targeting.  A Hezbollah official said Tuesday that many fighters had pagers.  [Paywall]

11-year-old Florida student arrested after boasting about arsenal of weapons, 'kill list'.  An 11-year-old Florida student got a big surprise after he showed classmates a picture of his arsenal of weapons and bragged about a "kill list" of targets at two different schools.  Carlo "Kingston" Dorelli found out the hard way that Florida doesn't play around when it comes to school shootings when he was arrested, cuffed, and perp-walked by police who locked him up and then posted the video to social media.  [Video clip]

Police Arrest Two Teens After Finding Vast Arsenal In Raid Against 11-Year-Old.  Volusia County Sheriff's Office (VCSO) in east-central Florida arrested and detained two more teenagers Wednesday for allegedly making school shooting threats, two days after arresting a teenager for the same charge.  Trinity Mack, 17, and Brayden Severance, 16, each face a felony charge after allegedly threatening a school shooting on Snapchat and claiming it was a "joke," VCSO Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.  Sheriff Chitwood also released a video showing police officers locking up the pair.  "Imma shoot up the school," Mack allegedly posted, according to Sheriff Chitwood's statement.  A screenshot of the post also appeared in the video.

Heretic!
Pope Francis: 'Every Religion Is a Way To Arrive at God'.  Pope Francis today told young people of different faiths that "every religion is a way to arrive at God."  Addressing an inter-religious meeting of young people in Singapore just before departing for his return flight to Rome, Pope Francis turned to one of the central themes of his pontificate — inter-religious dialogue.  "One of the things that struck me about all of you here is your ability to engage in inter-religious dialogue, and this is very important," he told the crowd, assembled in Singapore's Catholic Junior College. [...] The Pope's words were warmly welcomed by those present in the hall, which included leaders and representatives of Singapore's many religious bodies and the large papal retinue.

Archbishop Viganò: Bergoglio saying 'all religions are a path to God' is apostasy.  "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."  (John 14:6)  Bergoglio, with his ungodly statements addressed to young people in Singapore that "all religions are a path to God," offends the Majesty of God, betrays Divine Revelation, tramples on the principal Mysteries of our Faith and nullifies the redeeming Sacrifice of the Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ.  [Tweet]  [Petition]  His lying words are particularly insidious because they are addressed to the new generations, whom Bergoglio deceives into believing that it is possible to be saved without recognizing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Only Savior, and that His Church is the only ark of salvation.  I am the door (John 10:9) said Our Lord of Himself.  To deny this truth is to apostatize from the Faith and to trample on the Cross.

Archbishop Vigan&@242;: The silence of bishops is as big a scandal as Bergoglio himself.  What scandalizes and fills us with horror is not as much the series of monomaniacal provocations of Bergoglio, who has now proven his rebellious and apostatic nature, so much as the cowardice of the entire Episcopate.  [Tweet]  [Advertisement]  [Petition]  I do not understand how a Successor of the Apostles can tolerate the open apostasy from the Faith of the one who presents himself as the head of the Church, as if it were the ravings of a deranged person to whom one should not pay too much attention to.  I consider with horror what Our Lord will impute to them when they will present themselves before Him and have to account for their silence before the systematic destruction of the Church.

Tim Walz's Minnesota:  Five Male Convicts Transferred to Female Prison.  In Minnesota, where Kamala Harris VP pick Tim Walz serves as governor, five male convicts were transferred to a female prison after identifying as transgender.  The five men were transferred to a women's-only prison in Minnesota after the Department of Corrections adopted a gender identity policy in January 2023.  Two of the men were convicted of sexually abusing children.  The five men transferred were Elijah Thomas Berryman, 26, Sean Windingland, 35, Bradley Richard Sirvio, 52, and Christina Suzanne Lusk, who was born Craig Lusk.  "In June 2022, Lusk launched a discrimination lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Corrections which ultimately resulted in the implementation of measures permitting male convicts to be housed in the female estate," reported Reduxx.

A Single Texas Billionaire May Be About To Force Greenpeace USA Into Bankruptcy.  The Texas billionaire owner of a major pipeline company is on the precipice of potentially bankrupting Greenpeace USA, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.  Kelcy Warren's company, Energy Transfer, is seeking legal recourse against Greenpeace's American arm in court, alleging that several Greenpeace USA entities paid for attacks against the company's Dakota Access Pipeline and proliferated misinformation about the firm and its project in 2016, according to the WSJ. At the time, the project was a flashpoint in the environmental movement's crusade against major fossil fuel infrastructure developments, and it was ultimately completed in 2017.  "Everybody is afraid of these environmental groups and the fear that it may look wrong if you fight back with these people," Warren said in a televised interview in 2017, according to the WSJ.  "But what they did to us is wrong, and they're gonna pay for it."

Country Singer Brad Paisley Expands Mission To Fight Hunger With Second Free Grocery Store.  Country music star Brad Paisley and his wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley, have announced the exciting expansion of their nonprofit initiative, The Store.  Originally opened in 2020 on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, The Store is a free grocery store aimed at supporting food-insecure families.  Now, the couple is preparing to launch a second location to serve an even larger community.

The Editor says...
How many members of the "food-insecure families" are covered with tattoos, and have a 500-dollar cell phone at hand?  Many — if not most — of the people living in poverty are there because of a lifetime of self-indulgent recklessness.

Court Finds Kennedy Has Standing in Our Consolidated Case.  As I explained in a previous post, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s companion lawsuit Kennedy v. Biden has been consolidated by the court into our Missouri v. Biden case.  Based upon documents we obtained on discovery, the court recently found that Kennedy meets the Supreme Court's stringent standing criteria.  We only need one co-plaintiff with standing to bring the case and the petition for the injunction.  So the injunction is back in play, and we will likely find ourselves at the Supreme Court again in a few months.  Unless SCOTUS invents another technicality on which to temporize, they will be forced to rule on the merits of the evidence against the government, which we believe is overwhelming.  On the issue of Kennedy's standing, U.S. District Court judge Terry Doughty last week ruled:  "There is not much dispute that both Kennedy and CHD [Kennedy's nonprofit Children's Health Defense] were specifically targeted by the White House, the Office of Surgeon General, and CISA, and the content of Kennedy and CHD were suppressed.

Florida Doctor Allegedly Removed Patient's Liver Instead of Spleen, Killing Him.  An Alabama man entered a Florida hospital for a procedure to remove his spleen.  On Aug. 21, medical records provided to USA Today by Zarzaur Law show that "Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky performed a hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy procedure on William "Bill" Bryan, 70, from Muscle Shoals, Alabama."  Bryan's widow claims that Shaknovsky mistakenly removed his liver instead of his spleen.  "Dr. Shaknovsky removed Mr. Bryan's liver and, in so doing, transected the major vasculature supplying the liver, causing immediate and catastrophic blood loss resulting in death," the statement from the law firm said.  "The surgeon proceeded with labeling the removed liver specimen as a 'spleen,' and it wasn't until following the death that it was identified that the organ removed was actually Mr. Bryan's liver, as opposed to the spleen.'"

The 2024 Russian Collusion Narrative Just Imploded.  Did you see we're back to this nonsense again?  The Russians are trying to interfere in the 2024 election — it's the reboot of this failed political franchise.  It's to the point where we're all desensitized to it because it's a fake story.  No concrete evidence was discovered linking former President Donald Trump to the Kremlin, but here we are again.  One must wonder if Kamala Harris' internals are that poor.  Yet, this narrative imploded within 36 hours after Vladimir Putin mouthed off who he wanted to see as the next president of the United States.  [Tweets]

Another exit:  Foot Locker to relocate headquarters from New York to Florida.  Foot Locker is relocating its headquarters to Florida from New York.  The footwear retailer said Wednesday the city of St. Petersburg will become its new corporate headquarters come late 2025.  Foot Locker said it was seeking to "further build on the Company's meaningful presence in St. Petersburg and to enable increased collaboration among teams across banners and functions, while also reducing costs."  The retailer already has a "very meaningful commercial and executive team presence" in St. Petersburg, according to CEO Mary Dillon.  The company won't be requiring relocation for workers, she told analysts and investors.

Judge allows lawsuit by Elon Musk's X against left-wing Media Matters to proceed.  A federal judge in Texas on Thursday [8/29/2024] allowed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's X against the liberal group Media Matters to proceed to trial after denying the group's dismissal request.  Musk's X filed the suit against Media Matters in November after the group published a report that showed pro-Nazi posts and antisemitic or otherwise hateful content on the platform appearing next to advertisements from major U.S. corporations.  Several companies, including Apple, IBM, Comcast and Lionsgate Entertainment, paused their advertising in response to the controversy.  X pushed back on Media Matters' report, saying the group "completely misrepresented the real user experience" on the platform and manipulated the algorithms that curate users' feeds to get "racist, incendiary content" to appear next to large advertisers' paid posts.  Attorneys representing the company said the report was "intentionally deceptive" and caused financial harm.

Brazil Is Now A Dictatorship.  Brazil's President Lula says he respects free speech, the rule of law, and free markets, but he doesn't.  Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes appears close to blocking X and has just frozen the bank accounts of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite Internet company.  And many in Brazil believe Moraes is doing so with the support of Lula.  The freezing of Starlink's bank account and the expected banning of X are flagrantly illegal acts.  They are acts of retaliation for X defying Moraes' censorship demands, which Brazilian legal experts say violate Brazil's Constitution.  Moraes demanded that X permanently ban politicians and journalists, which would effectively end their careers.  As such, Brazil is now effectively a dictatorship.  It is run by two men, Lula and Moraes.  They are today ending freedom of speech and free markets.

EU-Funded Scholars Fail to Define 'Sex' or 'Gender' after Five-Year Research Project.  A group of international scholars funded by the European Union were unable to define "sex" or "gender" after studying the topic for more than five years, but nevertheless concluded that both concepts should be incorporated into all academic research going forward.  "GENDER-NET Plus" is an initiative that, beginning in 2018, funded 13 transnational research projects with nearly 400 researchers from 12 countries.  According to a grant agreement, the European Union awarded GENDER-NET Plus nearly $4.2 million.

Older Office Towers In Cities Face "Tsunami Of Trouble".  Commercial real estate market challenges are more severe for older office towers in downtown metro areas than those outside city centers.  The mismatch between funding needs and available credit in a high-interest-rate environment has also intensified the strain on building owners, as elevated tower vacancy rates persist across many markets due to the ongoing trend of remote work becoming the norm.  Bloomberg penned a CRE note on aging business districts from Los Angeles to Chicago to Boston of zombie towers with high vacancy rates that have no use in today's economy.  Big landlords, including Brookfield, Blackstone, and Starwood Capital Group, have walked away from older downtown towers in recent quarters.  The latest data from MSCI shows office values in metro areas have crashed 52% from their highs.  Some of the worst declines have occurred in San Francisco, Manhattan, Washington, and Boston.

The Editor says...
What do San Francisco, Manhattan, Washington, and Boston have in common, in addition to the glut of office space?

Our national debt now equals all the money in the world!.  Amazingly, the United States GDP is $16 trillion per year, and our national debt is now $35 trillion.  Our biggest national expense is interest service on the debt.  But we don't all know that $36.8 trillion represents all the money in the world. [...] The World Atlas says that all the money in the world equals $37.8 trillion. [...] How did Democrats get us here?  When did they start driving the "hockey stick" of social welfare spending skyward?  In 1964, with the great War on Poverty.  This jumpstart spending program was supposed to knock out poverty, disparity, and want within ten years.

Judge Rules RFK Jr.  Can Sue Biden Admin Over Censorship After Supreme Court Rejects Challenge From States.  A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can continue to pursue his lawsuit against the Biden administration over censorship at the direction of the government.  The decision comes after a June ruling by the Supreme Court, which established who can sue the Biden administration for violating their First Amendment rights when government officials pressured social media companies to suppress free speech did not have standing to sue.  According to District Court Judge Terry Doughty, Kennedy meets the standard set by the Supreme Court because there is "ample evidence" to show he was censored at the direction of government actors, and is at "substantial risk" that the censorship will continue, the Daily Caller reports.

North Carolina Threatened To Prosecute Her for Taking a 'Ballot Selfie.'  Now, She's Suing.  There's a pretty good chance you've taken a "ballot selfie" — a picture of or with your completed ballot.  Around one in 10 Americans say they have, and pictures of filled-in ballots are common on social media during election season.  However, taking a picture of your ballot is a crime in 14 states, leading to possible fines and jail time.  A North Carolina woman is challenging her state's ban on ballot selfies, arguing that she has a First Amendment right to take a picture of her own ballot — and to post it online.  "Ballot selfie bans turn innocent Americans into criminals for nothing more than showing their excitement about how they voted, or even just showing that they voted," said Jeff Zeman, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the First Amendment group that filed the suit.  "That's core political speech protected by the First Amendment."

Is Subway Getting Ready to Go Under?  Something is up at Subway, referring to the sandwich shop franchise and not your local public transportation system.  Whatever is going on certainly doesn't sound good at first glance.  The company sent out a notice last week announcing a hastily called online conference with all of its 19,0000 [sic] North American affiliates.  The meeting was called with almost no notice.  The company isn't referring to it as "an emergency meeting," but that's what many of the franchise owners are calling it.  The stated purpose of the meeting is to "discuss plans to improve traffic and win back market share."  The word "back" in that description is probably somewhat revealing.  Many franchise owners are reporting significant declines in both sales and profits amid a flurry of "crazy coupons" that are making the rounds.

I find it difficult to feel sorry for smut peddlers.
Biden Recession + Wokeness + Streaming + Strikes = Extinction Event For Hollywood.  Right now Hollywood is taking it on the chin, [...] Thanks to the Biden Recession and its resultant inflation, people are cutting back severely on their entertainment budgets to concentrate on such luxuries as "food" and "rent."  At the same time that started to kick in, Hollywood fully embraced wokeness, resulting in movies and TV shows that alienated large segments of their existing customer base.  From 2015 to 2019, Hollywood brought in more than $11 billion in domestic box office, thanks largely to once-juggernaut franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar (a studio that used to function like a franchise) and Jurassic Park, and even throwing out Flu Manchu-wrecked 2020, they have yet to return to that level of ticket income.  Note that the first three of those franchises all belonged to Disney, which came down with one of the worst cases of Social Justice, from which hasn't entirely recovered, and Disney stock has been on a mostly steadily downward trend since 2021.

Former CIA spook from prison: 'I shot JFK with a Thompson Fireball mercury-tipped bullet; I'm the second shooter'.  The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, stands as one of the most scrutinized and debated events in American history.  Over the decades, a multitude of theories have emerged, each striving to untangle the mystery behind the fatal shots in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas.  Among the many individuals who have asserted involvement or knowledge of the events that day, James E. Files stands out for his controversial and detailed confession.  Files' claim that he was the elusive "grassy knoll" shooter has ignited an intense debate, further complicating an intricate narrative.  James E. Files, 82, was born in 1942 in Oakman, Alabama, and later moved to Chicago.  He was involved in criminal activities from a young age and became associated with organized crime.  Files was an associate of the Chicago Outfit, a powerful Mafia organization.  He claimed to have participated in various illegal activities, including contract killings.  He had connections to well-known figures such as Charles "Chuck" Nicoletti and Sam Giancana, who were prominent members of the Chicago mob.

The Decline and Fall of RFK Jr.?  Those of us who have been in politics a while have seen candidates bounced from the ballot for forged signatures on petitions, for missing a declaration or two, or even for incomplete pagination on the filing packet.  And we usually don't mind, as odd as it seems to outsiders, because we argue that if the candidate can't be trusted to get these fundamentals right, then we can't really trust him to keep campaign promises, or to notice pork that other pols sneak into bills, or to hold agencies to the line in department oversight.  But this week's news was such a consequential violation that it was rather surprising.  RFK Jr's nominating petitions identified him as a resident of New York State.  A Democrat front group challenged his candidacy, claiming he doesn't actually live in New York at all, and a judge ruled against him.  As it turns out, RFK Jr. has lived in California for the past ten years and only recently decided to rent a bedroom in New York state from a friend — a bedroom in which he has spent only one night since the verbal agreement commenced, apparently in May.

RFK Jr. won't appear on New York state presidential ballot after court rules he's not a resident.  Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. isn't a resident of New York and will not appear on the Empire State's ballot, a lower court in Albany ruled late Monday.  Justice Christina L. Ryba ordered Kennedy, 70, to not appear on New York's presidential ballot, a move that will likely lead to efforts to remove him from other states' ballots as well.  "Kennedy's designation of the 84 Croton Lake Road address as his 'place of residence' was a false statement requiring invalidation of the petition," Ryba wrote in the decision.

Boeing Gets Massive Contract With Air Force for Some Reason.  We've spent a fair amount of time and column space here in 2024 covering stories about Boeing, and nearly all of them have involved bad news of one type or another.  Bad news for Boeing, bad news for the flying public, and most recently, bad news for NASA's astronauts.  But this week, Boeing announced some good news for a change.  Or at least it's good news for them.  Despite all of the problems Boeing has experienced and all of the questions that have been raised about their production methods and quality control, the United States government has awarded a contract worth more than $2.5 billion to Boeing to build more planes for the Air Force.  As the old saying goes, what could possibly go wrong?

The Mississippi Child Literacy Miracle.  Mississippi ranked 49th in the United States for elementary school literacy 10 years ago, when fourth graders were essentially an entire grade level behind the rest of the nation.  Fast-forward a decade and 85 percent of third graders in the Magnolia State passed the state reading assessment test in 2023, moving Mississippi up to No. 21 and showing the fastest growth in the country in reading comprehension, despite having one of the lowest per-pupil expenditure rates.  "People called it a miracle," Kristen Wells-Wynn, literacy director for the Mississippi Department of Education, told The Epoch Times on July 3, "but we call it a marathon."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revokes plea deal for accused 9/11 terrorists in shocking reversal.  Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin on Friday revoked the shocking plea deals that would have spared the death penalty for the accused mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and two alleged accomplices.  In an official memo, Austin, 70, announced he had relieved the official responsible for signing off on the widely criticized plea agreements from authority and would instead assert his own authority in the matter.  "I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009," Austin wrote.

Woke Air Force Guidebook Recommends Communist Agitator Angela Davis as a 'Resource'.  The wokeification of our armed forces continues, and this time the Air Force has received its latest injection of DEI/CRT/ESG (or whatever it wants to call itself this time) into its system.  Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) revealed that a 27-page guidebook/memo from the 552nd Air Control Wing in Oklahoma was so insanely woke and filled with utter stupidity that you'd have to see it with your own eyes — or not.  I'll do a breakdown for you to spare your brain cells.  First Lt. Isabelle Allen and Capt. Jacqueline Kingsley wrote the book, and its title page has the following description:  ["]ODS [Observations of Discrimination in the Squadron] is an anonymous reporting form that enables you to inform your command team of any microaggression or discrimination that you may face or witness in the squadron.["]  Oh, goody, microaggressions!  Who would have thought those were still a thing?

Venezuela's Election Was Just Stolen, and Biden-Harris Were at the Center of It.  Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro was declared the "winner" of the presidential election by the nation's election council on Monday morning.  That came after exit polls showed him losing by as much as 30 points.  Reports of Maduro's armed thugs closing down polling sites and stealing ballot boxes were prevalent throughout the process, all but confirming that the election was indeed stolen.  What happens next is clear.  Maduro will strengthen his grip on power instead of stepping down peacefully.  As the saying goes, you can vote your way into socialism, but you have to shoot your way out.

IT Outage Sparks "Blue Screen Of Death" Worldwide.  Bloomberg reports IT disruptions could impact FedEx and United Parcel Service deliveries today:
  •   FedEx is seeing "substantial disruptions throughout our networks" due to the third-party issues, it said in a statement on its website.  The company is implementing contingency plans but said delays are likely for parcels scheduled for delivery Friday.
  •   UPS said in a separate statement that some of its computer systems are being affected, and it is also looking at workarounds to minimize interruptions.  Its planes continue to operate, and drivers are still on the road.
This follows Amazon's annual Prime Day shopping event this week.

Microsoft Glitch Brings Worldwide Halt to Business and Government Operations.  Millions of users of Microsoft products found themselves without service Friday as a security update pushed out by Crowdstrike went terribly wrong.  Across the globe, the outage knocked out operations for banks, trains, airlines, and emergency services.

Virginia judge rules pro-Palestinian group required to disclose donor documents.  In a major court ruling in Virginia on Tuesday, a Richmond judge ordered that a pro-Palestinian group with alleged ties to Hamas must turn over closely guarded financial documents requested by the state attorney general as part of an investigation into its funding sources, according to a statement released by his office.  The highly anticipated decision represents a significant setback for American Muslims for Palestine, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that could now be compelled to turn over sensitive financial records, including donor information it has long successfully shielded from public view.  Jason Miyares, the Republican attorney general, had for months been seeking to compel AMP to hand over its records after his office launched its investigation shortly after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Reining in the administrative state.  [Scroll down]  In Jarkesy, SCOTUS affirmed a defendant's Seventh Amendment right to a trial by jury before a federal agency can take their property.  Jarkesy's critics claim that this decision will impede federal agencies' ability to enforce federal law.  This is incorrect due to the narrow scope of the ruling.  The majority limited Jarkesy's scope to penalties levied based on violations that stem from common law; meaning if a fine arises from a violation that wasn't historically handled by the judiciary then a jury trial isn't required.  If an agency requests a penalty and cannot convince a jury that the penalty requested is reasonable, then the penalty was unreasonable for the violation.

Another Biden 'Achievement': Interest Payments [are] Now Second Largest Federal Spending Category.  If you want to know just how dire the federal government's fiscal situation is, consider the fact that interest on the national debt for the first time now tops every other spending category but one, according to the latest monthly report from the Treasury.  This "achievement" has been brought to you by President Joe Biden.  According to the report, the federal government spent $682 billion in "net interest" payments so far this fiscal year (which ends Sept. 30). That's more than all the money spent on "health" ($670 billion), national defense ($644 billion), and income security — which includes payments to the poor ($508 billion).

Police Ransack Home Of 20-Year Old Suspected Shooter, Who Donated To Liberal Org On Biden's Inauguration Day.  Law enforcement late Saturday night were ransacking the Bethel Park, Pennsylvania home of a 20-year old male named Thomas Matthew Crooks in connection to the shooting Donald Trump, neighbors told The Daily Wire.  Multiple neighbors said on condition of anonymity that police had knocked on their doors to ask questions and in some cases advised the neighbors to leave their homes.  The police activity corroborates the reporting of the New York Post, which identified Crooks as the suspected shooter.  The FBI later confirmed Crooks' identity early Sunday, after declining to do so during a press conference.  The bureau also described it as an assassination attempt.

Food companies feel the pain as consumers reject higher prices.  Grocery inflation is slowing, and the companies that make the food are starting to sweat.  As part of their quarterly earnings reports Thursday, snack powerhouses PepsiCo and Conagra Brands reported lower revenue and unit sales, pointing to cost-conscious consumers pushing back on prices.  And government data reflects the trend: the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that food prices rose only slightly last month.  "We're seeing consumers be very price sensitive," said Bobby Gibbs, a partner in the retail and consumer goods division of the marketing consulting firm Oliver Wyman. "Consumers are cherry picking promotional prices more and retailers are putting out more promotional pricing than they have in the last few years."  And while the economy is technically strong, prices for many goods remain higher than before the pandemic and household debt has risen.

Federal Judge Finds Americans Have Constitutional Right To Distill Moonshine In Their Bathtub.  A federal judge rejected a more than century-old ban on home distilling as unconstitutional Wednesday.  Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee, found that a federal law making it a felony to distill spirits at home exceeded Congress' power, holding that neither Congress' tax power nor its ability to regulate interstate commerce justify the ban.  Pittman permanently blocked the government from enforcing the ban, which threatens violators with up to $10,000 in fines or 5 years in prison, against the plaintiffs it found to have standing.  "Indeed, the Constitution is written to prevent societal amnesia of the defined limits it places on this government of and by the people," Pittman wrote.  "That is where the judiciary must declare when its coequal branches overstep their Constitutional authority.  Congress has done so here."

Move over, Waffle House index.  Houstonians have the Whataburger app.  Whataburger has a power outage map of sorts that provides answers people would usually expect from their utility provider, CenterPoint.  And Texans are relying on the Flying W in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.  As X user BBQ Bryan pointed out, the Whataburger app doubles as a power outage tracker, since it shows which locations are open with a geomap highlighting its many restaurants throughout the Houston metro area.  The ones operating show the bright orange Whataburger symbol while the rest are in gray.  "Well there's a use for our app we didn't think of!" Whataburger responded.  "We hope you and everyone else are okay!"

The Editor says...
This idea works only if there are no Whataburger restaurants with backup generators.  If the Whataburger operated on backup power (which would be a very good idea in Houston), it would give a false indication that the power was still on in that neighborhood.  Backup generators require a lot of upkeep, but when a big storm comes to town, they pay for themselves.  Every TV station, police station, and hospital has one.  With all the refrigerated food they have in stock, grocery stores should have backup power, too.  I've also seen an "assisted living" place with a generator, probably because a power outage would lead to more confusion and heartache than they have already.

Retailers now charging upwards of 35% interest on credit cards.  Interest rates on retail credit cards are on the rise, and the numbers may surprise you.  Macy's just sent letters to its card users announcing the interest rate on their Macy's card is jumping to 34.49%. Industry experts told CBS 8 the increase is part of a nationwide trend.  "I mean, i [sic] follow this so closely that I'm not shocked, but on the face of it, yeah, that's a really high interest rate," said Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at Bankrate.  Rossman says retail stores already have the highest APRs, and those rates have been climbing steadily mirroring what the Feds are doing.

Bidenomics: Man Sparks Internet Outrage After Paying $9.35 For A Diet Coke At Six Flags.  Just when you've thought you've seen the worst, most egregious examples of inflation rearing its head, we give you:  Six Flags.  The theme park was in the news this week after a customer went viral for spending $9 for a single Diet Coke at the park's concessions, as was reported by DailyDot.  Guyset (@theguyset) posted a viral video on TikTok expressing shock over paying $9.35 for a Diet Coke at Six Flags, showing his receipt as proof.  Despite the high price, he bought it.  He noted in the caption that both he and the cashier were stunned by the cost.

The Editor says...
As I have pointed out a few times already, my own experience is that the price of Diet Coke in the grocery stores has doubled in the last four or five years.

Missouri AG Sues New York For Lawfare 'Interference' In Presidential Election.  Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit Wednesday against New York alleging in part that the lawfare trial against former President Donald Trump violated Missourians' First Amendment right "to hear from a presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election," as stated in a press release announcing the suit.  In a lawfare case brought by a D.A. who campaigned on taking on Trump, the former president was found guilty by a New York jury in May on 34 charges related to a crime that "nobody can quite articulate."  Following the Supreme Court's immunity decision, Trump's team moved to overturn his conviction, and Trump's sentencing was delayed until Sept. 18, less than two months before Election Day.  In the lawsuit, Bailey filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, asking the Supreme Court to stop any further proceedings related to the New York lawfare case until after the election.

2 More People Charged With Conspiring to Bribe Minnesota Juror With Bag of Cash Plead Not Guilty.  Two of five people charged with conspiring to bribe a Minnesota juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in one of the country's largest COVID-19-related fraud cases pleaded not guilty Wednesday.  Said Shafii Farah and Abdulkarim Shafii Farah were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tony Leung in Minneapolis.  A third co-defendant already pleaded not guilty last week.  They are each charged with one count of conspiracy to bribe a juror, one count of bribery of a juror and one count of corruptly influencing a juror.  Leung ordered both men detained before trial, saying the crimes of which they are accused threaten foundational aspects of the judicial system.  "In my decades on the bench, I've not experienced an attempt at bribing a juror in such a precalculated and organized and executed way," Leung said.  "That to me goes to the heart of an attack on our judicial system, on the rule of law."

The Editor says...
The defendants are probably surprised that the system in America doesn't work the way it did in Africa.

DNC Weighs Early Nomination For Biden To Quash Internal Party Dissent.  Democrat strategists are throwing many things against walls and hoping some stick as the gaslighting continues.  Bloomberg reports that the Democratic National Committee is considering formally nominating Joe Biden as early as mid-July to ensure that the president is on November ballots, while helping to stamp out intra-party chatter of replacing him after last week's poor debate performance.  Democrats had already planned to nominate Biden, 81, before the convention in order to ensure he appears on the ballot in Ohio, which had an Aug. 7 deadline for candidates to be certified.  A potential date for Biden's nomination is July 21, when the Democratic convention's credentials committee meets virtually, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Also posted under What's the rush?

Supreme Court Throws Out $6B OxyContin Settlement Which Granted Sackler Family 'Full Immunity'.  The Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a $6 billion settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that illegally granted the Sackler family full immunity from all civil legal claims. [...] If Alex Jones can be made to pay over $1 billion and have Infowars shut down for saying Sandy Hook was staged, the Sackler family can have their assets seized to repay the families they destroyed. 

Pope Francis Laments 'Mother Earth Violated and Devastated'.  Pope Francis has denounced the arrogance of those who seek dominion over nature, which leads to the degradation of the environment.  In his annual message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, the pontiff urges people of faith to embrace "creation as an earthly paradise, mother earth, which is meant to be a place of joy and a promise of happiness for all."  Harmony among men and women "should also be extended to creation," he writes in the message released Thursday, "in a sense of responsibility for a humane and integral ecology, the path to salvation for our common home and for us who inhabit it."

The Editor says...
There is nothing positive said in the Bible about veneration of "Mother Earth."  That's hinduism.

Chinese Naval Forces Board and Seize Military Boats of Philippine Navy.  The Pacific appears increasingly nearer to war as Chinese vessels encircled and boarded military resupply boats belonging to a key American ally.  Tensions erupted as the Chinese Coast Guard seized ships of a Philippine Navy resupply mission that was underway near the Second Thomas Shoal.  The Armed Forces of the Philippines revealed pictures of the Monday confrontation in a social media post, calling the attack "coercive, aggressive, and barbaric."  The shallow reef, also known as Ayungin Shoal, is part of the South China Sea's Spratly Islands, one of the many areas in the region claimed by Beijing.  The Philippine military was resupplying a tank landing ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which was intentionally run aground on a reef just off the disputed shoal in 1999 to bolster the country's claim on the island.

AI Systems Are Learning To Lie And Deceive.  A new study has found that AI systems known as large language models (LLMs) can exhibit "Machiavellianism," or intentional and amoral manipulativeness, which can then lead to deceptive behavior.  The study authored by German AI ethicist Thilo Hagendorff of the University of Stuttgart, and published in PNAS, notes that OpenAI's GPT-4 demonstrated deceptive behavior in 99.2% of simple test scenarios.  Hagendorff qualified various "maladaptive" traits in 10 different LLMs, most of which are within the GPT family, according to Futurism.  [Video clip]

Pizza Hut Shutters 15 Locations, Dozens Of Others In Danger As Restaurant Economy Struggles.  Pizza Hut shuttered 15 locations in Indiana on Friday while more than 120 additional locations are in danger of closing, according to a report from The Times of Northwest Indiana. [...] Pizza Hut's parent company, Yum Brands, recently reported that same-store sales at Pizza Hut declined by 7 percent last quarter.  The latest closures follow a trend of sit-down restaurants closing nationwide.  Major chains such as Applebees, Dennys, Cracker Barrel and more have closed hundreds of locations due to rising costs and declines in sales as consumers struggle with inflation.

The Senate Version of the National Defense Reauthorization Act Really DOES Require 18-Year-Old Women to Register for Draft.  Requiring women to register for Selective Service (ie, the draft) really is a part of the 2025 National Defense Reauthorization Act that has been assembled in the Senate.  [Illustration, not shown here.]  When I first heard of this, I thought it was a stupid spoof.  It is not.  It is real.  Keep in mind, in order for this to be in the print version of the Senate bill, the Senate Armed Services Committee had to vote to approve it.  Repeat that sentence if needed.  The Senate Armed Service Committee, meaning every member on that committee, had to support the change to make women register for the draft.

Military Draft Coming?  House Passes Measure To Automatically Register Men For Selective Service.  The House of Representatives on Friday approved its version of the annual defense policy bill, effectively clearing the $883.7 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to move forward in a 217-199 vote which largely fell along party lines.  Only three Republicans opposed it.  A number of 'controversial' amendments are part of it, setting up a further fight with Democrats as it moves forward, including a measure empowering the National Guard to crack down on the southern border.  But among the most interesting aspects to the bill for Fiscal Year 2025 is an amendment to the NDAA which automatically registers all draft-age male U.S. residents with the Selective Service System.

House passes resolution to automatically enroll men aged 18-26 in military draft.  The House of Representatives passed a resolution Friday that automatically enrolls young men for selective service, and expands the mandatory draft ages by one years, to men aged 18-26.  Young men are already required to register for selective service if they are between the ages of 18 and 25, but the new resolution would enroll them automatically.  Although the draft has not been used in half a century, it is considered a felony if an eligible man fails to register, Fox News reported.  The resolution was included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which approves the defense budget for the next fiscal year, and includes the government's top priorities when it comes to defense and national security policies.  The NDAA passed the House in a 217 [to] 199 vote.

Tesla Shareholders Approve CEO Elon Musk's $56 Billion Compensation.  Shareholders at Tesla on June 13 voted to ratify CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation package and approved a plan to move the electric vehicle maker's legal headquarters to Texas.  On the social media platform X, which he owns, Mr. Musk shared what appeared to be two charts showing the results of the vote ahead of Tesla's annual meeting in Austin, Texas.  The Space X founder said both shareholder resolutions were "currently passing by wide margins" but stopped short of disclosing the exact results of the vote.  "Thanks for your support," he wrote.

An electric scooter company implements a 'no-go zone' over 'Pride' street mural.  From Jackson Walker at The National Desk comes the news that Lime, a San Francisco-based transportation company that leases electric scooters, bikes, and mopeds in big cities, has just implemented a "no-go zone" over the "Pride" street mural in Spokane, Washington as a preemptive measure — there have been repeated instances of vandalism, and the mural has already has at least one new paint refresh this month after someone set it on fire. [...] This "no-go zone" means that if you're cruising on a Lime product, operating it in the street where it belongs, and you attempt to cross into the "Pride" territory?  Whatever you're operating will lose all power, and you'll be forced to walk and push the device out of the zone, which is in the road mind you, at which point power will return.

Air conditioners to start using slightly flammable refrigerant soon.  Big changes are coming to the way you keep your house cool.  The type of refrigerant currently used in HVAC systems is being phased out.  The 2020 American Innovation and Manufacturing Act directed manufacturers to make air conditioners that use A2L refrigerant starting January 1, 2025. Because of that, air conditioners had to be redesigned to accept the new refrigerant, which is considered slightly flammable. [...] A2L is more flammable than the refrigerant currently being used, so air conditioning units had to be overhauled for safety.  "There's going to be detectors inside of where the equipment's located indoors, that's built into the equipment to be able to shut it down and alert the customer that you have a leak of some type," said Rob McClintock, the company's President and Founder.

New AC Units Will Use Flammable Refrigerants.  Sounds like a great idea, eh?  Something catching on fire right next to your house.  All for a fake issue[.] [...] Because you're already paying more for using A2L in AC units vs the old 410A standard.  In fairness, it was already in use for many automobiles and small AC units, but, we're talking large home units which have already gone up a couple thousand due to more stringent federal standards.  And, certainly, the feds wouldn't do something like ban the manufacture of 410A, meaning repairs cannot be done, right?  All for a scam.  It should be mentioned that A2L is almost a good a refrigerant as 410A, the difference is miniscule, so, not exchanging a really good one for a so-so.

Judge Orders Former Trump Advisor Steve Bannon To Report To Prison In July.  A federal judge ordered former Trump advisor Steve Bannon on Thursday to surrender to prison by July 1, according to multiple reports.  Bannon's four-month prison sentence for his 2022 conviction on contempt of Congress charges for ignoring a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee has been on hold during his appeal.  A federal appeals court upheld the conviction in May, prompting the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ask the district court judge who issued the sentence to order Bannon to report to prison.

Most Significant Scientific Retraction Ever?  It may or may not be the most significant retraction of a scientific paper ever, but it certainly is in the ballpark.  The paper helped create and sustain the theory that amyloid protein buildups caused the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease and was one of a number of apparently fraudulent papers written by Sylvain Lesné, a professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  [Advertisement]  [Tweet]  All the paper's authors agreed to retract, save Lesné, who has been under investigation for manipulating data. [...] What makes this retraction so significant is that it has driven research into Alzheimer's treatments for nearly two decades, and treatment approaches based on its conclusions have failed to yield results.  If the hypothesis that amyloid protein buildups cause Alzheimer's symptoms is wrong, Lesné is responsible for perhaps billions of wasted research dollars and two decades of scientists following a false lead.

Power struggle:
Travis County District Attorney Demands Court Overturn Governor Abbott's Pardon of Daniel Perry.  The George Soros-funded district attorney of Travis County declared Tuesday that his office would appeal to Texas's highest criminal court to set aside Governor Greg Abbott's pardon of Daniel Perry.  Perry was convicted of murder and received a 25-year sentence for killing an Antifa/BLM thug who pointed an AK-47 at him during a mostly peaceful George Floyd funeral celebration in Austin, Texas, in July 2020.  In a press release, José Garza, who received $445,000 of George Soros's hard-earned gelt during his last election, said he's mad [...] and is not going to take it anymore.

Cash is king:  Charles III banknotes enter circulation.  British banknotes bearing the image of King Charles III entered circulation for the first time on Wednesday, nearly two years after he succeeded his mother Queen Elizabeth II.  The four banknotes with the king's portrait on the front carry values of £5 ($6.4), £10, £20 and £50 and will be used alongside those bearing the image of Elizabeth, who died in September 2022.  Coins bearing Charles's head entered circulation in December 2022.  The updates come as Britons increasingly use physical and online bank cards, rather than cash, to make payments.  But Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey called it "a historic moment", with the late queen having served a record 70 years on the throne.  "We know that cash is important for many people, and we are committed to providing banknotes for as long as the public demand them," he added.

Report: More than half of all new American jobs in the last 5 years are in just two states.  Of all the jobs added in the last five years, since before the pandemic, Texas and Florida are carrying the load.  Let's see, the two most conservative major US states are doing a lion's share of the work in keeping Americans employed.  Who could have guessed it?

Top Biden Donor Revealed to Be Pakistani Government Official — What Did He Get in Return?  Ever heard of Tahir Javed?  Nor had I, but it turns out he was one of President Biden's biggest donors in the 2020 election — and he's also now a Pakistani government official. [...] Consider Joe Biden and the Biden family's other... arrangements, let us say, with representatives from other nations.  "First son" Hunter's dealings with Ukraine and China alone are enough to make one wonder what, precisely, Pakistan is getting in return for these generous contributions.  It's not just the Bidens; more of the usual suspects are involved with Pakistan:  ["]Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Rep. Tom Suozzi visited Pakistan in 2022 and met with officials of the Islamic terror state, but it was Rep. Ilhan Omar's trip during which she endorsed its claim to the Indian territory of Kashmir and met with Al Qaeda allies that attracted scrutiny to Javed.["]

A Pakistani Government Official Was One of Biden's Largest Donors.  Right before Election Day, Biden finally released the names of his 'bundlers': the big money fundraisers who backed his 2020 campaign.  The David Horowitz Freedom Center's investigative arm did some last minute sleuthing and found some interesting names on that list.  One of them was 'Muhammad' Tahir Javed: a Biden surrogate, Democratic National Committee deputy finance chair, and future Pakistani cabinet member.  Javed bragged that he had "raised over $2M for the Biden Harris transition team" and "recruited 30+ donors to the transition team and general campaign, four of whom were recognized along with myself... to have raised over $100,000 personally."  These donors would have likely come through Javed's roles in various Islamic and Pakistani groups operating inside America.

One day in the life of Joe Biden's America.  What's this single day's news?
  •   Joe Biden is spending his Memorial Day weekend honoring George Floyd
  •   Biden's vaunted Palestine pier to supposedly deliver humanitarian aid has ripped off from its moorings, been blown out to sea, and has washed up on the shore. [...]
  •   San Francisco's city government is apparently brimming with criminals according to a whistleblower report, so by all means let's expand government
  •   Biden has denied Catholics a permit to hold their Memorial Day Mass at Arlington cemetery for [the] first time in decades
  •   Special Counsel Jack Smith has launched a desperate new bid for a gag order on President Trump for talking about the FBI making plans to use lethal force on him
  •   New York state Justice Juan Merchan gave his jury in the Trump hush-money trial bad instructions on unanimity of the premise and legal eagles are complaining
  •   The Nevada state supreme court ruled unanimously against a Democrat bid to block voter identification [...]
  •   Illegals from Chechnya have rolled in through Joe Biden's open border and are now spying on U.S. military bases

Long-lost shipwreck with bounty thought to be worth billions suspiciously locked away as 'protected' area.  A long-lost shipwreck with stash of gold on board thought to be worth billions of dollars has been suspiciously locked away in the name of "protecting heritage."  Colombia declared a "protected archaeological area" on Wednesday around the spot where a Spanish galleon sank off its Caribbean coast more than three centuries ago, with her hull laden with gold, silver and emeralds.  The designation "guarantees the protection of heritage" through the ship's "long-term preservation and the development of research, conservation and valuation activities" according to the nation's culture ministry.  The San José was owned by the Spanish crown when she was sunk by the British navy near Cartagena in 1708.  Only a handful of her 600-strong crew survived.

A Forensic Analysis Of The X-Rays of JFK's Skull Yields Surprising Results.  We now know with forensic certainty that two frontal headshots and one shot from the rear at a low angle (not from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository) killed JFK.  The evidence for these conclusions comes from a new book, The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy:  The Final Analysis, that I have recently published with Dr. David W. Mantik, who has a Ph.D. in physics and a medical practice extending over five decades as a radiation oncologist and who has seen the JFK autopsy skull X-rays more than anyone else.  Using a densitometer, Dr. Mantik measured the light coming through the X-rays millimeter-by-millimeter (with some measurements at a tenth-of-a-millimeter calibration).  After analyzing the JFK right lateral autopsy, Dr. Mantik provided forensic proof that the third and final shot hit JFK in the right temple by the ear.

Consumers [are] no longer trying to save for college and homes, now just spending on luxuries.  [Scroll down]  America right now is the canoe upstream just heading over to the falls Argentina already went down over.  The kind of spending we see now is not economic growth spending, but economic despair spending.  It's a terrible thing for a country such as ours to see that people have lost faith in their future.  But that's what Joe Biden has brought us in more ways than one, the full Weimar America effect as the nation heads off the cliff and spending is now happening as though there is no tomorrow because ... there is no tomorrow.

A "Restaurant Apocalypse" Is Starting To Sweep Across America, And That Is Really Bad News For The U.S. Economy.  You can get a really good idea how the U.S. economy is doing by watching restaurants in your area.  When the economy is booming, restaurant parking lots are full and chains are feverishly establishing new locations.  But when the economy is struggling, restaurants get a lot less traffic and poor performing locations get shut down.  Sadly, in 2024 it appears that a "restaurant apocalypse" has started to sweep across America.  Most people have very little discretionary income to spend as a result of our cost of living crisis, and that is particularly true for our young adults.  Americans under the age of 40 love to eat out, but these days most of them are experiencing financial stress, and this is having an enormous impact on the restaurant industry.

Bidenomics Strikes Again:  Red Lobster Closes Nearly "120 Restaurants" in 27 States.  Popular seafood chain Red Lobster has begun the process of closing nearly 127 locations in 27 states, according to reports.  As of Tuesday, the Red Lobster website listed the affected locations as "closed," according to a report by Fox 59. States including California, Florida, New York, Iowa, and Illinois were among those hit by the unexpected closures.  In Danville, Illinois, Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. took to Facebook to express his dismay.  "I was just notified by one of our local Red Lobster managers that after 31 years of serving our community, without notice, their parent company laid off the entire crew and closed the restaurant effective immediately," Williams wrote.

Was This Weekend's Aurora Borealis Artificially Created By HAARP?  In multiple European countries, the United States, New Zealand, and others, a sensational aurora borealis spectacle dazzled residents.  Most locations that witnessed the colorful skies would never imagine seeing the northern lights.  A spectacular array of green, red, pink, and purple lit up the night skies worldwide.  The unusual aurora borealis reportedly was caused by a severe geomagnetic storm.  [About a dozen tweets]  However, others suggested something else could have impacted the night skies.  High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) reportedly conducted ionospheric tests from Alaska May 8th through 10th.  [More tweets]

HAARP's aurora switch was turned on last week to create "artificial airglows".  AI search summaries show that on the same day the aurora borealis was seen across the northern hemisphere, HAARP was running experiments to artificially create aurora-like glows or "airglow" in the ionosphere.  The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, has been a spectacular sight in the night sky recently.  On 10 May 2024, the aurora was visible in many parts of the world, including the United States, Europe, and Asia.  According to corporate media, a powerful geomagnetic storm caused by a solar flare triggered the spectacular display of the northern lights.  The storm was strong enough to cause disruptions to power grids and communication systems, but it also created a breathtaking sight for those who were able to see it.  In the United States, the aurora was visible in many parts of the country, including the northern states and even as far south as Alabama and California.  In Europe, the aurora was seen in countries such as the UK, Germany and Norway.  [Video clip]

The Editor says...
Any time the government intentionally causes a spectacle like this, beware.  It is probably a "red herring" distraction from something else the government is up to, that they don't want the news media to report.

How Americans Feel About Federal Government Agencies.  Come election time, America won't hesitate to show its approval or disapproval of the country's elected political representatives.  That said, feelings about the federal bureaucracy and its associated agencies are a little harder to gauge.  Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao charts the results from an opinion poll conducted by Pew Research Center between March 13-19, 2023.  In it, 10,701 adults — a representative of the U.S. adult population — were asked whether they felt favorably or unfavorably towards 16 different federal government agencies.  [Chart]

Why Are Greeks the Poorest People in the EU?  The European Union is facing a severe crisis marked by unfulfilled promises of democracy, equal exchange, and shared prosperity.  The situation is particularly dire for some EU nations, with Greece, according to a recent Financial Times report, on the brink of becoming the poorest member of the EU.  Despite Bulgaria currently holding that position, its economic trajectory is set to overtake that of its southern neighbor. [...] The Athens politicians caving in to the IMF and debtor nations was the start of the country's economic tailspin.  Austerity measures, spending cuts, and a humongous tax burden placed on Greeks were bound to destroy millions of livelihoods, and boarded-up businesses here in Crete testify, as do the island's dilapidated cars, houses, and infrastructure.  The numbers do not lie.  Since 2007, the Greek economy has shrunk by almost 20%.  Meanwhile, the EU economy has risen by 17 percent or more. [...] Taxes here and the lack of services rival even those of the worst systems in the world.  In Crete's capital's once buzzing pedestrian area, any shop owner you talk to will tell you "retail is dead."  Add to Amazon or other online sales that tourists to Greece (especially Crete) are now herded like cattle to buffet lines on their cruise ships or asylum-like beach resorts where marketers have elevated 3-stars to 5-stars.

Data Centers Hiding In 'Spy Country' Northern Virginia Will Need Reactor's Worth Of Power.  Since the beginning of the digital age, most of the world's internet data has flowed through massive data centers in Northern Virginia.  The area is known as "Data Center Alley" because it's home to the world's largest concentration of data centers.  Some call the area 'spy country' because of the number of data centers used by the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies.  Given the exponential proliferation of smartphones, streaming services, smart devices, and now generative artificial intelligence, the power demanded by data centers in Northern Virginia will need nuclear reactors worth of power, if not much more, according to utility Dominion Energy.  On Thursday, Chief Executive Officer Bob Blue told investors on a company earnings call that "economic growth, electrification, and accelerating data center expansion" is boosting power demand across the area.

Huge crowd turns out to support Trooper Londregan ahead of court hearing.  A large crowd of supporters gathered in the Hennepin County Government Center Monday morning ahead of Trooper Ryan Londregan's latest court appearance.  "It was absolutely tremendous.  I have never seen anything like that before.  It was absolutely unprecedented in my career," Chris Madel, one of Londregan's attorneys, told Alpha News.  [Tweet with video clip]  At Monday's omnibus hearing, Madel argued in favor of holding a probable cause hearing, which would allow both sides to call witnesses and present evidence on whether or not the case should proceed.  He also filed a fourth sworn declaration from a member of the Minnesota State Patrol in defense of Londregan's actions.  Maj. Christopher Erickson states in his declaration that he helped develop the State Patrol's pursuit and use-of-force policies.

The working-from-home illusion fades.  A gradual reverse migration is under way, from Zoom to the conference room.  Wall Street firms have been among the most forceful in summoning workers to their offices, but in recent months even many tech titans — Apple, Google, Meta and more — have demanded staff show up to the office at least three days a week.  For work-from-home believers, it looks like the revenge of corporate curmudgeons.  Didn't a spate of studies during the covid-19 pandemic demonstrate that remote work was often more productive than toiling in the office?  Unfortunately for the believers, new research mostly runs counter to this, showing that offices, for all their flaws, remain essential.  A good starting point is a working paper that received much attention when it was published in 2020 by Natalia Emanuel and Emma Harrington, then both doctoral students at Harvard University.  They found an 8% increase in the number of calls handled per hour by employees of an online retailer that had shifted from offices to homes.  [Paywall]

Facebook Has Interfered In U.S. Elections 39 Times Since 2008 — Report.  A study by the Media Research Center (MRC) revealed that Facebook has allegedly interfered in U.S. elections at least 39 times since 2008, while Google has reportedly done so 41 times over the past 16 years.  Despite CEO Mark Zuckerberg's professed commitment to free speech, Facebook's actions seemingly belie this stance.  "Like Google, Facebook has an extensive history of interfering in U.S. elections.  But it's not completely fair to compare the two companies.  I believe some part of Mark Zuckerberg believes in free speech.  Google management clearly does not," Brent Bozell, founder and president of the MRC, said in a recent interview.  He continued: "But regardless of what Mr. Zuckerberg believes, his company's policies and practices have resulted in a great deal of censorship that always seems to target the same side of the political spectrum, and it needs to stop."

Rep. Massie Threatened w/ $500 Fine for Posting Evidence of Congressional Treason.  Congress's betrayal of the American people was on full display Saturday, when lawmakers waved Ukrainian flags in celebration of them passing a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel.  Apparently, House Speaker Mike Johnson — one of the key architects of the aid package — wants you to forget about the betrayal.  According to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who posted video of the congressional treason, the House Sergeant at Arms threatened him with a $500 fine if he doesn't delete the footage.  "Mike Johnson really wants to memory hole this betrayal of America," Massie quipped on Twitter.  [Tweet]

I hope that includes the U.N. flag and the wide assortment of homosexual activist flags.
Rep. Cammack to Introduce Legislation Prohibiting 'Display of Foreign' Flags on House Floor.  Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) revealed plans to introduce legislation prohibiting the "display of foreign nations' flags" in the House of Representatives after Democrats celebrated the passage of a $61 billion foreign aid package to Ukraine.  Prior to the bill's passage, Democrats in the House of Representatives were seen celebrating by waving miniature Ukrainian flags on the floor of the House chambers.  "Watching American representatives pass out & wave Ukrainian flags in the United States House of Representatives chamber infuriated me," Cammack wrote in a post on X.  "As we speak, my team is drafting legislation that will prohibit the display of foreign nations' flags on the House floor."

Marijuana grow busted in Maine as feds investigate trend in 20 states.  The high electricity consumption of a home, its cardboard-covered windows and odor of marijuana drew law enforcement's attention to an illicit grow operation off the beaten path in rural Maine.  The bust of the home with a hidden grow operation and seizure of nearly 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of processed marijuana marked the latest example of what authorities describe as a yearslong trend of foreign nationals to exploit U.S. state laws that have legalized cannabis for recreational or medical use to produce marijuana for the illicit markets in the U.S.

The Editor says...
[#1] "Grow" is a verb, not a noun.  [#2] Urban marijuana farming is to be expected in areas where marijuana use has been legalized or at least tolerated for years.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. secures ballot access in battleground state of Michigan.  Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has secured a place on the ballot in the battleground state of Michigan, state officials confirmed Thursday, elevating his potential to affect the November election.  Kennedy's independent bid has spooked allies of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees, who fear his famous last name and dedicated support among a slice of disaffected voters will be enough to tip the election.

Kennedy family makes 'crystal clear' its Biden endorsement in attempt to deflate RFK Jr.'s candidacy.  President Joe Biden scooped up endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop Thursday as he aims to undermine Donald Trump and marginalize the candidacy of independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, niece of former President John F. Kennedy and sister of the current presidential candidate, delivered the endorsements in Philadelphia by calling Biden "my hero."

Was Dubai's apocalyptic storm self-inflicted?  The United Arab Emirates is today attempting to dry out after the heaviest rain ever recorded in the desert nation caused utter chaos[,] but there are suspicions the horrific flooding in Dubai and elsewhere may have been self-inflicted.  The typically scorching UAE heavily relies on cloud-seeding — a technique which sees aircraft fire salt flares into clouds to speed up condensation and induce rainfall — to provide its groundwater.  Flight-tracking data analysed by the Associated Press showed one aircraft affiliated with the UAE's cloud-seeding efforts flew around the country on Sunday.  Meanwhile, Ahmed Habib, a meteorologist at the UAE's National Centre for Meteorology (NCM), told Bloomberg several cloud-seeding sorties were flown in the days before the unprecedented rainfall hit.

Office Buildings in New York City Set New Record for Emptiness.  New York City has a serious and growing problem with empty office space.  Between rising crime, high taxes, and the crazy rules of the pandemic a few years ago, people have fled the city in huge numbers.  Now the city is home to a record number of empty office buildings.  The lack of revenue from these properties has got to be hurting the city's bottom line and the policies of the current mayor are not helping.  Who would want to spend millions of dollars to open a new office in Manhattan right now?

Fewer Than One in Four Americans Have a Positive View of Federal Government.  According to a new poll, fewer than one in four Americans have a favorable opinion about the federal government.  The Pew Research Center released data from their American Trends Panel survey on Thursday, which found only 22 percent of adults have a positive opinion of the federal government.  Pew reports, "State governments get mixed ratings: 50% of adults have a favorable opinion and 49% have an unfavorable view.  This reflects a 4-point decline in favorability since 2022 and a 9-point decline since 2019."  Additionally, "61% of adults rate their local government positively.  But this, too, is down from 66% in 2022 and 69% in 2019."

Boston Market reportedly in its 'final days,' so what's happening?  A 1990s rotisserie chicken restaurant is likely nearing its final days, according to a publication.  The Street reports Boston Market is rapidly declining without a corporate headquarters as the number of locations drops from a near-high of 1,000 to under 30 units.  "Now, with its store count continuing to dip, the chain seems to have reached the end even if it won't confirm that given that there no longer appears to be anyone around to make that decision," The Street reports.  Recently, chain owner Jignesh "Jay" Pandya was denied Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time.  As a result, The Street said Boston Market has been barred from filing again for six months, meaning the company can't gain court protection from creditors.

Chinese Military Companies Have Spent Over $24 Million Lobbying The US Gov't In Recent Years.  Entities the Pentagon classifies as "Chinese military companies" have spent more than $24 million lobbying the U.S. government since 2020, a Daily Caller News Foundation review of lobbying disclosures found.  Some of the biggest spenders on lobbying included corporations directly tied to human rights abuses and Chinese military research, like telecom giant Huawei, facial recognition software developer Megvii and genomics company BGI Shenzhen.  Chinese military corporations cast a wide net across the American government, lobbying the House, Senate and various parts of the executive branch, including the office of the president, often setting their sights on proposed policies that would impact their U.S. operations, according to a DCNF review of congressional disclosures and legislative records.

Leonard Leo to Defy Senate Democrats' 'Unlawful and Politically Motivated Subpoena'.  An attorney for conservative leader and private citizen Leonard Leo revealed that Leo would not be complying with a subpoena issued by the Democrat Senate Judiciary Committee.  In a letter addressed to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, David B. Rivkin, Jr., the attorney for Leo, co-chairman of the Federalist Society, labeled the subpoena as "unlawful and politically motivated."  The letter to Durbin comes in response to a subpoena issued to Leo by Durbin on Thursday.

Gen Z Is Ruining Scrabble Now!  Some things are sacred.  Christmas.  Easter.  The Final Four.  And, of course, Scrabble.  Gen Z — or, more correctly, the adults who taught them that everybody deserves a medal for participation — has turned their back on all of them. [...] Scrabble, like Monopoly, Chess, and Poker, brings out the killer instincts in all of us.  As the baddest predators on the block, we need to keep our skills and our canines sharp — as Grandma did.  Gen Z, though, is filled with a bunch of socialists who believe that competition is the next worst thing to settler colonialism, so Mattel is dumbing down the game to appeal to people with the attention span of a gnat and the competitive instincts of a sloth.

Millions stolen from money storage facility in CA on Easter Sunday.  California officials are working with the FBI to investigate the theft of tens of millions of dollars from a money storage facility on Easter Sunday, law enforcement sources told ABC News.  Sources told our sister station KABC the theft happened at a GardaWorld facility in Sylmar.  The thieves broke into the facility undetected[,] without setting off alarms[,] by going through the roof and somehow getting into the money storage area, which may have been a vault, according to officials briefed on the investigation.  The company that owns the building did not discover the massive theft until Monday morning.

The Editor says...
How many other warehouses in America have millions of dollars sitting unguarded for days at a time?

McDonald's prices have doubled in ten years, far outpacing general inflation, report shows.  McDonald's was once seen as an affordable spot to eat out but for many Americans it's meals have become a luxury.  In just 10 years, the average cost of a selection of its top menu items has doubled, according to a new study.  Some items cost three times as much.  That is more than three times the official rate of inflation[.]  [T]he cost of goods has risen just 31 percent since 2014, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

McDonald's has doubled its prices since 2014, data shows.  Prices at fast food restaurants increased at a rate that far exceeds inflation over the last decade, according to a new analysis from FinanceBuzz.  According to the newly released data, leading fast food restaurants increased prices by about 60% between 2014 and 2024.  That is nearly double the rate of inflation.  According to the consumer price index, the general cost of goods and services has gone up 31% in the past decade.  The data shows that prices have doubled at McDonald's over that time.  FinanceBuzz noted that the average price of a McDouble increased from $1.19 in 2014 to $3.19 currently.  A medium fry has gone up from $1.59 to $3.79.

Boston Hospital Will Now Ignore Infants Born With Drugs in Their System.  This is very on-brand for the Left.  When forced to choose between the health or well-being of children or the convenience of an adult, they will always and everywhere choose the latter.  In this case, Black live[s] may matter, as long as they are above a certain age.  [Tweet]  The particular situation here relates to hiding the high incidence of child neglect by Black mothers, who apparently show up to the hospital under the influence of drugs at a disproportionate rate.

Millions [were] stolen from [a] money storage facility in CA on Easter Sunday.  California officials are working with the FBI to investigate the theft of tens of millions of dollars from a money storage facility on Easter Sunday, law enforcement sources told ABC News.  Sources told our sister station KABC the theft happened at a GardaWorld facility in Sylmar.  The thieves broke into the facility undetected[,] without setting off alarms[,] by going through the roof and somehow getting into the money storage area, which may have been a vault, according to officials briefed on the investigation.  The company that owns the building did not discover the massive theft until Monday morning.

Facebook (Meta) Goes Jihad:  Board Moves To Allow Users To Glorify Islamic Terrorists as Martyrs in Accordance With Sharia.  After suspended, deleting, shadowbanning those of us working in defense of freedom, Facebook (Meta) goes jihad.  Homicide bombers and mass murderers are being repackaged in accordance with sharia.  Why now?  To expedite Jew killing.

Bird Flu Blues:  Texas Egg Producer Halts Operations.  Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced Tuesday[] that a major egg producer has halted operations at a poultry facility in Farwell, Texas.  It is a temporary stop in operations.  Cal Maine Foods, a national egg producer with locations across the country, has multiple locations in Texas.  The Farwell facility reported a positive test for bird flu so it is required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to depopulate 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets at the facility in the Texas Panhandle.  The hens account for about 3.8% of the company's flock as of early last month.

Tennessee Senate Passes Bill Prohibiting Vaccines in Food, Awaiting Governor's Signature.  A landmark decision was made in the Tennessee Senate on Thursday as lawmakers passed HB1894, a bill that would redefine the term "drug" within the state's legal code to include food products containing vaccines or vaccine materials.  The bill now awaits the signature of Governor Bill Lee (R-TN), WSMV reported.  The legislation comes amid concerns from Republican lawmakers about the potential for vaccines to be incorporated into food supplies.  The bill specifically targets research that explores the possibility of embedding vaccines into food items, which has been a subject of discussion in scientific circles.

Biden Immigration Agency Begins Rolling Out Absurd Change to Form.  In the middle of a self-inflicted storm of negative attention after calling for Americans to observe Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday — something the president now falsely denies while his spokeswoman calls criticism "misinformation" — President Joe Biden and his administration are moving ahead with making a "third gender option" available to individuals applying for naturalization.  According to the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), applicants for naturalization can now identify as "X," offered as "Another Gender Identity" for those who choose not to be male or female.  The announcement came on April 1 but apparently was not intended as a joke.

150 People [have been] Arrested in Scheme Using Drones to Drop Guns, Drugs Into Georgia Prisons.  An extensive investigation that began in November 2022 targeting an alleged drone-based contraband scheme within Georgia's prisons has resulted in the arrest of 150 individuals, including eight corrections officers.  The investigation, dubbed "Operation Skyhawk," uncovered that drones were being used to transport cellphones, drugs, and weapons into Georgia Department of Corrections facilities.  Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's office issued a press release on Thursday stating that a collaboration between the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Safe Streets Gang Task Force resulted in search and arrest warrants being executed at two sites in the Metro Atlanta area.  The recent raids involved a drone repair shop in Gwinnett County, where more than 50 drones were seized, and two individuals were arrested.  The eight Georgia Department of Corrections employees who were charged were "immediately terminated."

The Editor says...
There are ways to prevent cell phones from working inside prisons, but the FCC doesn't approve.  Use your favorite non-Google search engine and look for "The Wave Bubble."  There are ways to take out drones, but they involve gunfire.  There are ways to hunt down the drone controllers, too, because they can't be too far away, and wherever your drone goes, your cell phone goes, too.

Secret police report warns Canadians may revolt once they realize how broke they are under Trudeau.  Police have warned Canada's leaders they will struggle to contain the fury at its deteriorating economy and a generational revolt by young people unable to ever buy a home.  The secret report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police paints an apocalyptical picture of the future for America's northern neighbor, predicting it will be riven by economic crisis, ecological meltdown and territorial disintegration.  The report has caused a sensation in the Great White North after a heavily redacted version was released following a long-running access to information request by a Canadian academic.

For now, they are "allowed" to return.  When war erupts, they may be required to return.
Army Follows the Air Force's Lead by Calling Retirees Back to Active Duty.  The Army is opening the doors to retired soldiers to return to active duty to fill critical worldwide shortages.  This follows the Air Force's February announcement that it would allow up to 1,000 retirees, including pilots, to return to active duty for up to four years. [...] This message applies to any retired soldier who can meet physical fitness standards and is not older than 70.  Read that slowly.  The problem is brought on by two factors.  The Army recruiting program is suffering a perfect storm in that it is trying to appeal to a youth cohort that has shown no evidence that it is willing to work and an Army leadership climate that devalues and denigrates white males while putting a premium on the sexually exotic demographic group in society, and idiots running the program. [...] The second problem is that the Army has funding for 90% of authorized positions.  The Army force structure calls for 494,000 soldiers and has the money to pay 455,000.  Some of the 40k shortfall is due to the Army reducing its strength by 24,000 to cover up the barking shambles that is its recruiting program.

Parkrun scrapped 'A-Z records' over climate fears to stop runners travelling the world.  Concern over the environmental impact of 'Parkrun tourism', which includes participants visiting locations beginning with every letter of the alphabet, has been revealed among the reasons for deleting an all-time record list from the charity's website.  Parkrun prompted uproar last month when it removed a raft of 'performance' statistics after ruling that they were not in line with the event's self-styled 'non-competitive' status, but there was bafflement when lists of people attending the most different events also vanished.  An internal communication to volunteers and ambassadors, however, revealed unease among Parkrun leaders about celebrating records which encourage people to tour its 2,200 venues worldwide.  Completing an 'A-Z' of Parkrun locations, which are now spread across 22 different countries but still mostly in the UK, comes with considerable kudos in the running community and is a major motivation for some participants.

The Editor says...
Socialists want complete control of your movements.  They don't want you to be able to travel extensively or frequently.  That's why they like electric cars.

Threads Is Not the Utopia Progressives Were Promised and Many Are 'Triggered'.  Remember when progressives decided to flee Twitter/X because it had become a hellish pit of despair once Elon Musk bought it and allowed conservatives to talk?  Meta tried to capitalize on that exodus by introducing Threads, another copy of Twitter which promised to be a safe space for the left.  Sadly, it doesn't seem to be working out as planned.  Columnist Pamela Paul says that Threads has been driving her and others on the left crazy.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire says city is 'broke' after decades of overspending.  The Mayor of Houston says the city is 'broke' after overspending for decades.  Democrat John Whitmire, who was elected in December, gave the bleak warning at a City Hill meeting this week where he proposed a five percent cut across all city spending to alleviate the cash-flow problem.  'I think we can all agree that we're broke,' Whitmire said, before proposing the planned cuts.  'This gives us a chance to discuss the financial picture of this City.  It is broken!  It was broken when I got here,' he said.  America's fourth largest city is spending more money than it's taking in, leaving it with a $160 million deficit, according to FOX 26 Houston.

White House Slams Venezuela for Trying to Exclude Leading Opposition Candidate from 2024 Election Ballot.  The Biden White House criticized Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday for barring the leading opposition candidate from his country's upcoming elections — after Democrats tried to do the same to Donald Trump.  Maria Corina Machado, 56, won the opposition primary in Venezuela last year and has been favored in the polls to beat Maduro in the July elections, possibly putting an end to the authoritarian rule of Hugo Chávez's successor.  But the Maduro regime blocked the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) opposition coalition from registering its candidate by midnight early Tuesday [3/26/2024].  Machado's chosen successor, Dr. Corina Yoris, was also blocked.

This is What a Rigged Election Looks Like.  Last summer the regime of socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro announced that leading opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado was ineligible to run for office.  The country hadn't held an election in five years at that point but Machado was expected to be the leading candidate if the current government agreed to hold an election.  The opposition held a primary to decide who would face off with Maduro and, as expected, Machado won despite the government sending out its colectivo thugs on motorbikes to harass opposition voters.  Machado hoped that a clear win in the primary would embarrass the socialist government into allowing her on the ballot, but in January the country's Supreme Court, which is made up of Maduro loyalists, ruled she would not be allowed to run.  Apparently ruling her out of the process wasn't enough for Maduro.  Last week, his government announced that it was arresting her campaign manager and other members of her staff.

DOJ Moves to Drop Lawsuit Against Dish Network After Donation to Biden Campaign.  The great thing about America is that the right people can buy all of the justice they can afford.  And if you can afford $113,000 in justice, there is no end to what you can accomplish.  For instance, last week the Department of Justice dismissed a $3.3 billion civil lawsuit against Dish Network.  Coincidentally, toward the end of last year, Dish Network founder Charlie Ergen and his wife donated just over $113,000 to the Biden-Harris campaign.  In what I am sure is another startling coincidence, in January, Dish was given a $50 million grant to expand 5G coverage across the nation.  That grant was courtesy of the Biden administration and came from a $1.5 billion fund created as part of the CHIPS and Science Act.

RFK Jr.  Picks Radical Leftist As Running Mate.  Speculation can finally end as sources reveal that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has selected Nicole Shanahan, a California attorney, as his vice presidential candidate for his campaign.  In addition to being an attorney, Shanahan, 38, runs a foundation dedicated to left-wing causes like abortion rights, criminal justice reform, and fighting climate change.  According to the Wall Street Journal, prior to joining forces with Kennedy, Shanahan had a history of supporting Democratic campaigns, including Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.  Kennedy is expected to formally introduce Shanahan as his running mate during an event scheduled for Tuesday in Oakland, Calif., Shanahan's hometown.

The Editor says...
This announcement benefits Donald Trump more than anyone else.

Government says four cancer charities are shams.  In a rare joint action with attorneys general for each of the 50 states, the Federal Trade Commission says four cancer charities run by extended members of the same family conned donors out of $187 million from 2008 through 2012 and spent almost nothing to help actual cancer patients.  Each of the charities charged were the subject of extensive reporting by CNN in 2013.  And in each instance, none of the four charities would comment.  We were ordered out of the building at the Cancer Fund of America in Knoxville, Tennessee, and were the object of an obscene gesture by the CEO of The Breast Cancer Society in Mesa, Arizona.

Angela Chao death:  Foremost Group CEO was intoxicated when she reversed into pond, police say.  Angela Chao, a shipping CEO and sister-in-law to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was drunk when she backed her Tesla into a pond and died last month in Texas, police say.  The Blanco County Sheriff's Office ruled Chao's death an "unfortunate accident," according to a report on the investigation released Wednesday.  An autopsy was not performed on Chao, but a toxicology test revealed her blood alcohol concentration level was nearly three times the legal limit in Texas, the report said.  "The toxicology results indicated Chao had a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.233 g/100 mL," investigator Adam Acosta wrote.  The state's legal BAC limit is 0.08. U2VlIEhUTUwgY29tbWVudHMu

Florida congressman helps 13 more Americans escape Haiti, swipes at Biden 'pattern of abandonment'.  A Florida Republican congressman says he has helped another 13 Americans evacuate Haiti, vowing that U.S. citizens "deserve support from their government" and "not the pattern of abandonment this [Biden] administration has shown."  Rep. Cory Mills wrote on X that the Americans were airlifted from Port-au-Prince, which has become overrun by violent gangs in recent weeks despite Prime Minister Ariel Henry declaring that he would step down.  "It's with great pride I announce that our team successfully conducted another rescue of 13 Americans out of PAP Haiti," Mills said, his second in the country after extracting 10 U.S. citizens last week.

DC attorney general drops charges against Steve Nikoui for disruption of Congress during SOTU speech.  Brian Schwalb, the Democratic attorney general in Washington, D.C., has dropped charges against Gold Star father Steve Nikoui for disrupting Congress during President Biden's State of the Union speech earlier this month.  Nikoui is the father of Kareem Nikoui who was killed during the Biden Administration's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.  Fox News learned of the decision Tuesday evening.  The decision to drop the charges was confirmed by the Speaker's Office.  The DC AG's office told Fox News that it decided not to prosecute in this case just as they have in the cases of protesters in the past.

Texas pulls $8.5B from BlackRock in stunning blow to ESG movement.  The State of Texas is terminating a massive $8.5 billion investment with trillion-dollar asset manager BlackRock over the state's determination that the firm is engaged in a boycott of energy companies.  In an announcement first shared with FOX Business, Texas State Board of Education Chairman Aaron Kinsey said the so-called Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) had delivered a notice to BlackRock on Tuesday, informing the New York City-based firm of the action.  According to Kinsey, the move was made in accordance with a 2021 state law that seeks to distance the state and its large public purse from financial institutions boycotting the oil and gas sector.  "The Texas Permanent School Fund has a fiduciary duty to protect Texas schools by safeguarding and growing the approximately $1 billion in annual oil and gas royalties managed by the Texas General Land Office," Kinsey said in a statement Tuesday.  "Terminating BlackRock's contract ensures PSF's full compliance with Texas law."

Biden Presides Over Record-Breaking 11 Embassy Evacuations.  As a cannibalistic gang war rages through Haiti, President Joe Biden last week dispatched a Marine Corps special unit to protect the evacuation of nonemergency personnel as well as fellow Marines from the U.S. Embassy in the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince.  With that evacuation of the embassy in Haiti, the Biden administration has presided over more evacuations of U.S. embassies — a total of 11 — than any other presidential administration in U.S. history.  Since Biden took office in January 2021, his State Department has partially or fully evacuated 11 U.S. embassies via what are known as authorized or ordered departure directives.  President Barack Obama presided over the second-most embassy evacuations of any administration with a total of eight over two terms (Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Central African Republic, and South Sudan), or about one a year.  Donald Trump presided over three partial evacuations in his four years as president.

Supreme Court appears receptive to NRA free-speech lawsuit against a former New York state official.  Supreme Court justices appeared receptive Monday to National Rifle Association claims that a former New York state official violated its free-speech rights by pressuring banks and insurance companies to blacklist the group after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.  The NRA is suing former New York State Department of Financial Services superintendent Maria Vullo, who the group says used her regulatory power to economically punish the group for its gun-rights stance in violation of the First Amendment.  The Biden administration has backed some of the NRA's claims and encouraged the high court to reverse a lower court decision to toss out the suit.  The NRA is being represented by a group often on the other end of the political spectrum:  The American Civil Liberties Union.

Phalanx CIWS Costs $3,500 Per Second In Ammo To Fire.  After more than four decades in service, the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System, or CIWS, has become a well-known defensive feature on U.S. Navy and other allied warships, and has an unusual pop-culture following.  Details about the specialized tungsten-cored ammunition it fires, or how much those rounds cost, are less common knowledge.  A two-second burst from a Phalanx costs the Navy nearly $7,000, according to budget figures in the service's 2025 Fiscal Year request.  The Navy, along with the rest of the Department of Defense, rolled out its proposed budget for the 2025 Fiscal Year on Monday.  In it, the service is asking for just over $17 million to purchase 372,000 Mk 244 Mod 0 20mm cartridges.  This breaks down to a per-round cost of $45.84.  The Mk 244, also known as the Enhanced Lethality Cartridge (ELC), is currently the primary operational round used in Phalanx CIWSs on American warships.

The Editor says...
Lots of weapons are expensive, but if they are effective, they are worth the money.

Cliché:  Appease the Muslims, and maybe you'll be one of the last people they behead in the street.
Italy: Catholic Diocese Urges Faithful to Participate in Islamic Prayers During Ramadan.  Another Ramadan is upon us, and as is always the case, the eager-to-be-fooled infidels are out in force.  A Catholic diocese in Italy has just called upon priests and laypeople to seek out opportunities to participate in Ramadan observances, as a gesture of goodwill toward Muslims.  When will Muslim leaders tell Muslims to participate in Christian worship to show friendship with Christians?  Don't hold your breath.  The Catholic Herald reported Friday that the Italian diocese of Bergamo is "instructing its priests to participate in Islamic rituals, citing Pope Francis' directives on inter-religious dialogue."  Diocesan officials issued a directive "urging priests to seek out opportunities for interreligious dialogue during the 'holy month' of Ramadan by inviting the faithful to join in praying with Muslims and joining in the Iftar ritual meal."  This directive was the handiwork of Fr.  Massimo Rizzi, who is the director of the diocese's Office for Interreligious Dialogue.

American Missionaries Whom Joe Biden Abandoned in Haiti Plead for Rescue.  American missionaries trapped in Haiti pleaded for rescue on Tuesday, reporting constant gunfire around their hideaway and corpses rotting in the streets.  The group's leader said the only assistance they have received from the Biden administration was advice to "be safe."  "Okay, well, that's not really helpful," Jill Dolan of the group Love A Neighbor said of the response she received from the U.S. Embassy when she asked for help getting her family out of Haiti.  "My fear is that we will be caught in the middle of something really dangerous.  We're already on the front lines of it; we're in a bad area.  It's kind of depressing.  The gunfire never stops," Dolan told the New York Post on Tuesday.

House Republicans Probe Education Department's 'Partisan' Bidenbucks Scheme.  House Republicans are demanding the Department of Education forfeit information and records related to its use of taxpayer dollars to conduct partisan get-out-the-vote efforts that benefit Democrats, The Federalist has learned.  In their Tuesday letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, senior Republicans on the House Administration Committee and the Education and Workforce Committee pressed the Biden appointee over the agency's use of Federal Work-Study (FWS) funds — which are used to provide part-time campus jobs to help students with tuition costs — to "support the Biden Administration's campaign efforts during the 2024 election cycle."  The letter's signatories include GOP Reps.  Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Laurel Lee of Florida, and Mary Miller of Illinois.  Steil and Foxx chair the House Administration and Education and the Workforce Committees, respectively.

Rubio, other lawmakers battle to make daylight saving permanent.  Americans sprang forward Sunday in the controversial annual tradition of daylight saving time, prompting over a dozen senators to re-up their push to "lock the clock" and make the change permanent.  "We're 'springing forward' but should have never 'fallen back.'  My Sunshine Protection Act would end this stupid practice of changing our clocks back and forth," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said last week as he renewed his efforts to end the practice.  Back in 2022, a bill sponsored by Rubio — the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 — cleared the Senate via unanimous consent.  Several senators later indicated they didn't realize what they were supporting at the time[.]

The Editor says...
Politicians have been talking about this for at least 20 years; probably 30.  If the Congress can't get this simple task done, it is utterly impotent.

Jeff Bezos, Leon Black, Mark Zuckerberg, Jamie Dimon and Walmart's Walton family sell $11 BILLION in stock.  American billionaires are selling stocks by the boatload[,] sparking fears of an impending financial disaster.  Jeff Bezos[,] the third-richest man behind Louis Vuitton's Bernard Arnaut and Elon Musk[,] unloaded $8.5 billion in Amazon shares this month alone.  Mark Zuckerberg[,] the fourth-richest[,] sold about 1.4 million Meta shares worth roughly $638 million.

Record Number Plunder Their 401(k)s in Biden's America.  It's a pretty terrible sign of the times when a record number of Americans are forced to plunder their 401(k)s.  "A record share of 401(k) account holders took early withdrawals from their accounts last year for financial emergencies," reports the Wall Street Journal.  "Overall, 3.6% of its plan participants did so last year, up from 2.8% in 2022 and a pre-pandemic average of about 2%."  The whole point of a 401(k) is to keep that money out of reach until you reach age 59½ or above.  Removing that money earlier is about the worst financial move anyone can make.

Why Americans No Longer Trust the Healthcare System.  Trust is foundational in relationships, whether between individuals or between individuals and institutions.  A Gallup survey from last summer found, "Americans' faith in major societal institutions hasn't improved over the past year following a slump in public confidence in 2022."  Notable other examples where surprisingly few Americans have "a great deal or quite a lot of confidence" in major institutions include Congress at 8%, big business and television news at 14%, and the criminal justice system at only 17%.  The medical system fared slight better with 34% of Americans expressing confidence.  But two thirds have lost trust.  Doctors, hospitals, and healthcare systems used to be held in high esteem, but no more.  Aren't these the "experts" in white coats? [...] In terms of one's own healthcare decisions, "35% of American adults believe it's safe to trust advice from experts" By party however, only 22% of Republicans trust the experts compared to 52% of Democrats.

Four Years After Being Thrown in Jail for Opening Salon During COVID Lockdown, Texas Hairstylist Gets Huge News.  "The best revenge is massive success," a quote often attributed to the iconic singer Frank Sinatra.  For Shelley Luther, who risked it all to keep her business operating during the COVID-19 lockdowns, achieving success by reforming the very bureaucratic system that almost broke her could represent the greatest vindication after her many trials.  Luther defeated incumbent State Rep. Reggie Smith, earning 53.42 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary election, according to KRQX.  Luther, a former Dallas salon owner, gained national attention for defying COVID-19 shutdown orders in 2020.  What began as an act of civil disobedience opposing COVID-19 business closure orders turned into a weeks-long legal saga that ultimately prompted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to amend his pandemic executive orders.

Truth Social, Other Websites Experience Unexplained Outages During Biden's Divisive SOTU Speech.  When I went to the social media platform Truth Social Thursday evening to see if Donald Trump was reacting to President Biden's stunningly divisive State of the Union speech, I was greeted with a white screen.  Turns out Truth wasn't the only site that went down during the diatribe — reports are that a slew of government and media sites were affected as well.  Most are back up as of this writing, but the cause for the outages has not been determined.  [Tweet]

House passes $460 billion package to fund six government agencies just three days before another shutdown.  The House on Wednesday passed a $460 billion spending package that will fund six agencies of government, relying Democratic support to make up for the majority of Republicans who opposed it.  The bill passed 339-85, with 132 Republicans voting yes, 83 voting no, and all but two Democrats voting for it.  The package brought together funding for Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under one vote.

Texas AG Ken Paxton Pledges Revenge Against All Bush Republicans Who Targeted Him and Donald Trump.  NBC is clutching their pearls as Texas AG Ken Paxton celebrates dozens of victories for his endorsed state candidates who primaried Bush-supported Republicans.  Additionally, his endorsements and support for the challengers in Texas has led to an additional ten runoff elections, including the potential removal of Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan who led impeachment proceedings against him.  The media uses terms like "revenge" and "anger," however, most of the MAGA coalition smile and think of Paxton as the leading candidate to be nominated by President Trump for U.S Attorney General next year.

Haiti Declares State of Emergency.  Haiti's National Penitentiary in the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince, was overrun by armed gang members over the weekend as protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry have raged for nearly a month.  Nearly all of the 4,000 inmates are believed to have escaped, and the Government of Haiti declared a state of emergency last night, and announced a curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.  March 4 to March 6.

The U.S. national debt is rising by $1 trillion about every 100 days.  The debt load of the U.S. is growing at a quicker clip in recent months, increasing about $1 trillion nearly every 100 days.  The nation's debt permanently crossed over to $34 trillion on Jan. 4, after briefly crossing the mark on Dec. 29, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  It reached $33 trillion on Sept. 15, 2023, and $32 trillion on June 15, 2023, hitting this accelerated pace.  Before that, the $1 trillion move higher from $31 trillion took about eight months.  U.S. debt, which is the amount of money the federal government borrows to cover operating expenses, now stands at nearly $34.4 billion, as of Wednesday.  Bank of America investment strategist Michael Hartnett believes the 100-day pattern will remain intact with the move from $34 trillion to $35 trillion.

Texas Sheriff:  Suspicious Tesla Drowning Death Of Mitch McConnell's Chinese Communist Party Sister-In-Law Under "Criminal Investigation".  Last week, we reported on the suspicious death of Chinese Communist Party member, shipping CEO and sister-in-law of Kentucky Senator Mitch Mcconnell after she backed her Tesla into a pond and drown, or was she hacked?  Now, a "criminal investigation" is under way, according to a Texas sheriff.  First, here's a recap of what took place, and keep in mind that this story was largely not covered by the Mockingbird media. [...] U2VlIEhUTUwgY29tbWVudHMu

Death of shipping CEO Angela Chao under 'criminal investigation,' Texas sheriff says.  The death earlier this month of Foremost Group CEO Angela Chao, the sister-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, is currently under "criminal investigation," a Texas sheriff's office said Thursday.  Chao, 50, was found dead shortly after midnight on Feb. 11 after being pulled out of a car that had gone into a pond on a private ranch in Johnson City, Texas, about 40 miles from Austin.

Foremost Group CEO Angela Chao died after car went into Texas pond, sheriff says.  Angela Chao, CEO of Foremost Group and the sister-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, died after her car went into a pond on a private ranch about 40 miles west of Austin, Texas, authorities said Friday.  Chao's family on Wednesday announced she died in a car accident on Sunday, but did not disclose details of the incident at that time.  On Friday, the Blanco County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that on Saturday, it "responded to a possible water rescue on a private ranch located in Blanco County, TX."  "On arrival Blanco County deputies along with Blanco County EMS and Fire recovered the body of Angela Chao from a pond on the ranch," the statement said.

Angela Chao, sister of former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, dies in Texas car accident.  Angela Chao, chief executive of a major shipping company and former board member of the state-owned Bank of China, died in a car accident in Texas on Sunday, according to her family and multiple published reports.  Ms. Chao, 50, was head of the Foremost Group and the sister of former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is married to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.  "It is with a heavy heart and deep sadness that I announce the passing of my beloved youngest daughter, Angela Chao," her father, James S.C. Chao said in a statement.  No details of the accident Feb. 10 were available.

Just How Desperate Are Democrats?  Federal Agencies Get New Duty - Voter Registration.  As President Joe Biden's mental and physical state, along with his abysmal record, cause his election polling numbers to plummet, Democrats seem more and more desperate for some sort of magic bean to make it all go away. [...] Now, it appears as if it is literally an all-hands-on-deck approach to the 2024 election.  While the one thing both Democrats and Republicans might agree on is that voter registration is key, Democrats have figured out that, with federal agencies under their control, why not put them to work?  Wait a minute, don't they already have a specific function?  Well, yes, but now there will be another added responsibility:  voter registration.  [Tweet]

The return of the draft just got more likely.
US Army:  We'll Solve Our Recruiting Woes by Slashing 24K Positions.  We've reported on the recruiting problems plaguing the United States armed forces.  To put it bluntly, it hasn't been going well.  So what to do if you're the U.S. Army?  Stop with the focus on "woke" like DEI and transgender issues?  Treat the military with respect?  Nah.  If you're operating under the Biden administration, you simply cut your numbers.  It's easier than solving the problem.  To wit, the Army on Tuesday released an "Army Force Structure Transformation" paper that announced a force reduction of 24,000 positions — roughly five percent of the force.  Problem solved.  [Tweet]

In win for Paxton, court declares $1.7 trillion federal omnibus was passed unconstitutionally.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday secured a major victory in his challenge to the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package passed in 2022, with a court declaring that the bill was approved unconstitutionally.  President Joe Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 in December of the prior year.  The measure effectively set the federal budget for the year by wrapping the 12 annual appropriations bills into a single piece of legislation.  Paxton, however, had argued that the House's passage of the measure was unconstitutional as less than half of the lower chamber's members were physically present to vote on it.  Many lawmakers who were not present voted by proxy.  Paxton had specifically challenged stipulations in the bill that affect his state.

Visiting the World's Strangest Country.  Arguably the strangest country in the world is one which most have not heard of.  I speak of Turkmenistan, a landlocked country in Central Asia. [...] The next day, our guide's father and his friend drove us four hours north through the desert, passing roaming camels, to the famous Darvaza gas crater. 50 years ago, Soviet engineers were drilling for oil over a sinkhole which collapsed under them.  Natural gas was leaking through the ground.  The engineers lit the gas to burn it off, keeping it from polluting the surrounding air.  After it was lit, they tried to put out the multiple flames, all without success.  50 years later the gas pit is still burning and is a popular and fascinating tourist attraction.

Wyoming's Rare Earth Breaks China Dependency.  There is excellent news for the American industry, economy, and international trade sectors.  The discovery of colossal rare earth deposits in Wyoming could essentially restructure the global supply chain of these crucial elements in the near future.  A discovery of 2.34 billion metric tons of rare earth elements (REEs) in a mine outside of Sheridan, Wyoming, has generated great excitement across industries stateside.  For one, the reserves are estimated to be bigger than China's current reserves, implying that this single find could end America's reliance on Chinese exports if exploited judiciously.  According to available data, the U.S. uses about 8,300 metric tons of these vital elements annually.  The Brook Mine in Wyoming is believed to have reserves totaling 1.2 million metric tons, making America the world's largest processor of some of the most in-demand REEs.

The Editor says...
Why am I the only skeptic in town?  Do you really believe that these mineral deposits were just recently "discovered" in Wyoming?  It is far more likely that the owners of the mine have been keeping quiet, knowing exactly what they've got, holding out for a more favorable price.  The time to cash in is now, because the demand for electric cars has already reached its peak.

Judge rules Texas school legally punished Black student for his hair.  A judge ruled Thursday that a Black student who was suspended for months over his locs hairstyle was legally punished by the school district.  Darryl George, 18, had been told by his school district in suburban Houston that he was breaking the rules about student appearance and dress code.  State District Judge Chap Cain III ruled in favor of the Barbers Hill School District on Thursday, saying the district has not violated a new state law prohibiting race-based hair discrimination.  The issue centered around the length of George's hair.  George and his family say his hairstyle is protected by a state law known as the Texas Crown Act.

Trucker Chicago Ray takes down viral NYC protest video, insists no one got to him.  A trucker known as "Chicago Ray" took down a video calling on truckers to boycott deliveries to New York City in response to the $350+ million fine leveled against Donald Trump in the civil fraud trial brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who campaigned for office on going after the former president — Trump was also barred from operating his business in New York for three years.  In a follow-up video, Chicago Ray said he stands by what he said in the original profanity-laced video but decided to pull it after his grandson saw it on TikTok and was hurt by it.  At the same time, he insisted no one got to him.  "Look, I'm not no figurehead here.  I'm no leader of any movement, not going on any podcast or, you know, doing any GoFundMe's or anything like that, you know, I'm who I am," he said.  "I heard chatter and I let you guys know what I heard."

Waste of the Day:  Almost Bankrupt New York Hospital Paid Four Retired Doctors $8.9 Million.  Nassau University Medical Center on Long Island, New York is in danger of going bankrupt, but that didn't stop it from doling out pensions that rank among the highest in New York state.  Four retired doctors each earned over $2 million in pensions since 2017, according to OpenTheBooks.com. [...] The four doctors took home a total of $8.9 million of taxpayer money in the last seven years.  Only $2.4 million of that money came from actual salaries; the rest came from pensions after the doctors retired.  The four doctors collectively put in just five years of work since 2017.

MS Society defends staff who sacked 90-year-old volunteer because she 'asked what pronouns meant' despite furious backlash.  The National MS Society has defended firing a 90-year-old volunteer for breaching its diversity and inclusion policy after she asked what pronouns were.  Fran Itkoff had served the non-profit for multiple sclerosis patients for 60 years, with her late husband running the Long Beach Lakewood chapter prior to his death.  She was left stunned when her bosses forced her to step down on January 19 following an exchange with a colleague who asked her to use her pronouns in an email signatures.

The Editor says...
Here's how to fix this problem:  Never give the National MS Society another dime.  Name one charity that was established for the purpose of eradicating a specific disease, that successfully eliminated that disease and then disbanded.

What Can a MS Charity Teach Us About Medical Propaganda?  As organizations grow larger (e.g., the MS society is the 63rd largest charity in the USA and now takes in over 200 million dollars a year), their focus switches from their mission (e.g., helping MS) to simply protecting the institution's interests.  Note: this applies to many large charities.  For example, the pink breast cancer group, Komen ("for the Cure"), is notorious for also raising around 200 million annually, taking very questionable corporate sponsors, spending very little of their budget on cancer research or patients, and suing many other "competing" charities).  Throughout my life, I've observed that any organization tasked with "solving a problem" will inevitably fail to solve the problem because it has an inherent conflict of interest against the problem being solved (due to the funding or political power it receives then disappearing), and sadly will instead often make it the problem worse (which in turn "necessitates" more funding to "solve" that problem).  Recently, I learned from a reader one term for this dynamic is "The Shirky Principle," and as this MS documentary shows, all of the above issues are seen in MS societies around the world (including lawsuits against anyone competing with their monopoly on eventually "curing" MS).

Soros Prepares Takeover Of 200 Radio Stations Ahead Of US Presidential Election.  America's second-largest radio broadcaster could soon emerge from bankruptcy with a new shareholder:  Soros Fund Management.  According to Bloomberg, the investment firm founded by the Trump-hating billionaire George Soros has acquired $400 million of Audacy's highest-ranking debt. [...] Audacy owns 235 radio stations in 48 media markets across the US and is the second-largest broadcaster behind iHeartMedia.

The Editor says...
Nobody will force you to listen to the radio.  You don't necessarily have to listen to music wherever you go.  Nobody will demand that you listen to the George Soros stations.  (I haven't listened to the radio in my car since late November.  After a while, you won't miss it.)

US Used 'Flying Ginsu' Multi-Bladed Missile To Shred Iran-Backed Terrorist Leader In Iraq.  The U.S. used a multi-bladed weapon to kill Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Baqr al-Saadi in February.  The U.S. targeted al-Saadi in Iraq on Feb. 7 out of retaliation for Kataib Hezbollah's attacks against a military base in Jordan in late January that killed three U.S. troops.  The weapon that was used to kill al-Saadi is a modified hellfire "flying ginsu" missile wielding six long blades, which was previously unreported in the aftermath of the strike, defense officials told The Wall Street Journal.  The AGM-114 R9X hellfire missile, sometimes referred to as a Ginsu or a ninja bomb, does not contain a warhead and does not explode on impact, instead utilizing a ring of blades that shoot out seconds before impact to shred its target, according to military media outlet C4ISRNET.

Backstabbers.  Late last week President Biden dispatched administration officials to conciliate offended opponents of Israel's war on Hamas.  They were sent — where else? — to America's jihad capital (i.e., Dearborn).  The delegation included deputy national security adviser Jon Finer and USAID administrator Samantha Power.  Their object was to smooth relations with the locals.  Readers with a long memory may recall Samantha Power as the author of "A Problem From Hell" and an Israel hater who served in the Obama administration.  Power now serves as the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.  She and her friends are themselves a problem from hell.

Biden Sends Delegation to Meet With Hamas Supporter.  Hamas supporters in Michigan have rallied to warn that they will not vote for Biden unless he stops Israel from bombing their terror group.  After a previous delegation came and was rejected, Biden dispatched a high-level delegation led by Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer.  Whom did Finer meet with?  Hamas and Hezbollah supporters in the most literal and direct sense of the word.

Maui [is] 'Ground Zero' for Release of Billions of Biopesticide Lab-Altered Mosquitoes.  Up to 775,992,000 bacteria-infected mosquitoes could be released in Maui every week for the next 20 years, according to Hawaii Unites, an environmental advocacy group that last month lost its bid to require the state to conduct an environmental impact statement before allowing the controversial project to proceed.  Hawaii Unites in May 2023 sued the state in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit in Hawaii.  The group's president and founder, Tina Lia, told The Defender:  "These biopesticide lab-altered mosquitoes are already being released in East Maui.  Hawaii Unites has taken the state to court seeking a ruling to require an environmental impact statement for the project and comprehensive studies of the risks."

Americans' credit card debt hits record $1.13 trillion.  Americans' credit card balances climbed to a new record high $1.13 trillion, according to data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  Credit card debt increased by $50 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 alone, a 4.6% jump from the previous quarter.  The data on credit card debt comes as total household debt rose by $212 billion to reach $17.5 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the New York Fed's latest "Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit."

Seventy New York City employees charged with bribery and extortion, Justice Department says.  The Justice Department on Tuesday announced charges against 70 current and former New York City Housing Authority employees on allegations of corruption and bribery.  "These 70 defendants are accused of demanding kickbacks and bribes for access to no-bid contracts and lucrative, under-the-table deals," Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Ivan Arvelo said.  The defendants were "charged with allegedly accepting cash payments from contractors in exchange for awarding NYCHA contracts," according to federal officials.  New York City is home to the largest public housing program in the U.S., providing housing to more than 525,000 authorized residents, the city agency said in 2023.

Sadiq Khan praises 'innovative' French plan for higher parking charge for SUV owners.  Sadiq Khan has backed an 'innovative' plan in France for a higher parking charge for SUV owners.  The Mayor of London, who has previously been spotted being driven around using a convoy of luxury Range Rovers, appeared to praise the plan set out by his Parisian counterpart, Anne Hidalgo.  The proposal to hit SUV drivers with higher parking fees will be subject to a referendum tomorrow.  Ms Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris, announced the plan in December, declaring:  'It is a form of social justice.'

'Squad' Member Supports Drunk Drivers on House Floor, and Her Antics May Have Just Broken MADD.  A leftist Congresswoman from Washington might have just broken Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) with her speech about drunk driving illegal aliens.  MADD started as a concern about — try to stay with me on this — stopping people who drink too much alcohol from then driving a motor vehicle.  Candace Lightner lost her daughter to a drunk driver and in 1980 embarked upon an effort to put an end to the risky practice and MADD was born.  The organization now lobbies against "impaired," not just drunk, driving.  It creates public service announcements, writes prevention programs for schools, and has lobbied for laws making it easier to for police arrest and prosecutors to prosecute drunk drivers.  The scope of the group's work continuously increases depending on donations and government grants.  [Tweet]  In 2023, MADD spent $422,000 lobbying Congress and more than $1 million in the last three years alone, according to Open Secrets.

U.S. Navy Drops High School Diploma, GED Requirement for Recruits — What Could Possibly Go Wrong?  No Diploma?  No Problem!  The U.S. Navy has again lowered enlistment requirements as it struggles to meet self-inflicted recruiting goals.  We'll get to the latter in a bit.  Spoiler:  Perhaps Navy brass should have dropped Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals instead.

The U.S. just sold its helium stockpile.  Here's why the medical world is worried.  On Thursday, the U.S. government sold the Federal Helium Reserve, a massive underground stockpile based in Amarillo, Texas, that supplies up to 30% of the country's helium.  Once the deal is finalized, the buyer — which will likely be the highest bidder, the industrial gas company Messer — will claim some 425 miles of pipelines spanning Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, plus about 1 billion cubic feet of the only element on Earth cold enough to make an MRI machine work.  Regulatory and logistical issues with the facility threaten a temporary shutdown as it passes from public to private ownership, and hospital supply chain experts worry the sale could have serious consequences for health care down the road — especially when it comes to MRIs.

Congressional Republicans Present 'Defund Davos' Bill to Keep U.S. Money Out of WEF.  A group of congressional Republicans, led by Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), introduced a bill on Friday to ban American federal government agencies from giving grants or other taxpayer money to the World Economic Forum (WEF).  "Americans need to know that the WEF wants them to only drive an electric vehicle, sell their cars and use car sharing instead, eat bugs to help solve world hunger, and to always operate based on what's good for the 'global public' even when it comes at a detriment to their own lives," Rep. Perry's office told Breitbart News this weekend.

2 in Oklahoma accused of toppling country radio station tower to steal $100 in copper.  A man and a woman have been arrested for allegedly taking down part of an Oklahoma radio station's nearly 500-foot tower to steal some copper, Choctaw County Sheriff Terry Park says.  The tower, located in Hugo, belongs to Payne Media Group's station K95.5.  The radio station posted a video of the damage on Facebook following the vandalism that took place Jan. 15.  "Cut the guy-wire on one leg and that's what brought entire top sections down," the video's narrator, identified to Fox News by the station as Will Payne, says.  "And then, they proceeded to disassemble."  Cut hardware was shown as viewers were told how the transmission line connected to the antenna was targeted by the thieves.

The Editor says...
Public service announcement:  Copper theft is almost guaranteed to send you to prison.  In particular, copper that is in use can't be cut without setting off an alarm somewhere, or sending you to the hospital.  If you interrupt a broadcast station by knocking down a tower, you're in trouble with the feds, as well as the sheriff.  Copper scraps that resemble telephone cables, even remotely, will not be purchased by your local scrap yard.  The only way to keep the scrap yard from inferring the origin of your stolen copper is to melt it down into ingots, which would require an extremely hot furnace and a lot of other equipment that you don't have.  Such a process would also generate a lot of noxious smoke, which will cause the neighbors to call the cops.

House Budget Committee Makes History.  The Fiscal Commission Act (H.R. 5779) was the most important piece of legislation and was the subject of a vast majority of the markup session.  It would establish a sixteen-person statutory commission that would, among other things, educate and engage the American people on our nation's financial and fiscal challenges. [...] Four of the commission members would be fiscal experts who would not have a vote.  After receiving input and deliberating various options, the commission would make a package of fiscal reform recommendations designed to stabilize debt/GDP at no more than 100% within ten years and ensure the long-term solvency of various trust funds.  Everything would be on the table -- discretionary, mandatory, and revenues.  If a majority of the commission's voting members recommend a package of reforms with bipartisan support, it would receive an expedited vote in both houses of Congress and only require a simple majority vote in both houses for passage.

Massachusetts Hospital May Deny Care to Some Patients in the Name of Inclusivity.  Patients at a medical facility in Massachusetts will be denied medical care in the name of fostering a "safe, caring, and inclusive environment," according to a new policy.  The Milford Regional Medical Center, a 148-bed nonprofit acute-care facility and teaching hospital located in Milford, Mass., has cautioned individuals about refraining from using any "unwelcome words" related to race and gender, among other topics, and even body language and tone can result in the denial of service. [...] Individuals are encouraged to promptly report any offensive words or behaviors to the staff.

Pope Francis: 'I Like to Think of Hell as Empty'.  Pope Francis said this week he believes in hell but likes to think of it as "empty" because of God's great mercy.  "What I will say is not a dogma of faith but something personal," the pontiff said Sunday evening on the Italian television program Che Tempo Che Fa.  "I like to think of hell as empty; I hope it is," he told the show's host, Fabio Fazio.  This is not the first time the pope's hypotheses on hell have raised a stir.  In March 2018, for instance, the Italian daily La Repubblica reported that the pope had told his longtime friend, Eugenio Scalfari, founder of the newspaper, that he does not believe hell exists.

The Editor says...
The Pope's claim that nobody goes to Hell is a pernicious canard.  If his claim is true, he has just put the Catholic Church out of business.  The Pope is either badly mistaken (and incompetent), or he's lying.  In either case, he should step down.  Hell is a very real place.  Here's a public service announcement:  You only end up in Hell if you choose to go there, which you do by default, by rejecting the alternative, which is the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Over 80 Percent of Democrats Believe States Should Disqualify Trump from 2024 Ballot.  Eighty one percent of Democrats believe states should disqualify former president Donald Trump from presidential ballots, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll.  By contrast, 90 percent of Republicans believe states should keep Trump's name on the ballot.  Independents are more closely split:  44 percent believe states should remove Trump's name from ballots, while 56 percent believe states should allow Trump's name to remain on ballots.  Both Colorado and Maine have disqualified Trump from their respective primary ballots because his actions in the wake of the 2020 election allegedly violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which forbids individuals who have "engaged in insurrection" from seeking federal office.

Record Number Of Police Shot In 2023, Report Finds.  There was a record-breaking number of law enforcement officers shot in the line of duty in 2023, according to report from the National Fraternal Order of Police.  In 2023, there were 378 officers shot, a 60% increase since the FOP began tracking data back in 2018.  The data also showed that 46 police officers were killed.  "These horrifying statistics are a grim reminder of the War on Cops in this country.  A stain on our society," the FOP said.  "Last year, over 330 police officers were shot in the line of duty.  With the COVID-19 pandemic behind us and after so many Americans have seen the tragic consequences of the defund the police movement, it was our hope that these numbers would be a high-water mark," FOP President Patrick Yoes said.  "We were wrong."

Defense Secretary Remains Hospitalized, Spent Four Days in Intensive Care Following Complications, White House Never Informed.  The story of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recovering in the hospital broke Friday afternoon when the Pentagon first released a statement.  It was a bizarre first notification considering that Secretary Austin had been hospitalized since January 1st, and no official notification came until yesterday.  However, the story has grown even more bizarre.  Secretary Austin was in intensive care for four days following complications that stemmed from an elective procedure.  Today, it is discovered that the Pentagon never informed the White House that the Defense Secretary was not in command.  The National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and the National Security Council were unaware of Austin's incapacity until January 4th.  This is very strange.

Argentina Calls for Negotiations to Acquire Falkland Islands From U.K..  A heated transatlantic maritime dispute is being renewed.  On Wednesday, the administration of Argentine President Javier Milei issued a statement reasserting its claim to the Falkland Islands and calling on the United Kingdom, which claims the islands as its overseas territory, to reopen bilateral negotiations.  The Argentine government stressed that it wishes for control of the islands to be passed to Buenos Aires by diplomatic means, calling diplomacy — not war — "the only possible way to restore the exercise of [Argentina's] rights."

The Editor says...
Argentina tried to steal the Falkland Islands in the spring of 1982, and Argentina lost the brief war that followed.  There is no basis for "negotiations."

It's not just Trump:  Democrats are moving to bar Republicans from ballots nationwide.  As the decisions disqualifying former President Donald Trump from the 2024 election work their way through the courts, a new filing in Pennsylvania seeks the same "ballot cleansing" by barring Rep. Scott Perry.  It's only the latest effort targeting congressional candidates as Democrats seek to bar opponents as "insurrectionists" for questioning the election of President Biden.  We have become a nation of Madame Defarges — eagerly knitting names of those to be subject to arbitrary justice.  Former congressional candidate Gene Stilp, who's made headlines by burning MAGA flags with swastikas outside courthouses, filed the challenge.  Using the 14th Amendment to disqualify candidates like Perry is consistent with Stilp's signature flag-burning stunts.  But what's chilling is how many support such efforts, including Democratic officeholders from Maine's secretary of state to dozens of members of Congress.

California City Cancels Pride Month, Black History Month, Women's History Month.  The city of Huntington Beach, California, one of the last conservative strongholds in the deep-blue state, has voted to cancel all of the separate month-long celebrations for various identity groups in favor of a celebration of the common history of the town.

Three Cops in Washington State George Floyd 2.0 Case Are Completely Exonerated.  This case was supposed to have been George Floyd 2.0., but after a two-month-long trial, Tacoma, Wash. jurors made a different decision this week in acquitting three police officers accused of killing a black man.  Manuel (Manny) Ellis suffered a deadly heart attack while in police custody in March of 2020. Jurors would learn during a ten-week-long trial that Ellis was a troubled soul, overtaken by a meth habit, who was a diagnosed schizophrenic.  More than one political career was riding on the cops being found guilty of killing Ellis.  The mayor called for the officers to be fired on the spot.  A community leader demanded the cops be prosecuted.  She used the incident to win election to the city council.  And, after the Pierce County district attorney failed to bring charges against the cops, Democrat Governor Jay Inslee ordered the state attorney general to take over the case.  Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who's running for governor, threw the book at three of the officers on scene that night.

Nippon Steel Corporation Announces Acquisition Of United States Steel Corporation In Multi-Billion Dollar Deal.  The Japanese Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) announced Monday that it is acquiring the iconic United States Steel Corporation after the company entertained multiple offers.  NSC will purchase U.S. Steel for $55.00 per share and assume the company's debt equating to $14.9 billion, 40% higher than the company's stock price as of Friday, according to a press release by U.S. Steel.  The company was founded in 1901 in Pittsburgh by J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie through the merger of the Federal Steel Company and the Carnegie Steel Company. [...] NSC will continue to honor all agreements between U.S. Steel and the United Steelworkers Union, pointing to the company's history of working with unions.  U.S. Steel will maintain its name, brand and current American headquarters, operating under NSC.

Tourist chased away by furious Times Square characters for exposing 'biggest scam' in New York City.  A UK tourist looking to take selfies with some colorful characters ended up exposing one of the biggest scams in New York City.  Husnain Asif was walking in Times Square when he decided to take a TikTok video of himself with the Disney and Sesame Street characters that frequent the area.  Once Asif said 'thank you' and started walking away, all the characters who thought he had taken a photo ran after him, requesting that he pay them or delete the picture.  'Mickey Mouse is after me — don't fall for the scam people,' Asiff shouted.  Asif's video reached over two million views on TikTok since it was posted Wednesday, with users calling the characters in Times Square 'vicious.'

House Passes Annual Defense Bill, Extends Section 702 Surveillance Authority.  The House on Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense bill that will this year include an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's Section 702, the controversial law that permits warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals.  The House voted 310-118 in favor of the bill just before congressmen left for Christmas recess.  The annual national-defense bill was passed by the Senate Wednesday, and is now headed to President Joe Biden's desk to be signed into law.  The final version of the NDAA authorizes $886 billion in national-defense spending, an increase of $28 billion over fiscal year 2023.  The critical legislation provides a 5.2 percent raise for U.S. service members, the largest military salary increase in over 20 years.  Both Republicans and Democrats were largely in agreement over the provision, which also includes housing and child-care benefits for service members.  However, bipartisan debate arose concerning the reauthorization of Section 702.  Although the statute is intended to obtain intelligence by surveilling the communications of foreigners based overseas, Republican critics point out that it has been used to spy on American citizens who are in contact with foreign nationals.

New York High Court Just Handed Democrats Control of the House.  The New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, ruled that the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) tasked with redrawing congressional district lines be given another chance.  The significance of this decision is that the bipartisan commission couldn't agree on district lines in 2020, giving the task to the state legislature where Democrats have a super majority.  The map Democrats drew would have given the party 22 of 26 districts in the state and virtually destroyed the Republican party.  Thankfully, a state judge ruled that the grossly gerrymandered map needed to be fairer, and a special master then redrew the lines.  That map gave Republicans a three-seat pickup in the state and an eventual partisan split of 15-11 in favor of Democrats.  But now, the Court of Appeals has ruled that because the map used in 2022 was imposed on procedural grounds, another round of map drawing starting with the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission must be undertaken.

Is any other country intimidated by male soldiers who think they need access to tampons?
Canadian military to provide tampons for male soldiers.  All Canadian military bases will soon be required to have menstruation products in the men's restroom to align with the federal government directive issued by Employment and Social Development Canada to promote "inclusivity," with the initiative expected to kick off on Dec. 15.  Major Soomin Kim from the Department of National Defence confirmed the policy.  He told True North, "Starting December 15, 2023, as per the Canada Labour Code, all federally managed washrooms will be required to provide menstrual products to all employees."  The guidelines put out by the Government of Canada dictate that menstrual products, such as pads and tampons "must be readily available in all toilet rooms in workplaces controlled by the employer."

Holiday shoppers [are being] warned of [a] disturbing gift card scam likely padding Chinese bank accounts.  The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office is warning the public of a disturbing and "very sophisticated" gift card scam that has national and international implications.  The sheriff's office told Fox News Digital this week it carried out a massive anti-retail theft operation at big box stores across the county, netting 285 felony and misdemeanor arrests in seven days.  Among those arrested was a Chinese national who was found to be in possession of thousands of Target and Apple gift cards.  "During our recent retail theft Operation Bad Elf, detectives observed an individual, later identified as Ningning Sun, acting suspiciously near the gift cards in the payment aisles in a Sacramento Target store," the sheriff's office said in a press release Wednesday.  The office said investigators witnessed Sun take all the gift cards off a rack in a Target store and put them inside his jacket.  Authorities said the suspect then replaced the missing cards with "another set of seemingly identical ones."

Speaker Johnson reverses course again on FISA and pulls both bills.  Neither of the two bills to reauthorize and reform a powerful spy tool used by American intelligence agencies will be voted on this week after the Rules Committee pulled the legislation amid intense backlash.  Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who sits on the Rules Committee, confirmed to the Washington Examiner that neither the House Judiciary Committee nor Intelligence Committee bills to reauthorize and reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act would be voted on this week.

'Woke' Kellogg's Froot Loops Faces Boycott Calls for Attempting to Indoctrinate Kids.  Forget the days of games, puzzles, mazes and jokes on the backs of cereal boxes.  Nowadays, manufacturers are dishing up heaping helpings of woke propaganda for customers to gobble up along with all of the sugar, preservatives and artificial colors.  Many former fans are toying with the idea of a boycott since word started circulating on social media about Kellogg's Froot Loops promoting a digital library "with equity, diversity and inclusion content" advertised on boxes of the cereal in Canada.  "Let's loop together.  Celebrate the diversity that makes our world colorful," the message on the boxes proclaimed in both English and French.  Conservatives, however, have taken a dim view of the idea, knowing that diversity, equity and inclusion policies have typically been a vehicle for influencing children to reject traditional views about gender.

Amazon Prime Video Removes 'The Plot Against the President' Documentary Without Explanation.  Amazon has blacklisted the Amanda Milius-directed documentary The Plot Against the President by removing the title from its Prime Video streaming service without explanation.  Consumers are no longer able to digitally rent or purchase The Plot Against the President from the platform.  Amazon searches performed by Breitbart News produced different results.  In some cases, such as using the Prime Video app, the title doesn't appear at all.  In other cases, the movie does appear but with a message saying "This video is currently unavailable to watch in your location."  It remains unclear when Amazon took down the movie, though it appears to have happened in the past two months.

Pope Francis Invites 44 Transgenders Who Work as "Prostitutes" to Vatican for Lunch.  The commie Pope invited a busload of 44 transgenders to the Vatican for lunch.  "On Sunday, the women — many of whom are Latin American migrants and work as prostitutes — joined over 1,000 other poor and homeless people in the Vatican auditorium as Francis' guests for lunch to mark the Catholic Church's World Day of the Poor," AP reported.  In July, Pope Francis told a transgender that "God loves us as we are."  Also, earlier this month, the Vatican's doctrinal office announced that transgender people can receive baptisms, serve as godparents and be witnesses in religious ceremonies in the Roman Catholic Church.

Air Force base warns service members to avoid 'patriot' rally with speaker from pro-Trump group.  The leadership at an Air Force base in North Dakota sent a text message to service members to warn them of the dangers of being near a downtown rally that featured a speaker from a pro-Trump organization.  "Leaders, please exercise caution if downtown this weekend," reads the text message that was sent to Minot Air Force Base personnel, adding that anyone who was thinking about going downtown should "be careful" and "reach out for any concerns."  At issue was a planned Nov. 17 event dubbed the "Dakota Patriot Rally" at the state fairgrounds in Minot, and the text warned personnel "to be cautious" if they were in the area, especially because some rally-goers "could be confrontational to military members."  The text, which was shared with the popular "Air Force amen" Facebook page, also noted that the event would feature a guest speaker from Turning Point Action, which the warning noted is an "alt-right" organization.

The Editor says...
[#1] The adults in the Air Force are able to decide for themselves with whom they should associate in their spare time.  [#2] Turning Point Action is not an organization that is hostile to the military.  [#3] May I please see the complete list of dangerous "alt-right" organizations, and the reasons they pose a threat?

Reaction:
Leadership at Minot Air Force Base responds to criticism over message on attendance at conservative rally.  Leadership with the 5th Bomb Wing on Minot Air Force Base is responding after a message about attendance to a conservative political rally in Minot this past weekend drew criticism. [...] Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, responded to news of the message by releasing a statement that reads, in part:  "First of all, if somebody disguised as a 'leader' at Minot Air Force Base actually put out this hyper partisan left wing political message, they need to rescind it immediately.  They need to apologize for it profusely and then they need to encourage the airmen at Minot Air Force Base who are inclined to attend a conservative, traditional American values rally to do exactly that and bring a friend.  Then that leader, the so-called leader needs to be removed from their position."

U.S. Soldier:  Army Demands Cash for Gear Ordered Left Behind in Afghanistan.  It has seemed fairly obvious, especially since the disastrous withdrawal that left thousands of Americans and allies stranded in the hellhole of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, that the Biden administration hates our military.  Congressmen were exempted from the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but West Point cadets and military members had to get jabbed or get sacked.  The Biden administration is still pouring billions of dollars we don't have into Ukraine, where a horrifying number of young Ukrainian men have died for no purpose; and the government has new wads of cash to expend on toxic, inefficient, and unreliable "green" energy.  But one soldier who is separating from the military found that the Army expected him to cough up between $500 and $1,000 to pay for military gear that the soldier was told he had to leave behind in Afghanistan!

Unseen footage shows doctors who treated JFK after his 1963 assassination challenging official narrative that Lee Harvey Oswald was lone gunman.  Doctors who tried to save the life of President John F Kennedy after he was shot in 1963 said they believed there was 'more than one shooter' in interviews that are set to air for the first time.  The medics spoke out in 2013 but the footage was kept under wraps for a decade.  It will feature in new documentary JFK Assassination:  What Happened in the Trauma Room?, which airs on Channel 5 on Sunday.  Kennedy was shot during an official visit to Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963 and pronounced dead after arriving at the Parkland Memorial Hospital.  Official investigations concluded that he was assassinated by lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald from a sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.  But numerous books and documentaries have challenged that conclusion in the six decades since the killing.  The seven doctors who spoke out treated Kennedy at Parkland, where he was taken to in his open-top limousine after being shot in the head.

JFK Assassination Doctors Break Silence, Dispute Key Government Claim.  Several doctors who were in the emergency room when former President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 raised serious doubts about the official narrative that says a lone gunman was responsible, according to a new documentary featuring interviews conducted in 2013.  The federal Warren Commission established that two shots fired by lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald, who was located in the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, struck President Kennedy from behind as he was traveling in a motorcade in Dallas.  One of the bullets entered his upper back and exited near his larynx, while the second bullet entered the right side of his head and exited via his forehead.  The former president was breathing when he entered Parkland Hospital before he was pronounced dead about a half an hour later.  However, what seven doctors said in the recent footage disputes the commission's claims about the event.

Bidenflation Stubborn At 17.0%, Hurts Americans.  The dark reality of Bidenomics is 17.0% inflation under President Biden's watch.  When he took office, inflation was at just 1.4%.  Biden's policies are a complete and utter failure that has led to stagflation in the United States.  Inflation is a tax on citizens, forcing them to spend $709 a month more than they did two years ago.  Inflation has stayed above the Federal Reserve's 2% target for 32 consecutive months.  According to the Labor Department, average hourly earnings for all employees dropped 3.32% to $11.05 in October from $11.43 in January 2021 when Biden assumed office.  Despite nominal salary increases at their fastest pace in years, American workers are now worse off than two years ago.

Pope Francis' Removal Of Conservative Texas Bishop Exposes More Cracks In The Vatican's New Agenda.  The inevitable occurred last weekend when Pope Francis ousted Bishop Joseph Strickland from his Diocese of Tyler, Texas for reasons not yet provided, after "an exhaustive inquiry into all aspects of the governance and leadership of the diocese" was initiated back in June. [...] It just so happens that Strickland received the June 24 "apostolic visitation" days after he returned from leading a prayer procession in response to the honoring of a blasphemous, anti-Catholic hate group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, on the Dodgers' 10th annual "Pride Night," a date which coincided with the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  The Vatican's timing in all of this was, as always, impeccable.  A survey of the issues Bishop Strickland speaks out on should leave Catholics in no doubt as to how Rome regards this orthodox, humble, and courageous prelate, and the gentle influence he has among American Catholics.  Strickland has labeled abortion and same-sex "marriage" policies as transhumanist ideas that are being advanced as part of a "godless agenda."

National Security Agency Fights Whiteness and 'Transmisogyny,' Claims Sex Is 'Assigned at Birth'.  In the realm of national security, how important is genderqueerness?  According to a recently revealed document, it deserves great regard.  The Daily Wire has published the National Security Agency's 34-page Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Glossary.  The list of terms and their meaning solidly set the Defense Department's Woke level to Red. [...] The NSA confirms that sex isn't biological; rather, it's "assigned at birth."

The Editor says...
In case you attended public schools, I would like to point out for the sake of clarity that nobody's sex is "assigned at birth."  One's sex is determined at the moment of conception by the immutable laws of genetics.  You cannot change your sex by dressing differently or by cutting off body parts.

Santa Claus Comes Early for the Swamp.  The House is under new management but is operating under business as usual as it prepares to pass a continuing resolution (CR) that once again extends spending levels and policies pushed through by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in last December's lame duck session.  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is moving a laddered CR that extends current spending levels for Agriculture, Energy and Water, Military Construction-VA and Transportation-HUD spending bills through January 19 with the remaining eight bills extended through February 2.

No matter how bad the economy gets, government jobs are doing fine.  Government job creation is high and growing.  Private-sector job creation is much slower.  This shouldn't be a surprise — the pseudo-government agency called the Federal Reserve has guaranteed that private sector job growth will slow and may reverse.  Fed policy created this extreme imbalance in the private economy — first, by printing $8 trillion under Q.E., which led to the inflation we experience today.  Second, by raising interest rates as high and as fast as they did, Fed policy all but guarantees that the private sector will go into a recession.  But government programs and employees will prosper while citizens pay off the debt for generations.  The "irony" is that all these printed dollars (Q.E.) went into government spending programs and federal employment, through purchase of Treasury bonds by another agency, the Federal Reserve.  The real kicker is that neither political party is willing to curb government spending and thereby stop the growth in government control over our lives.

Maya Kowalski Wins $260 Million Groundbreaking Judgment Against JHACH.  It's official.  Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital has been found liable for the medical kidnapping of Maya Kowalski, medical malpractice, billing fraud, and driving Beata Kowalski to suicide.  In a groundbreaking decision, a Florida jury found the hospital liable for every charge brought forward by the plaintiffs and awarded compensatory damages in the amount of just over $211 million.  Then they awarded $50 million in punitive damages against the hospital that colluded with DCS to falsely imprison a medically complex child over false allegations that her mother had Munchausen by Proxy.  There's never been a victory like this before in civil court.

Colorado's health care exchange donating to left-leaning political interest groups.  Two state senators are calling for an audit of Connect for Health Colorado after a CBS News Colorado investigation found the organization was giving money to certain political organizations and funding political functions like galas and helping certain political organizations with fundraising.  Connect for Health receives millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, both directly and indirectly.  Not only does the legislature allocate money, but insurance companies also pay donations to the nonprofit in lieu of paying premium taxes.  It also receives fees on health care premiums when it sells policies.  Its 2023 budget is $52 million — a 9% increase over last year — and its CEO admits some of that money mistakenly went to left-leaning political interest groups, including ProgressNow.

If they really had a backbone, they would eliminate the whole Department of Transportation.
House approves bill slashing Pete Buttigieg's salary to $1.  The House approved a measure late Tuesday that would slash Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's taxpayer-funded government salary to just $1.  The bill — which was introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. — was passed via voice vote Tuesday as an amendment to the 2024 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, the standalone funding bill for the General Services Administration, Securities and Exchange Commission and other related agencies.  "I'm proud to announce my amendment to FIRE Pete Buttigieg just PASSED the House.  Pothole Pete staged fake bike rides to the White House and used private planes funded by taxpayers to receive awards for the way certain people have sex," Greene said in a social media post Tuesday.  "American taxpayers should not be on the hook for paying for his lavish trips or his salary."

Israel Shoots Down Ballistic Missile Fired From Yemen in Huge First.  On Monday [11/6/2023], Israel shot down a ballistic missile in flight outside of the Earth's atmosphere.  This marks a historical first time that an anti-ballistic missile has successfully intercepted a target in space during combat.  The missile was fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen and was targeting Israel.  The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used their Arrow anti-ballistic missile defense system, which is a joint American-Israeli project first deployed in Israel over 20 years ago.

Forty-Five U.S. Troops Report Injury in Iraq, Syria Drone Attacks, More Than Twice the Number Disclosed by Pentagon.  At least 45 Americans claim to have been injured in recent attacks in Iraq and Syria, more than twice as many as the Pentagon previously disclosed, according to a new report.  The Pentagon initially claimed that 21 service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of two drone attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, but an additional 24 troops have since reported such injuries, NBC reported Monday, bringing the total number of injured troops to 45.  That number may rise as more troops come forward.  NBC News has tallied at least 38 separate attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in Syria and Iraq since October 17, mainly by one-way drones, mortars or rockets.

Artist Couple Sue Texas City for Unconstitutional Restrictions on Murals.  Is a complaint that the colors of a mural on a private property are too bright valid?  Can it prompt a city to impose broad-brush restrictions on murals?  Waller, northwest of Houston, Texas, has done just that.  Its Mural Ordinance #609 sets into law arbitrary aesthetic and commercial preferences, thus violating free speech — deeply embedded in American identity and enshrined in the First Amendment. [...] [O]n February 20, Waller came up with the ordinance, which essentially denies business owners the opportunity to advertise on their own property.  New murals must be registered with the city with a $500 fee before starting work.  Murals are not allowed on residential buildings, nor on the primary façade of any building.  Besides setting other conditions for upkeep of the murals and not causing traffic hazards, the ordinance bans gang symbols, commercial messages, and advertising on murals.  City attorney Arthur L. Pertile reportedly defended the ordinance, saying, "It allows for those people who may not care for public art not to have to see it every day."

The Editor says...
[#1] Who paints a mural on a railroad bridge?  A gang of "troubled inner-city youths."  Do gangs care about city ordinances?  [#2] How big does a sign have to be before it turns into a mural?

Pope Francis calls for a new theology not always 'corresponding to the Christian face of God'.  Pope Francis has issued new priorities and statutes for the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Theology, stating that a newly focussed theology is needed, based on a popular "common sense" that is "often not corresponding to the Christian face of God."  The Pope's comments came in a November 1 motu proprio, by which he issued new directions and new statutes for the Pontifical Academy of Theology (PATH).  [Tweet]  Francis wrote that the PATH has "constantly embodied the need to place theology at the service of the Church and the world," but that under his new directives, change would be ushered in.  "After almost five decades, the time has come to revise these norms, to make them more suitable to the mission that our time imposes on theology," the Pope wrote.  "A synodal, missionary and 'outgoing' Church can only be matched by an 'outgoing' theology."

Illinois city tickets reporter for asking too many questions.  Officials in a suburban Chicago community have issued municipal citations to a local news reporter for what they say were persistent contacts with city officials seeking comment on treacherous fall flooding.  The tickets from Calumet City, a city of 35,000 located 24 miles south of Chicago, allege "interference/hampering of city employees" by Hank Sanders, a reporter for the Daily Southtown, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.  It's the latest of several recent First Amendment dust-ups involving city officials and news outlets around the country, following this week's arrest of a small-town Alabama newspaper publisher and reporter after reporting on a grand jury investigation of a school district, and the August police raid of a newspaper and its publisher's home in Kansas tied to an apparent dispute a restaurant owner had with the paper.  Sanders reported in an Oct. 20 story that consultants told Calumet City administrators the city's stormwater infrastructure was in poor condition before flooding wrought by record September rains.  Officials say Sanders continued to call and email city employees, drawing complaints including from Mayor Thaddeus Jones, who is also a Democratic state representative.

Amazon made $1B with Project Nessie secret algorithm:  FTC lawsuit.  Amazon used a series of illegal strategies to boost profits at its online retail empire, including an algorithm that boosted prices to US households by more than $1 billion, the Federal Trade Commission detailed in a new court filing on Thursday.  The FTC lawsuit was filed in September but many details were withheld until Thursday when a version of the lawsuit with fewer redactions was made public in US District Court in Seattle.  Amazon, which has 1 billion items in its online superstore, created a "secret algorithm internally code named 'Project Nessie' to identify specific products for which it predicts other online stores will follow Amazon's price increases. ... Amazon used Project Nessie to extract more than a billion dollars directly from Americans' pocketbooks," the FTC said.  Amazon spokesman Tim Doyle said the FTC "grossly mischaracterizes" the pricing tool and the company stopped using it several years ago.

JD Vance to Continue Holding Up Biden DOJ Nominees Over Politicized Trump Indictments.  Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, said Wednesday he would continue to hold up nominations in the Justice Department over the targeting by the Biden administration of former President Donald Trump.  Special counsel Jack Smith secured a four-count indictment of Trump in August relating to the former president's efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election, months after a federal grand jury issued a 37-count indictment against Trump in June based on an investigation into allegations surrounding classified documents.  Some of Trump's top rivals for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 — Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy — have condemned the indictment as a weaponization of the Justice Department.  "This whole policy that I've implemented on Department of Justice nominees is unprecedented," Vance said on the Senate floor, referencing a complaint by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sam Bankman-Fried convicted of $10 billion fraud, capping crypto king's epic fall.  A Manhattan federal jury Thursday convicted Sam Bankman-Fried of stealing $10 billion from users of his crypto exchange and lying to lenders and investors — capping a fall from grace for an ex-billionaire once viewed as one of the crypto world's brightest stars.  The tech mogul was found guilty on all seven fraud and conspiracy charges for his scheme to swipe money from users of his FTX exchange to pay off debts at his failing hedge fund Alameda Research and purchase lavish real estate — leading to FTX's implosion roughly one year ago, which left thousands unable to withdraw their funds.  He faces up to 110 years in prison when he's sentenced on March 28.

Ex-Director of the DIA Gen. Mike Flynn Alleges Some U.S. Legislators Compromised by Globalists.  In a recent no-holds-barred conversation with political commentator Joy Thayer, ex-Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), General Michael Flynn, unveiled a shocking narrative surrounding the moral integrity of certain members within the U.S. legislature.  He alleged that the hold of globalist agendas over these officials stems from compromising situations they find themselves in during official overseas trips.  He expressed his disdain for what he described as a "totally, completely broken" House of Representatives, which he alleges is under the thumbs of corporate lobbyists and globalists.  According to Flynn, these external entities have managed to ensnare some legislators through compromising situations during Congressional Delegation (CODEL) trips overseas.  The former DIA chief's narrative took an even darker turn as he alleged that some of these trips saw members of both the Senate and the House being compromised through sleeping with children.

Japanese Scientists Develop Groundbreaking Drug That Grows New Teeth.  A team of Japanese scientists has developed a groundbreaking drug that stimulates the growth of new teeth — the first of its kind in the world.  Dr. Katsu Takahashi, lead researcher, co-founder of Toregem Biopharma, and head of dentistry and oral surgery at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, Japan, has been working on how to induce the growth of new teeth his entire career.  "The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist's dream.  I've been working on this since I was a graduate student.  I was confident I'd be able to make it happen," he said in an article in The Mainichi.

Earthquake rolls across the Bay Area Friday night.  An earthquake rolled across the Bay Area Friday night with residents from multiple Bay Area cities reporting they felt the shake.  The United States Geological Survey originally estimated the quake at a 4.0 magnitude with an epicenter near Millbrae.  It was upgraded shortly after to a 4.1 before being downgraded to a 3.9 and 3.7 magnitude quake.

CNN Shutters Atlanta Headquarters After More Than 35 Years.  CNN is set to shutter its original headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, following its final broadcast Friday [10/27/2023].  CNN host Kate Bolduan announced at the beginning of Friday's episode of News Central CNN that the program was the last presented by control rooms at the CNN Center in Atlanta.  The operation is prepared to move to the renovated 30-acre Turner Techwood campus in Midtown after more than 35 years of broadcasting, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [...] Bolduan showed live footage of the building set to close, taking note of the "big CNN sign" on top of the structure.  She noted that she and her fellow anchors work from New York, while the show's control rooms and much of the editorial staff work from the "iconic" CNN Center, also known as CNN's World News Headquarters.

Bidenomics at work:
Michelin to Close Oklahoma Tire Plant, Laying Off 1,400 American Workers.  Executives with France-based Michelin announced that they will soon close a tire production plant in Ardmore, Oklahoma, laying off 1,400 American workers in the process.  The decision comes as cheap foreign imported tires from low-wage countries flood the United States market.  On Thursday, Michelin executives said they would wind down production at the Ardmore plant.  Supporting industries and local businesses are likely to take a hit as well.

Israel Delays Ground Invasion Because US Is Unprepared to Defend Itself.  The story about why Israel has yet to make a ground invasion of Gaza is becoming clear, and it is yet another embarrassment for the United States under Joe Biden.  Israel has been prepared to enter Gaza to eliminate Hamas, but the ground invasion keeps getting delayed.  The reason why?  The US is unprepared to defend US military installations in the area.  [Tweet]  This is pathetic.  Absolutely pathetic.  However, I am not sure that the Biden Administration isn't just pressuring Israel to delay for other reasons as well, given their neverending expressions of concern for Gaza.

Bidenomics: U.S. Budget Deficit Explodes 23% Higher to $1.7 Trillion.  The U.S. budget deficit increased 23 percent to $1.7 trillion, an increase of $320 billion, in the year after the Biden administration pushed through the Inflation Reduction Act which it claimed would close the government's funding gap.  The explosive growth in the deficit came as revenue fell $457 billion from a year ago and expenses decreased by just $137 billion.  Total spending for the year came in at $6.134 trillion.  Spending would have been higher if the Supreme Court had not declared Biden's student loan forgiveness program illegal.

Judicial Watch Sues CDC for Records about Its Guidance on Breastfeeding by Males.  [Scroll down]  U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS) Senate Committee on Health, Education Labor and Pensions in July 2023 sent a letter to CDC Director Mandy Cohen, asking for information about the CDC's guidance for transgender women (biological men) who wish to breastfeed:  ["]We are writing to you with serious concern about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) guidance for biological men who identify as women (transgender individual) who wish to breastfeed.  CDC's Pledge to the American People commits that the basis of all public health decisions will be made on the highest quality scientific data that is derived openly and objectively.  This guidance, however, seems driven by political considerations rather than science, and the Agency has provided no explanation of the reasoning and data behind these recommendations.["]

RFK Jr.  Pivots to the Far Left, Voices Support for Reparations.  Independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his campaign team have openly supported reparations for blacks who descended from slaves, the New York Post reported.  Rather than give away straight cash to former slaves, Kennedy's campaign website suggests "targeted community repair."  Nonetheless, the surprise shift in tone following his recent exit from the Democratic Party leaves many on both the Right and Left wondering where he really stands as he seeks to shed the perception that he is a fringe candidate mainly appealing to disaffected supporters of former President Donald Trump.

The Editor says...
How many Trump voters want the government to pay for "reparations?"  Zero!  This move by Kennedy is nothing but bad news for the Democrats.

Are the Left's thought police about to cancel George Orwell?  Is George Orwell about to be cancelled?  This gaunt, scruffy Old Etonian has been a grave nuisance to the Left now for more than 80 years.  A revolutionary, an anti-imperialist, actually wounded in battle against the dictator Franco in the Spanish Civil War, he is over-qualified for socialist sainthood.  Having worked as a colonial policeman in Burma, Orwell renounced and condemned his actions in that post.  He lived as a tramp, worked for starvation wages in Paris, personally experienced the squalor and poverty of the Great Depression.  He cannot be dismissed as a public school elitist.  Yet he has also been one of the most effective and merciless critics of the failings of the Left.  In two mighty classics, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four he imperishably exposed and lampooned the Left's abiding tendency to intolerance, repression and the creation of police states.  He knew what he was talking about.  The Communists tried to murder him in Spain for being the wrong sort of socialist, and very nearly succeeded.

New Zealanders Kick a Few Ruling Class COVID Tyrants to the Curb.  The years of abuse by the political Left in NZ have taken a toll, and just enough voters would like a change in direction.  For how long?  Well, voters are a lot like bees, Pooh Bear.  You can never tell.  But New Zealand's progressive Labor government was famous for not letting the so-called pandemic crisis go to waste.  Their earlier gun-grabbing went so well that they paired their Western-style democracy up with a bit of despotism and took that for a spin on the dance floor.  I speak often about political yahoos scratching their totalitarian itch.  New Zealand's elites got zealous and broke it open, bleeding restrictions upon everyone.  They even used Santa to get kids to mask up and line up for COVID jabs.  Let's see if you were naughty or once — papers, please.

What's Going On All These Tanks And Armored Vehicles Rolling Through Colorado?  Colorado on Highway 85 just 2 days ago.  [Video clip]

Quagmire!
Joe Biden Prepares 2,000 U.S. Military Troops to "Support or Advise" Israeli War.  The U.S. military has selected roughly 2,000 troops to prepare for a potential deployment to support Israel, U.S. defense officials said.  The troops are tasked with missions like advising and medical support, the officials said, and they are from across the U.S. armed services.  They aren't intended to serve in a combat role, the officials said.  No infantry have been put on prepare-to-deploy order.  The troops are currently stationed both inside the Middle East and outside, including Europe, the officials said.  It isn't clear under what circumstances the U.S. could deploy the troops or to where, but the Pentagon decision signaled it is preparing to support Israeli troops should Israel launch a ground incursion into Gaza.

Republican Jeff Landry Smokes Democrat to Flip Louisiana Governor's Mansion Without Runoff.  Republican Jeff Landry won a landslide election on Saturday to flip the Louisiana governor's mansion red in one of three main gubernatorial elections this year, shocking political observers with a victory that saves him the trouble of having to face a Democrat in a November runoff.  Landry defeated Democrat Shawn Wilson and the rest of the field in Louisiana's gubernatorial election, winning about 52 percent of the vote.  In Louisiana, governor elections are first open to a full field of all candidates from either party in what is known as a jungle primary — and then the two top vote-getters generally advance to a runoff a month later.  But if a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, as Landry did here, they can win outright on jungle primary day.

Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party Thrown Out of Office in New Zealand Election.  The conservative National Party has emerged as the big winner in New Zealand's election, roundly beating Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party in what's being interpreted as a rejection of the Net Zero policies which were harming the country's farmers, as well as revenge for the draconian lockdowns Ardern imposed.

New Zealand resoundingly chooses conservative government over Labour.  New Zealanders have resoundingly elected a new conservative government as Chris Hipkins, the incumbent prime minister, conceded that Labour's six years in power were over.  The National party's Christopher Luxon said New Zealanders had "reached for hope and voted for change" after a campaign dominated by an increasingly difficult economic situation and a backlash against Labour's environmental policies among farmers.  "It's a weight off our shoulders," said Joe Lloyd, a sheep and beef farmer watching election coverage on television from his living room in the Waikato region.  Mr Lloyd was hoping for a National-ACT coalition and put his vote behind the minority party due to its staunch stance on standing up for rural communities.  Alastair Reeves, another Waikato-based sheep and beef farmer, said he was "thrilled" about the new government.  "Labour pitted urban New Zealand against rural New Zealand, and undermined our businesses by painting us as the polluters of the planet," he said.

New Zealand abandons Labour and shifts to the right as country votes for wholesale change.  New Zealand voters have delivered a forceful rejection of the Labour government as a surge in support for the National party delivered what analysts described as a "bloodbath" for the government and a new right-leaning era for politics in the country.  The result marked a dramatic change in fortunes for the Labour party, which three years earlier — led by Jacinda Ardern — secured a historic mandate, but saw its support dwindle in the face of rising living costs and the Covid pandemic.  Speaking to a large crowd of party-faithful at his election night event in Auckland, National party leader Christopher Luxon said his party was on course to form the next government with libertarian party Act.  "All over this country you have reached for hope and you have voted for change," Luxon said.

Ken Paxton Strikes Back, Seeks Criminal Charges Against Those Who Led Impeachment Effort.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is striking back against those who attempted to oust him through impeachment.  In an interesting twist, Paxton has announced his intention to file criminal complaints against the Board of Managers who were instrumental in his impeachment earlier this year.  The attorney general alleges that officials published his personal information, potentially placing him in danger. [...] Paxton was impeached in May on allegations of corruption.  He was later cleared by the Texas Senate after a two-week trial.  However, this latest move shows that his war with his political foes is far from over.  "The impeachment managers clearly have a desire to threaten me with harm when they released this information last week," Paxton said in a written statement.  "I'm imploring their local prosecutors in each individual district to investigate the criminal offenses that have been committed."

Rudy Giuliani Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Joe Biden.  Rudy has had enough of the Biden crime family.  He is tired of them lying about him to protect others from digging into their crimes. [...] As Rudy puts it, this revolves around Joe Biden, who runs the Biden crime family.  This gang embezzled and extorted millions and millions of foreigners and domestic crooks who asked for their help in dealing with their crimes.  The Bidens were happy to take money and would do anything for it.  This is a very sick family.

Rudy Giuliani is suing Joe Biden, saying the president tarnished his 'unimpeachable character' by calling him a 'Russian pawn' in 2020.  Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has filed a defamation lawsuit against President Joe Biden, alleging that the commander-in-chief tarnished his "unimpeachable character" by calling him a "Russian pawn" during an October 2020 presidential debate.  In a new lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Merrimack Superior Court in the state of New Hampshire, Giuliani's lawyers contend that Biden defamed Giuliani twice during a televised debate with President Donald Trump on October 22, 2020, when Biden was a candidate seeking the White House.  The lawsuit alleges that at two points during the debate, Biden falsely accused Giuliani of being a "Russian pawn," and dismissed Giuliani's criticisms of his son Hunter's laptop, claiming that the ex-mayor believed "a bunch of garbage."

Thousands of Walgreens pharmacy employees across the US to walk off the job.  Walgreens employees, pharmacists, technicians and support staff are set to walk off their jobs next week in protest of conditions they say threaten patient health and safety.  The protests are set to start on October 9 and run until October 11.  Employees have the option of protesting however long they like between the three days, organizers say.  It is being done in response to what pharmacy employees call 'burdensome prescription and vaccination expectations.'

Florida Dem Who Wants Her Student Loans Canceled Owns a $3 Million House.  The Democratic Party's pick to unseat Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R.) wants taxpayers to cancel her thousands of dollars of student debt.  She and her husband own a $3 million house.  That's nearly three times what former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and her husband Robert Powell paid for their Pinecrest, Florida, abode in 2009. The couple dropped $1.15 million on the 4,600-square-foot home, which boasts six bedrooms and five bathrooms, according to Miami-Dade County deeds.  Now, Mucarsel-Powell wants help with her student loan debt, which totals anywhere from $15,001 to $50,000, according to her 2021 financial disclosure.  In February 2019, Mucarsel-Powell complained that both she and her husband were still making loan payments.

Citing Congress' 'Complete Absence of Leadership, Vision, and Spine,' Lawmaker Threatens to Quit.  "I'm sick and tired of the gamesmanship when we're dealing with people's lives," a Republican congresswoman from Indiana says, threatening to quit over the GOP House leadership's inaction on the national debt, the open southern U.S. border, and Ukraine war funding.  Rep. Victoria Spartz, in her second term representing Indiana's 5th Congressional District, joined The Daily Signal for an exclusive interview, describing the House's fight over spending and leadership ahead of the 2024 campaign season.  On Monday, Spartz, 44, released a press statement announcing that she would consider resigning from Congress if "no debt commission [is] passed this year," intoning that she "will not continue sacrificing my children for this circus with a complete absence of leadership, vision, and spine."

Report: OpenAI's ChatGPT Maintains Blacklist of Websites, Including Breitbart News.  A self-professed "Comp Sci, Politics and Finance Nerd" claims to have discovered a list of blacklisted websites that OpenAI's ChatGPT-4 will not draw from, for reasons such as "conspiracy theories" and "hate speech" — a list that includes Breitbart News and other conservative outlets like the Epoch Times.  X/Twitter user Elephant Civics says he discovered the blacklist while asking ChatGPT to provide a list of credible and non-credible news sources.

Kari Lake Files FEC Paperwork to Run for US Senate in Arizona.  Kari Lake, a former Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate, has officially submitted paperwork to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), announcing her bid for the U.S. Senate.  After months of "seriously considering," Ms. Lake confirmed her intentions for a 2024 Senate campaign last week to The Wall Street Journal.  Her campaign filed the necessary paperwork on Tuesday, a week before her scheduled public announcement on Oct. 10.  Ms. Lake's goal is to secure the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.).  She has emphasized the need for "a senator in there who is going to fight back and put America first."

Well... was it true?
Swiss Writer Sentenced to 60 Days in Jail for Calling Journalist a 'Fat Lesbian'.  LGBTQ+ groups hailed the 60-day jail sentence a court in Switzerland gave to a writer and commentator for deriding a journalist as a "fat lesbian" and other critical remarks.  The Lausanne court sentenced French-Swiss polemicist Alain Bonnet, who goes by Alain Soral, for the crimes of defamation, discrimination and incitement to hatred on Monday.  He was ordered to pay legal fees and fines totaling thousands of Swiss francs (dollars) in addition to the time behind bars.

Vance Bill Would Require Actual Gender on U.S. Passports.  Sen. J.D. Vance is introducing legislation requiring a person's actual, biological gender on their United States passports.  The Ohio Republican's Passport Sanity Act would require the Secretary of State to ensure that all applications for passports, passport cards, or Consular Report of Birth Abroad documentation include only the gender designations of male and female, prohibiting any passport documentation that includes the unspecified X gender designation.  "The last thing the State Department should be doing is wasting its time and your tax dollars pushing far-left gender ideology," Vance told The Daily Signal.  "There are only two genders — passports issued by the United States government should recognize that simple fact.  I am proud to introduce this bill to restore some sanity in our federal bureaucracy."  Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy also introduced this legislation in the House in June.

The West Point conundrum:  How do you fight for a country you're taught to hate?  For decades, colleges and universities have been churning out people who hate America.  But what happens when the service academies, the places that ask young people to give their lives for their country and to lead others in doing so, also churn out America haters?  West Point instituted this [Diversity and Inclusion Studies] minor in 2020.  What put it on my radar is that, with the first graduates with that minor starting to leave West Point, the inestimable Daniel Greenfield looked at what it means for America when its primary Army academy is training its graduates in race hatred, among other things.

Kendi's Troubles Threaten the Whole 'Antiracist' Biz.  As blue-collar philosopher Eric Hoffer reportedly observed some years back, "Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket."  Ibram X. Kendi's brand of antiracism skipped the first two phases.  It was conceived as a racket.  Like most rackets, Kendi's depended for its success on finding suckers to support it.  Kendi found his at Boston University.  In a perverse effort to atone for imagined sins, the BU administration funded a Kendi brainchild, the Center for Antiracist Research.  Hysteria over the death of George Floyd inspired the center, but hysteria alone cannot sustain it.

Disney Employees Busted in Human Trafficking Operation.  It is no secret that monsters have been gravitating toward Disney and public schools due to the emphasis both place on the perverse sexualization of children.  So it comes as no surprise that those arrested in a Florida human trafficking operation include three Disney employees and a teacher.

Report: RFK Jr. [is] Planning To Run For President as [an] Independent.  I haven't paid much attention to RFK Jr.  He's been shut out of the Democrat Party process, where the powers that be don't want a challenger to Joe Biden or whomever they select to replace him as nominee.  But RFK Jr. has garnered a fair amount of support according to early polling, though how many of those people answering pollsters actually would vote for him remains to be seen.  He has spoken out strongly for border security and is very pro-Israel, which puts him at odds with the progressive wing of the party.  He's also an anti-vaxxer, which is a wild card issue IMO.

What the Senate's New Dress Code Is Really About.  Disputes over dress codes have been ongoing for decades, and defenders of high standards such as mandatory suits and ties have fought a losing battle. [...] This battle over appropriate attired has now reached the U.S. Senate, when Majority Leader Chuck Shumer (D-N.Y.) recently announced that Senate officers would no longer enforce sartorial standards for those on the Senate's floor.  Observers knew that this change was directed at a single senator, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who is typically attired in gym shorts, a hoodie, and cheap tee-shirts, an outfit light-years from the standard male Senate "uniform" of a business suit and tie.  To a lesser extent, the order targeted Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who had chaired Senate proceedings in a purple wig and zebra prints (no formal dress code for female senators, however).  Not everybody endorsed the new "anything goes" policy.  Forty-five Republican senators signed a letter objecting, with Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) putting it succinctly:  "The Senate floor is a special place.  It's not hard to show it some respect and dress like a grown-up."

The Man Amazon Erased.  On Thursday, May 25, Brandon Jackson, a software engineer in Baltimore County, Maryland, discovered that he was locked out of his Amazon account.  Jackson couldn't get packages delivered to his home by the retail giant.  He couldn't access any files and data he had stored with Amazon Web Services, the company's powerful cloud computing wing.  It also meant that Jackson, a self-described home automation enthusiast, could no longer use Alexa for his smart home devices.  He could turn on his lights manually, but only in the knowledge that Amazon could still operate them remotely.  Jackson soon discovered that Amazon suspended his account because a Black delivery driver who'd come to his house the previous day had reported hearing racist remarks from his video doorbell.  In a brief email sent to Jackson at 3 a.m., the company explained how it unilaterally placed all of his linked devices and services on hold as it commenced an internal investigation.  The accusations baffled Jackson.  He and his family are Black.  When he reviewed the doorbell's footage, he saw that nobody was home at the time of the delivery.

9/11 defendant at Guantanamo ruled unfit to stand trial due to CIA interrogation techniques.  A 9/11 defendant held at Guantanamo Bay was ruled unfit to stand trial this week after he was diagnosed as psychotic with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by a military medical panel due to the effects of the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" techniques years ago.  Col. Matthew McCall, a military judge, made the ruling late Thursday.  Ramzi bin al-Shibh, of Yemen, is accused of helping organize the 9/11 hijackers who commandeered four planes in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania, leaving nearly 3,000 people dead on Sept. 11, 2001.

Consequences of Government Weaponization.  As I think about the underlying meaning of this current cascade of events involving RFKjr., what troubles me most about this is that the decision by the Biden administration to withhold Secret Service protection from Mr. Kennedy might actually be a good thing.  Because I have come to the point where I have very little confidence that the US Secret Service would act in completely good faith to protect Mr. Kennedy from physical threats to life and limb.  Little faith that, even if a security detail was to be provided by the Biden administration, it would not be weaponized in some way to benefit the current president.  This lack of faith stems from having watched as federal agency after federal agency has been weaponized to support political and economic agendas of corporations and of the administrative state.  To my eyes, our permanent government (ergo the Leviathan) no longer even pretends to be a neutral arbiter of truth, a defender of the US constitution, a neutral enforcer of congressional laws, and a positive force committed to maintaining continuity of a civil society.

What a Coincidence — Potential RFK Jr Assassin Had Same Last Name as El Chapo's Wife, Who Was Released from Federal Prison The Day Before.  The potential assassin who was stopped by RFK Jr security has been identified.  His name is Adrian Paul Aispuro (44). {link} Keep in mind the incident happened on Thursday Sept 14, and the potential assassin had a U.S. Marshals badge.  One day earlier, Sept 13th, Mexican Cartel Leader El Chapo's wife was released from federal prison.  "We can confirm Emma Coronel Aispuro released from the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) today, September 13, 2023."  Now, I'm not saying they are related, and I'm not even saying there were any connections between them.  However, think about the way the U.S. govt (CIA) carries out domestic assassinations using unwitting patsies.  If RFK Jr had been assassinated, Adrian Paul Aispuro would be the perfect patsy.

Report: Cocaine Set to Replace Oil as Colombia's Top Export Under Socialist Rule.  Cocaine is set to overtake oil to become Colombia's main export as a result of far-left President Gustavo Petro's lenient drug policies, according to a report published by Bloomberg on Thursday.  The report follows a warning from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that the amount of coca being grown in Colombia and the nation's potential cocaine output have reached their highest levels in more than two decades.

AG Asst Who Claimed Ken Paxton Took Bribe via Kitchen Remodel Admits Remodel Never Took Place.  Once again, the innuendo and supposition by Ken Paxton accusers runs into reality.  Previously Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's personal assistant, Drew Wicker, made an accusation that a Texas donor named Nate Paul funded a kitchen remodel for Paxton.  A quid pro quo to sell influence.  However, during cross examination today, Drew Wicker admitted the kitchen remodel never took place, and the actual details of the home remodel being done by Paxton was taking place *after* the office "whistleblowers" went to the FBI with their ungrounded claims.  Paxton's attorney Tony Buzbee showed Drew Wicker pictures of the kitchen taken three years ago and also taken last month.  There was never any remodel work completed.  This is the central point of the alleged bribery.  [Video clip]

Scientists uncover largest potential lithium deposit in the world on Oregon-Nevada border.  Earlier this summer we saw signs that the U.S. might soon begin leading a global surge in lithium production:  [Tweet]  That potential boom looks ready to continue in the Pacific Northwest: [...] One scientist thinks that massive deposit could "change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply and geopolitics."  I don't think I need to tell you that it's always much, much better when a benign global superpower like the U.S. controls that sort of thing compared to, you know, a dictatorship or a basket-case banana republic.  (Of course, that begs the question if America is now a basket-case banana republic, but I digress). [...] As National Review points out, however, the US has shut down or actively hampered the mining industry for decades.

Has the Pentagon been hiding US bases in Africa from Congress?  The Intercept released a rather strange report this weekend involving Pentagon activity on the continent of Africa and an apparent lack of congressional oversight for such activities.  And by "activity" I don't mean the occasional jeep getting lost or some peacekeeping troops being ambushed by snipers.  We apparently have entire military bases in Africa that haven't been reported to Congress.  I realize that probably sounds crazy to some of you, but it's apparently not nearly as close to impossible as we might have thought.  And our troops at those "enduring" forward operating sites under the control of U.S. Africa Command have been up to all sorts of interesting activities.

Three Separate Coin Shop Owners Shocked as Their Bank Accounts Suddenly Shut Down with No Reason Given.  Three separate coin shop owners have found their bank accounts suddenly shut down without any prior notice or explanation from their financial institutions.  An Ohio-based coin shop owner recently took to YouTube to share alarming news:  His regional bank, with whom he has been a customer for years, has suddenly decided to sever ties by closing all six of his business and personal accounts.  The coin shop owner, who operates a coin shop dealing in silver and gold, received certified letters from his bank stating, "After a recent review, we have decided to end our relationship with you and close your accounts... As stated in your account agreement, we can close your account at any time, for any reason, with or without notice.  We will begin our closing process on September 6, 2023."

Escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante shot at by Pennsylvania homeowner after stealing rifle: report.  The convicted murderer who busted out of a Pennsylvania prison last month allegedly broke into a house Monday night and was shot at seven times by the homeowner after stealing a rifle, according to a report.  State police warned that Danelo Cavalcante may now be armed after he reportedly ran off with a .22-caliber rifle he snatched from the home, according to Fox 29 Philadelphia.  Cavalcante was spotted in East Nantmeal Township, where the homeowner fired at someone matching his description, Action News reported.

Secret Service agent next to JFK during assassination challenges official narrative.  Former Secret Service agent Paul Landis, who was feet away from President John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, is coming forward with his version of events that challenge the official government narrative.  Landis, who struggled with so much trauma in the aftermath of the assassination that he left the Secret Service, is publicly telling his full story for the first time after more than six decades, The New York Times reported Saturday. [...] If his recollections are accurate, it may indicate that the central thesis of the Warren Commission is incorrect.  The presidential-appointed commission, which never interviewed Landis, concluded in 1964 that the single bullet struck the president's back and exited through the front of his throat before hitting Texas Gov. John Connally and injuring his back, chest, wrist and leg as he sat in the front of the presidential limousine.  The idea that a lone bullet could do such damage seemed so incredible that skeptics have called it the "magic bullet" theory.

JFK Assassination Witness Breaks 60-Year Silence and Blows Up Key Government Claim Regarding the President's Death.  A somewhat unexpected twist has emerged in the JFK assassination saga, which blows a hole in a critical government narrative surrounding his death.  On Saturday, 88-year-old Paul Landis gave an exclusive interview with The New York Times where he shared he shared his revelations regarding what happened November 22, 1963, in Dallas — the day JFK was allegedly assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.  Landis that year was a Secret Service agent assigned to First Lady Jackie Kennedy's protective detail, as the Daily Mail notes.  Landis's revelations regarding what happened 60 years ago lay waste to one critical claim by the Warren Commission and raises questions regarding whether there was a second shooter besides Oswald.

Canada's Freedom Convoy truckers go on trial.  This week, the trial of Canada's two main leaders of the trucker protests began.  The lead prosecutor has argued that Tamara Lich and Chris Barber "crossed the line" and "committed multiple crimes" while insisting that this trial will not be about the truckers' political views.  The pair face charges including mischief, counselling others to commit mischief, intimidation, and obstructing the police.  They face a maximum of 10 years in prison should they be convicted.

The Cost of Rocket Science.  I was very struck by an aside he had about halfway through the show re India becoming the fourth nation to make a "soft landing" on the moon (by "soft", they mean the spacecraft doesn't get totaled on impact).  The cost of the Chandrayaan-3 mission was about US $75 million, which, as John pointed out, is less than the cost of the Barbie movie.  If you want to be nitpicky, you might quibble that that doesn't include the cost of the first two less successful Chandrayaan space missions.  Okay, total expenditures on the Indian space programme since its launch in 2003 are approx $140 million — which is still less than the Barbie movie. [...] India can land a spaceship on the moon for less than the cost of an American movie about a space mission.  But let's set aside the showbiz comparisons.  As I said, the total cost of the Indian space programme, since 2003, is about $140 million — or seven million per annum.  What can you get from American government for seven million bucks a year?  Nothing.  That's a rounding error in the federal budget.

India's Chandrayaan-3 moon lander spotted from lunar orbit.  A NASA moon probe has snapped an aerial photo of India's Chandrayaan-3 lander, the first craft ever to successfully touch down near the lunar south pole.  NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured the image on Aug. 27, four days after Chandrayaan-3's history-making landing on the moon.  The photo shows the dark rectangular shadow of Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander surrounded by a "bright halo," which "resulted from the rocket plume interacting with the fine-grained regolith (soil)," NASA officials wrote in an image description today (Sept. 5).

US deficit is projected to roughly double this year: watchdog.  The U.S. deficit is projected to roughly double this year, largely due to higher interest rates and lower tax revenue.  The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an organization that pushes for lowering the deficit, is projecting the federal deficit will double this year to total about $2 trillion for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.  Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the organization, told The Hill that high interest rates, lower tax revenues and high inflation resulting in higher Social Security and Medicare costs have all contributed to the rising deficit.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Tucker Carlson:  I've Talked to CIA and Mob Hitmen Who Were Assigned to JFK Assassination.  "Almost all of the people associated with (JFK's assassination) were involved with the Miami Station, which was the largest CIA Station at the time and was basically the Cuban Station", Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said.  "The people who were involved were people like Bill Harvey and David Atlee Phillips, who was clearly involved in my uncle's assassination.  By all evidence, he was Lee Harvey Oswald's handler at the CIA.  E. Howard Hunt made a confession.  David Morales, who was the chief hitman, ran the Operation Phoenix program in Vietnam, he killed ten thousand people, he also gave a confession of being in Dallas."  The Cuba Station was "angry at my uncle for not sending in air cover during the Bay of Pigs invasion", Kennedy said.  "After the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, my uncle developed this friendship with Khrushchev, and he shut down all the attacks on Cuba by Alpha 66 and other groups who were harassing Cuba and sinking Russian ships.  They were operating flotillas out of South Florida, and doing raids. [...]"

The Doctor Is In:  Texas's Ronny Jackson Blows Away Fundraising Expectations.  Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) is on the rise in Texas and nationally as the second-term firebrand congressman and former White House doctor to two presidents is on a fundraising tear this year, and the surge he's seen in small-dollar donors has some wondering if he's ready for a statewide run soon.  Jackson, in the second quarter, raised north of a million dollars — more than any other GOP U.S. House member in Texas — and for the whole first half of 2023 the Texas conservative was the number one online fundraiser of any House GOP member not in leadership.  At an average donation of $14.86, with 86,313 small dollar unitemized contributions in the first six months of 2023 Jackson raised $1,282,538.

Here's another study to prove the obvious:
University Study of AI Powerhouse ChatGPT Reveals Clear Leftist Bias.  A study of OpenAI's ChatGPT, conducted by researchers at the University of East Anglia in the UK, shows that the market-leading AI chatbot has a clear bias towards leftist political parties.  The study, published in the journal Public Choice, shows ChatGPT under its default settings favors the Democrats in the U.S., the Labour Party in the UK, and President Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party in Brazil.

Working from home is the new British disease.  According to a survey by the consultancy AWA published this week, the British are more reluctant to go back to the office than workers in almost any other major developed country.  Even as bosses plead with them to go back in, the average office worker in this country is only showing up at their office 1.6 days a week, an attendance rate of 32 percent, compared with 55 percent in the European Union, 43 percent in Latin America, and 36 percent across the Asia-Pacific region (although in fairness supposed hard-working Americans are pretty reluctant to go back as well).  It is not hard to understand why.  Commuting in the UK is expensive and time consuming compared with most other countries.  And most of us have plenty to be getting on with that is more fulfilling than catching up on the gossip around the water cooler or sitting through a tedious meeting with our colleagues.  Another survey last week found that people were napping, trying their hand at some DIY, and having sex, or possibly some combination of all three, while they were meant to be 'working from home'.  The trouble is, that is terrible for the economy.  Whatever its evangelists say, there is now clear evidence that home working is significantly less productive than clocking into the office every day.

Small Minnesota Town Holds Emergency Meeting After Being Abandoned By Entire Police Department.  The city of Goodhue, Minnesota, held an emergency meeting Monday night after their entire police department announced its resignation, according to FOX9 News.  Police Chief Josh Smith originally alerted the City Council of a need for change on July 26, saying that the police department needed more competitive pay if it was to continue operating, FOX9 reported.  Smith and six other officers handed in their resignation letters last week, leaving Goodhue entirely without a police force starting Aug. 24.  "We've got zero applicants and I have zero prospects.  I've called every PD around looking for the youngest guys out there getting into the game.  There's nobody getting into the game," Smith said in July according to FOX9.

Stand by for a series of excuses about defective TV cameras and very sleepy guards.
Fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried Will Be Confined In Infamously Brutal New York Jail.  Disgraced former crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried will be confined in a notoriously rough jail in Brooklyn, New York, until his trial, Reuters reported.  Bankman-Fried will be held at the Metropolitan Detention Center until his scheduled trial in October following U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan's Friday decision to revoke his bond over probable cause he tampered with witnesses, according to Reuters.  MDC has faced ongoing issues with understaffing, power outages, maggots in prisoners' meals and corruption in recent years.  An MDC guard pleaded guilty in March to receiving bribes in exchange for smuggling drugs, and criminal defense lawyers denounced the jail's conditions as "inhumane" in January 2022.  According to Reuters, an electrical fire during winter in 2019 disrupted MDC's lighting and heating for days, coinciding with temperatures dropping close to zero degrees.

German media and political establishment ponder whether to ban the political preferences of a fifth of the population.  Since 19 June, polls have consistently placed support for the right-populist party Alternative für Deutschland at 20% or higher, making them the second most popular party in Germany — slightly ahead of government-leading SPD, and behind the CDU/CSU.  Last week, Thomas Haldenwang, the head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), gave a state media interview in which he accused the party yet again of harbouring "a significant number of people ... who repeatedly spread hatred and agitation against minorities."  Despite serious questions about whether Haldenwang's repeated slander is even legal, spokesmen for all the major parties immediately declared themselves in agreement with the assessment.  It's very important to note that Haldenwang is himself a member of the CDU.  The Christian Democrats ought to be the big winners in the opposition, as Olaf Scholz's coalition government stumbles from one crisis to the next.

Vivek Ramaswamy repeats the leftist lie that homosexuality is 'hardwired' from birth.  The GOP presidential hopeful who kicked off his campaign with a declaration of 10 foundational TRUTHs beginning with "God is real" recently strayed from truth when he declared that homosexuality is "hardwired" at birth and that the burgeoning number of transgendered individuals are folks who are "really just gay."  The claims were made by candidate Vivek Ramaswamy during a recent "All-In Podcast."  "The gay rights movement was predicated on the idea, which I'm quite sympathetic to, that the sex of the person that you're attracted to is hardwired on the day you're born," Ramaswamy said.  His assertion that homosexuality is an immutable trait is based on a lie long advanced by the political left to increase unwarranted LGBT rights, including the U.S. Supreme Court's unconscionable Obergefell decision that shredded society's concept of marriage while throwing open the door to the plague of transgenderism.

Sen. Joe Manchin [is] Reportedly 'Thinking Seriously' About Dropping out of [the] Democrat Party.  In a move that should come as a surprise to no one, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is reportedly thinking of dropping out of the Democratic Party and forging ahead with his political career as an Independent. [...] Of course, there are fewer Democrats in West Virginia with each passing day.  Joe Manchin is not faring well in polls against the presumptive GOP challenger, Governor Jim Justice, and this proposed move to Independent status would enable West Virginia's Democrats to nominate a candidate to run against both Manchin and Justice, which would certainly work out to the Governor's advantage.  On top of all that, however, Sen. Manchin is also apparently considering a 2024 presidential bid, again as an Independent.

Megadonor Tells DeSantis to Get Moderate or Else, Within Hours DeSantis Dismisses 2020 "Stolen Election Theories" as False.  These two events are not coincidental.  Ron DeSantis megadonor Robert Bigelow is already into the failing DeSantis campaign for $20 million.  Billionaire donor Bigelow tells Reuters that he has told the DeSantis managers the candidate needs to take moderate positions, or he will not donate any more money.  Ron DeSantis is then questioned by reporters in Iowa about the Trump indictment and the claims of the 2020 election being stolen.  Immediately DeSantis changes his talking points.

CVS to slash 5,000 jobs, close 900 stores.  As the United States-based pharmacy chain continues to shift its focus more onto healthcare services, CVS Health has announced that it is cutting about 5,000 jobs and closing 900 stores over the next three years.  To save the company money so it has a better chance of surviving, CVS Health is slashing mostly corporate jobs, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Workers at CVS stores, pharmacies, and clinics are not expected to be negatively impacted by the layoffs and store closures — except, of course, for the employees at stores that are closing.

Not a word from New Jersey about what their acting governor just died of.  In New Jersey, they stay in the dark.  See, they elected this lieutanant governor, who served as the acting governor, and well, she died. [...] Seems the cause of death was unimportant, and the media is remarkably incurious about getting answers.  So far, nobody's been told what she died of, let alone that when she was running for office, and for that matter, when she was serving as acting governor, she may have had a potentially fatal medical condition, which could easily have been the case.  Sure, sometimes people drop dead without warning of heart attacks or strokes or other things.  But since ABC News (we're parsing here) said it was an "undisclosed medical issue" it sounds as though it might have been something known and chronic.  If so, maybe the voters should have been told.

Acting Governor Dies of Undisclosed Cause While Governor Is Out of the Country.  New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who was serving as acting governor this past week while Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy was out of the country, has died at the age of 71.  A mainstay in New Jersey politics, Oliver was tapped to lead the state while Murphy was vacationing overseas in Italy.  On Monday evening, CBS News reported Oliver was hospitalized with an undisclosed medical issue.

Biden admin confirms it's withholding key funds for schools with hunting courses, GOP call it 'shameful'.  The Biden administration confirmed to Fox News Digital that it is withholding critical funds for elementary and secondary schools nationwide with hunting or archery programs in their curriculum.  The Department of Education explained in a statement that its funding decisions were based on the plain text interpretation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which Congress passed and President Biden signed last year after a string of mass shootings.  The agency's interpretation means funding for shooting sport activities earmarked under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 will be blocked across the country.  "This prohibition applies to all ESEA funds," a Department of Education spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

2 Months Since Ken Paxton's 'Impeachment', And Still No Evidence As to Why.  It's been almost two months since the Texas House of Representatives and its leftist "impeachment managers" targeted the state's Attorney General Ken Paxton, in a scheme that even makes President Donald Trump's first foray into the same experience seem positively transparent by comparison.  Now, a full 53 days later, there are still no answers as to why and on what grounds the Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan has been dragging one of the most popular America First figures in the country through this process.  Or perhaps Paxton's "America First" credentials are, in fact, the answer here.  Maybe you can find out by giving the Speaker's office a call.  Because up to this point, even Paxton's legal counsel is struggling to get answers.  Answers which, by the way, are required under Texas law.  People have a right to know what they're being charged with, and any evidence related to those charges.

Gem Hunters Found the Lithium America Needs.  Maine Won't Let Them Dig It Up.  The world's richest known lithium deposit lies deep in the woods of western Maine, in a yawning, sparkling mouth of white and brown rocks that looks like a landslide carved into the side of Plumbago Mountain.  Mary Freeman and her husband Gary found the deposit five years ago while hunting for tourmaline, a striking, multi-colored gemstone found in the region. [...] Now, the Freemans want to expand this pit, near the town of Newry, Maine, so they can mine spodumene, crystals that contain the lithium the U.S. needs for the clean energy transition.  The timing of their discovery, in what has been named Plumbago North, is remarkable; the Freemans have stumbled across one of the only hard-rock sources of lithium in the U.S. at a time when the material is desperately needed for the clean energy transition.  By 2040, the world will need at least 1.1 million metric tons of lithium annually, more than ten times what it currently produces, according to projections by the International Energy Agency.

Matt Gaetz's Assisted Suicide Mission for FISA Law.  The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, expires at the end of this year.  This is the law that empowered the FBI to secretly spy on the American people.  Will Congress renew it — perhaps even amend it somewhat, as has been done in the past?  Not if Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and his allies have their way.  Gaetz is leading the charge, but much of the House Judiciary Subcommittee seemed to agree with him in a July 14 hearing, at least regarding the fact that FISA is rife with corruption and misuse and that it's a problem that must be solved.  Just how to fix it — or whether to fix it at all as opposed to simply letting it die at the end of the year — was the topic of the almost three-hour hearing.

Findings of Investigation Into Collapsed Bank to Remain Confidential for 50 Years.  The world will get a glimpse into the inner happenings of Credit Suisse's collapse — but not anytime soon.  And that lack of immediate transparency is concerning some, according to a new report from Reuters.  The outlet reports that a parliamentary investigation into the collapse of Credit Suisse, the Swiss investment bank, will keep its files closed for 50 years.

Exclusive: Ethics Complaint Filed Against Congressman Who Slurred Whistleblowers.  House Democrats are on a crusade to destroy the reputation of whistleblowers to save President Joe Biden and to run cover for those in the Justice Department and FBI who obstructed the investigation into the Bidens' business dealings.  But Republicans are starting to fight back.  Kash Patel, who served as chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense under President Trump and as the senior counsel for the House Intelligence Committee under then-Rep. Devin Nunes, launched the counteroffensive on Wednesday when his attorney filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and simultaneously sent a referral to the Department of Justice.

In-N-Out Burger's Alleged New Mask Policy Is Causing Controversy.  West Coast chain In-N-Out Burger enjoys a pretty glowing reputation.  It seems to be one of the only fast food brands impervious to criticism from even the highest culinary echelons, counting celebrity chefs like Alton Brown and the late Anthony Bourdain among its rabid, not-so-secret menu-loving fan club.  And yet, the company has come under fire multiple times for its political stances, aligning with a Conservative Christian ethos that has been criticized for, among other things, anti-LGBTQ policies.  But while similarly-aligned brands such as Chick-fil-A have sparked boycotts over these issues, In-N-Out hasn't faced the same backlash.

U.S. wholesale prices up 0.1% in June, slowest annual pace in three years.  The Producer Price Index, a reflection of prices at the wholesale level, increased only by 0.1% last month and was the slowest in nearly three years on an annual basis, data released Thursday showed.  PPI barely moved month-on-month to June and data for May was revised to show a 0.4% contraction, compared with the 0.3% reading the prior month.  Year-on-year to June and the PPI increased by 0.1%, the slowest since August 2020.  Over the 12-month period to May, the PPI increased by 0.9%.

Farmers Insurance Company Pulls Out of Florida — Another 100,000 Policies Will Not Be Renewed.  The insurance crisis in Florida is hitting the middle-class family, working community and retirees on a fixed income directly.  Hundreds of thosands of residents have lost insurance coverage, and even more have seen policy premiums double.  It is not uncommon to find homeowners who are paying more for insurance than their actual mortgage payment.  Unfortunately, the situation is getting worse.  Farmers Insurance has notified the state they are pulling out of Florida, will not be writing any additional policies in the Sunshine state and when existing policies expire, they will not be renewed.  Home and auto policy rates have already doubled in many areas for many people.  The insurance situation is becoming more unstable by the day, and the future outlook seems even worse amid reports that even more companies are planning to exit.

And they wonder why recruitment is dwindling.
Biden Administration Says It Opposes Using 'Merit' in Military Personnel Decisions.  The Biden administration on Monday slammed the Republican-controlled House's version of 2024 National Defense Authorization Act for requiring military personnel decisions to be based on merit and not race or gender, among other provisions.  "The Administration strongly opposes the House's sweeping attempts... to eliminate the Department's longstanding [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access] efforts and related initiatives to promote a cohesive and inclusive force," the Biden administration said in a Statement of Administration Policy.

Are theatres turning off air-conditioning to suppress the box office for Sound of Freedom?  We have received multiple emails from people saying that theaters are telling patrons that air-conditioning is broken in the auditoriums showing the hit movie Sound of Freedom, and offering another movie or a refund.  Many people fear a campaign is underway to suppress the box office totals for the film, which exposes the sex trafficking of children.  The box office success of SoF is particularly embarrassing for Disney, whose ridiculously expensive Indiana Jones movie is performing poorly and unlikely to earn a profit, because Disney reportedly sat on the rights to distribute Sound of Freedom for five years, only to relinquish the rights and see it become a smash hit.  Unhappy shareholders may well question the wisdom of retaining current management if SoF becomes a mega-hit based on word of mouth.

Tucker Carlson Reveals Why He Thinks The Biden Admin Won't Release JFK Assassination Docs.  Tucker Carlson said Friday that the Biden administration won't release documents about the assassination of former President John  F. Kennedy because it "implicates not individuals, but institutions."  "Biden's just reclassified the Kennedy documents 60 years after his assassination.  No one, even peripherally involved is still alive.  So what could possibly be the sources and methods that we are supposedly showing the world by declassifying?" Carlson, a co-founder of the Daily Caller and Daily Caller News Foundation, asked during an interview with actor and podcast host Russell Brand.

Vivek Ramaswamy's Soros connection.  Without voting records, candidates can say anything they wish, without a single vote to prove anything.  This is the political unknown where Vivek Ramaswamy comes from.  Beyond being a Hindu, which in my mind means that Ramaswamy cannot hold the Judeo-Christian views this nation was founded on, there are serious red flags that attach him to Soros.  In 2011, Ramaswamy was the beneficiary of the Soros Fellowship, which was used help cover the costs at Yale for a future law degree.  His connection to anything Soros related raises serious red flags, especially with Ramaswamy never bringing up that connection.

The governor of Texas wins again.  Back in the COVID days of "masks," Governor Abbott opened up Texas and things got back to normal by the end of 2020.  Nevertheless, some county leaders decided to enforce their own mask mandates and challenge the governor directly.  In the end, the governor prevailed in the Texas courts: [...] It had little to do with science and more with playing politics.  As you may know, our cities have tilted Democrat in contrast to suburbs and rural areas, where the GOP is stronger.  It was literally mayors and some county executives just fighting the governor.  The court's ruling is moot today because the state Legislature banned local jurisdictions from requiring masks, vaccines, or business shutdowns.  Nevertheless, the ruling is a significant victory in the courts and confirms the governor's powers.  This is important because this won't be the last time that a GOP governor gets into a fight with Democrats in places like Austin and El Paso.

USAF investigates mystery company that bought 55,000 acres around major California air force base.  Government officials are investigating a mysterious company that has bought around 55,000 acres of dry farmland around a USAF base in California.  Travis Air Force base, northeast of San Francisco, houses large transport aircraft used for refueling smaller planes and sending aid and munitions around the world.  Starting in 2018, a company called Flannery Associates LLC has spent around $800million buying swathes of land around the base, leaving local, state and federal officials flummoxed as to who they are and what they want with it.

Mysterious Investors Behind $1 Billion Land Purchase Near Key Air Force Base.  The Air Force is investigating nearly $1 billion in mysterious land purchases near a key Air Force base in California, but after eight months of digging has been unable to uncover the investors behind the deal, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.  A mysterious group known as Flannery Associates has gobbled up nearly 52,000 acres of agricultural land in California, including areas near Travis Air Force Base, sparking concerns of foreign influence that lead to the Air Force's Foreign Investment Risk Review Office's probe, according to the WSJ.  Flannery maintains it is majority American-owned, with the remaining 3% of invested capital originating from Ireland and Britain, but local authorities, lawmakers and federal agencies continue to probe the opaque company.

The New Information World Order.  Meta has decided to launch its own social media app in a direct challenge to Twitter.  The WSJ writes: "Let the battle begin.  Facebook parent Meta Platforms on Wednesday announced the launch of Threads, a stand-alone microblogging app that takes direct aim at Twitter as user unrest in that platform has grown since Elon Musk took the company over in October."

Accountability and Consequences: Examining a Proposal to Link State Benefits to Senator Votes.  Here's an interesting idea that came from Twitter, of all places.  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) accepted a proposal on the social media platform suggesting that states should not receive benefits from bills if both senators from that state vote against them.  The proposal was made in response to Cruz and fellow Texas Sen. John Cornyn voting against a $1 trillion infrastructure package that provided billions of dollars to Texas.  While the proposal is unlikely to materialize, it does raise some valid questions about accountability and the implications of lawmakers taking credit for bills they voted against.

Federal Judge Overturns Ban on Publicly Recording Without Consent.  A federal judge has overturned an Oregon law that criminalizes the recording of someone without their consent on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment.  In a 2-1 ruling by a Ninth Circuit panel, Judge Sandra Ikuta declared Oregon law 165.540 unconstitutional because the state does not have an obligation to protect people's privacy in public places.  First passed in 1955, the law was later expanded to include the secret recording of conversations.  It does, however, contain exceptions for law enforcement and other specific interest groups.

Ninth Circuit Court Rules that Oregon Anti-Recording Law is Unconstitutional.  On July 3, 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a law prohibiting the recording of individuals who do not explicitly consent to their voices being captured is unconstitutional, due to, in the court's view, how it infringes the First Amendment.  James O'Keefe of O'Keefe Media Group (OMG) published a post about the decision online, highlighting that comes after he filed a lawsuit in Portland, Oregon roughly three years ago.  In PVA v. Schmidt, O'Keefe's former place of employment contended that the Oregon law transgressed the US Constitution, especially with respect to the rights of individuals engaging in undercover investigative journalism.  The ruling was dealing with Oregon Revised Statute 165.540, which highlights that a person may not "Obtain or attempt to obtain the whole or any part of a conversation by means of any device" in any cases involving parties that are not "specifically informed" that the conversation is being recorded.

New JFK Record Dump Reveals President Lyndon Johnson Said NO to Independent Investigations of JFK's Assassination.  It's already well known President Lyndon B. Johnson and former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy didn't get along.  There are several accounts of the two bumping heads throughout the 1960s.  However, newly unclassified documents from the latest JFK file dump reveal just ten days after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, the newly sworn-in Johnson "indicated that there should be some cabinet changes."

Why the Canadian fires aren't being put out.  Large parts of the United States are currently being plagued by dense clouds of smoke that are causing air quality alerts to be issued.  A lot of people are walking around wearing masks, making it look like we're back in the days of the pandemic.  As you've likely already heard, the smoke is blowing down from Canada, where there are now more than 500 wildfires raging, with 262 of them being listed as "out of control" by the Canadian government.  But despite volunteer firefighters from ten countries having deployed to Canada to help, the majority of those fires aren't being fought in any fashion.  Most of the provinces in Canada are just letting them burn unless they are approaching densely populated areas.  Why are they doing this? [...] Obviously, the usual suspects want to blame this on climate change, along with everything else.  And CNN jumps on the bandwagon, mentioning climate change three times in the opening paragraphs, including in the first sentence.  But Canada has faced large wildfires nearly every year for all of living memory.  We're just dealing with some unusual jet stream conditions this summer that are causing the prevailing winds to blow south more often.  The primary reason that Canada isn't fighting most of these fires is that they simply don't have the resources to do so, even with international help being available.

Oops!
JPMorgan Chase is fined by SEC after mistakenly deleting 47 million emails.  JPMorgan Chase has been fined $4 million by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after about 47 million emails belonging to its retail banking group were mistakenly and permanently deleted.  The emails dated from Jan. 1 to April 23, 2018, and were deleted in June 2019 from about 8,700 mailboxes, including those belonging to as many as 7,500 employees who regularly worked with customers.  Many of the emails were business records that the largest U.S. bank was required under SEC rules to keep for three years.

Fauci Lands Cushy New Gig After Retiring from Government.  Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as the nation's COVID-19 czar under Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden and retired from the federal government in December, has a new job.  The 82-year-old Fauci has landed a prestigious position at Georgetown University in Washington, according to a Monday news release from the school.  Beginning Saturday, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will be a "Distinguished University Professor in the School of Medicine's Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases," the release said.

Support Mounts Among House Judiciary Republicans for Merrick Garland's Impeachment.  Support among House Judiciary Committee Republicans for an impeachment inquiry into Attorney General Merrick Garland grew stronger after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy threatened impeachment proceedings if IRS whistleblower allegations turn out to be true regarding the politicization of the Justice Department's Hunter Biden tax probe.  IRS whistleblowers told Congress last week the DOJ twice prevented United States Attorney David Weiss from bringing stronger charges in two separate locations against Hunter Biden.  In addition, the whistleblowers alleged Garland rejected a request to appoint a special counsel in the probe to place a degree of separation between the DOJ and President Joe Biden.

Red State AGs Quietly Mount Stiff Resistance to Biden-Administration Overreach.  During the Trump years, the press turned blue-state attorneys general into lions of the resistance.  Reporters churned out a constant drumbeat of articles detailing challenges to everything from the former president's immigration ban to environmental regulations to the long-since-forgotten "death of the internet" net-neutrality fight.  Now, Republican state attorneys general — particularly those in smaller, traditionally low-profile states such as Tennessee, Alabama, and Montana — are filing a flurry of lawsuits and quietly laying the groundwork for future litigation that they hope will halt much of Biden's agenda on environmental regulations, ESG investing, and much else.

The US Government & The Bidens Are... Wait!  Look!  UFOs!  Aliens!  It's amazing how those who claim to be awake but somehow think UFOs are not orchestrated and used to manipulate them.  Yet, that is showing itself for what it is, and now, as Biden's crimes are being expose, right on que, we start getting reports about aliens and UFOs.  Of course, it's a distraction [...] We should probably know what our commercial airplanes and satellites are likely to encounter as they travel through the sky.  However, some people think there might be more to this than pure research.  One member of the UAP Task Force, David Grusch, began providing classified information to the Department of Defense Inspector General in 2021.  He claimed that information regarding UAPs was being illegally withheld from Congress, who were unaware of where funding was going, and the level of technology that had been hidden.  These leaks were reported in The Debrief on June 5.  David Grusch is no quack.  He was a decorated combat officer in Afghanistan who moved through various government agencies before becoming the co-lead for UAP analysis.

House strikes blow against federal regulations, votes to overturn controversial Supreme Court ruling.  The House voted Thursday to overturn a 1984 Supreme Court ruling that Republicans say gave the executive branch too much power to impose regulations that cost Americans trillions of dollars each year.  Lawmakers approved the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, or SOPRA, in a mostly party-line 220-211 vote.  Republicans have argued for the last several years that the Supreme Court precedent set in the Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. case effectively told courts that they should defer to federal agencies when they interpret laws passed by Congress as they write regulations.  Republicans say that since that ruling, courts have failed to do their due diligence in assessing whether those regulations can be fairly justified under the law.

Amazon Confirms They Shut Off A Man's Smart Home Because A Random Guy Said He Was Racist.  Amazon confirmed to the Daily Caller Wednesday they shut off a man's smart home because one of their drivers claimed an automated doorbell said something racist.  A video shared Monday by YouTuber Louis Rossmann alleged Amazon shut down one of his viewers' smart homes.  He subsequently detailed the process he had to go through to get his devices back up and running.  It all started when an Amazon delivery driver dropped off a package at the man's home.  The smart doorbell said something to the driver like "can I help you?"  But the driver — who allegedly had headphones in — alleged the device made a racist remark.  Following the allegation, Amazon shut down the homeowner's smart home products.  After a significant amount of back and forth and an internal investigation, the company decided to release control of them.

Biden Special Counsel Robert Hur Appears to Have Vanished.  With the arraignment of Donald Trump in Miami, Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith is pushing forward with a historic criminal prosecution that could result in a terminal prison sentence for the 76-year-old former president and, at least for now, the leading Republican candidate in the 2024 election.  This also is the six-month anniversary of the appointment of another special counsel:  Robert Hur.  In the company of better-known appointees like Robert Mueller, John Durham and Smith, Hur is the prosecutorial version of the missing Beatle.  He was appointed on Jan. 12 and then seemingly vanished.

Woke Military Now Recruiting Non-English Speaking Migrants.  After transforming the military from a force defending the nation to a woke culture war operation, recruiting dropped through the floor.  But, no worries, the Biden administration will fill out the ranks in the usual, "there's always jobs at the Post Office" way by turning it into one giant useless welfare state. [...] If there's anything we want it's migrants who are not proficient in English.  What could go wrong?

Biden's Pentagon can't recruit new soldiers and that threatens us all.  America's All Volunteer Force turns 50 this year.  Since 1973, the U.S. military has, with rare exceptions, met its annual recruitment goals and improved the quality of the force.  Now, however, it is mired in its worst recruiting stretch in history.  Last year, the Army missed its recruiting goal by 25% and already predicts it will miss again in 2023.  Ditto the Air Force and Navy.  Officials cite numerous reasons for the shortfall: low unemployment, a smaller pool of young people qualified to serve, declining public confidence in the military and more.  Whatever the reasons, these recruiting failures portend trouble for military readiness.

Democrat Who Equated Muslims With White Supremacists Apologizes [to the Muslims].  The Democratic member of a Maryland city council who equated Muslims opposed to LGBTQ-based curriculum to white supremacists apologized Sunday, committing herself to "seek points of understanding" in the future.  Democrat Kristin Mink of Montgomery County Council for District 5 apologized to members of the Muslim community June 11 after lambasting their opposition to a new policy that will not allow parents to opt their children out of lessons centered on LGBTQ issues and topics.  As multiple members of the Muslim community testified before the council over their concerns about the new policy June 6, Mink dismissed their religious objections to LGBTQ topics and issues, arguing the policy did not infringe on their religious rights.  "Just as we cannot allow folks to opt out of teachings about evolution, we can allow them to teach about this," Mink stated at the time.

Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren Goes Scorched Earth.  Southern Baptists are meeting in New Orleans for their annual convention this week.  Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, author of the bestselling book The Purpose-Driven Life, is waging war with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), hoping to push the denomination to the left on the issue of female pastors.  Warren, now "retired" but still listed as the Founding Pastor on Saddleback Church's website, is pressuring the SBC to allow female pastors, contrary to clear biblical teaching that pastoral roles are reserved for men.  Warren has been all over Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube this past week, viciously attacking his opponents (while calling for love and reconciliation).  He's become increasingly combative, calling his opponents "angry fundamentalists," "angry fighters," and "legalist showmen."  (I'll leave it up to readers to determine who's playing the role of "showman" in this debate.)

The Internet is Not Forever.  "Be careful what you put on the internet, it may be there forever" [...] What if the opposite is true?  All this online content isn't going to survive the end of the decade.  During the last few weeks there has been announcements by a variety of companies on deleting old content and accounts:
[#1]  Elon Musk announced that Twitter will be deleting accounts that have been inactive for several years.  He vaguely hinted at "archiving" but didn't provide details.
[#2]  Google announced a new policy of deleting inactive Google accounts.  The new deadline is also 2 years.  They clarified it doesn't apply to Youtube videos yet, but that's probably coming next.
[#3]  The very popular photo hosting site Imgur said it will begin removing "old, unused and inactive content...."
[#4]  The Millenial website Buzzfeed news shut down.  They put up a website for the archive, but it isn't searchable.  Who knows how long it stays up.

Defiant Tucker drops second molten hot Twitter episode; reviving gay, trans rumors about Obamas.  Tucker Carlson dropped the second episode of his new "Tucker on Twitter" series on Thursday and it was molten hot as the former Fox News host discussed the altering of the nation's "taboos" so that racism and even pedophilia have now become permissible.  Carlson's latest video on the social media platform came after his former employer accused him of breaching his contract with the conservative network after the first installment drew over 100 million views, although the sequel may struggle to crack the same number due to it coming on the same night that the federal indictment of former President Donald J. Trump was announced.  In the video which runs about twelve and a half minutes, Carlson weighed in after a bombshell Wall Street Journal report on a "vast pedophile network" operating on Instagram that was largely ignored by the MSM, lamenting the normalizing of child molestation, and in a remark that's drawing attention, seemed to suggest that there is something very peculiar about the marriage between Barack and Michelle Obama.  [Tweet with video clip]

'Embarrassing' dissent cable shows Biden 'allowed' Afghanistan to collapse: Rep Issa.  Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is slamming the Afghanistan dissent cable to which Secretary of State Antony Blinken allowed congressional access Tuesday as "embarrassing" and saying that it debunks the Biden administration's narrative that it was caught off guard by the country's swift collapse in 2021.  Issa, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Fox News Digital that he was the first committee member to view the dissent channel cable from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and Washington's response.  The State Department's "dissent channel" allows for contrary views to be expressed by officials.  The document, signed by 23 staffers and diplomats, warned about the possibility of a rapid Taliban advance as the U.S. left the country, which President Joe Biden and other top officials downplayed at the time.

The Founders and Religious Liberty.  Thanks to a misreading of the Constitution, America is becoming more and more of a secular wasteland.  All sorts of ideas and ideologies are allowed in the public square.  But not Christian ones.  That exclusion does not comport with what the founders of America intended.  I thank God for people like Kirk Cameron, the actor and children's author, who often presents a library presentation helping children learn about God, instead of promoting things like "drag queen story hour."  It's become a cliché to say that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.  But Cameron is indeed lighting many candles in the darkness.  Foxnews.com wrote recently of Cameron's "months-long tour across the country to nearly a dozen public libraries to share messages promoting family, faith and country... to bring a new story time book hour to families and children."

Rep. Matt Gaetz Gets Drag Show on Military Base Canceled.  A planned "child-friendly" drag queen show on Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada has been canceled after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) demanded answers from Pentagon leaders as to why it was happening when they claimed they did not support them on bases. [...] Back in March, Gaetz grilled Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley on whether they supported drag queen shows and drag queen story hours on military bases.  After they claimed not to be aware of them, Gaetz presented them with evidence, even handing Milley a packet of news articles on various drag queen events that had been hosted on military bases.  Austin and Milley ultimately said they did not support the events on base.  "Drag queen story hours is not something that the Department funds," Austin said at the time.

Reckless spending and inflation are forcing many Americans to 'unretire'.  Older Americans are increasingly 'unretiring' to deal with elevated prices and rocky financial positions.  Unfortunately, financial insecurity from inflation may be here to stay.  Rising costs have turned grocery staples like eggs into luxuries for many people on a fixed budget.  Prices seemed to be coming down, but recent data signal that the end of elevated inflation remains elusive.  The consumer price index (CPI) rose 4.9% in April from a year prior.  This is below the generational high of 9.1% in June 2022.  However, overall CPI was flat from March after months of slowing price increases.

The end of ESG?  The United Nations previously created something called the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance in an effort to somehow bring the insurance industry in line with the UN's climate change policies.  If you find yourself wondering what insurance companies have to do with carbon emissions, you're not alone, but this is 2023 so here we are.  The arrangement requires all participating companies to include environmental, social, and governance considerations (ESG) in their charters.  The NZIA may be falling apart, however.  An increasing number of American red states have passed laws forbidding ESG requirements that could raise costs and reduce investment profitability.  Further, 23 Republican state Attorneys General sent letters to NZIA members suggesting that they could be violating antitrust laws.  This has led to multiple European insurance companies pulling out of the group, much to the UN's consternation.

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz denounce effort to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton.  With less than half an hour until the House was set to consider [Ken] Paxton's impeachment, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to blast the effort.  "The RINO Speaker of the House of Texas, Dade Phelan, who is barely a Republican at all and failed the test on voter integrity, wants to impeach one of the most hard working and effective Attorney Generals in the United States, Ken Paxton, who just won re-election with a large number of American Patriots strongly voting for him," Trump said.  He went on to make clear that he will politically target any Texas House Republican who lets the impeachment move forward.  "I will fight you if it does," Trump said.  After the House voted overwhelmingly to impeach Paxton, Trump followed with a post denouncing Phelan and concluding:  "What is our Country coming to?"

Texas lawmakers issue 20 articles of impeachment against state Attorney General Ken Paxton.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton teetered on the brink of impeachment Thursday after years of scandal, criminal charges and corruption accusations that the state's Republican majority had largely met with silence until now.  In an unanimous decision, a Republican-led House investigative committee that spent months quietly looking into Paxton recommended impeaching the state's top lawyer on 20 articles, including bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust.  The House could vote on the recommendation as soon as Friday.  If it impeaches Paxton, he would be forced to leave office immediately.

House Committee Recommends Impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.  The Texas House could see its first impeachment proceedings in nearly 50 years, as the House Committee on General Investigating unanimously voted to refer articles of impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton.  The move comes one day after a hearing in which the committee heard testimony from a group of four investigators secretly appointed by the committee back in March.  The investigators largely rehashed the ongoing indictment of Paxton on securities fraud charges that has been likened to a "political prosecution" for eight years and have been the focus of multiple campaigns.  The main focus of the investigator's report, however, was a settlement reached with four former employees of the Office of the Attorney General who say they were fired unfairly.

Texas lawmakers recommend impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton after Republican investigation.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton teetered on the brink of impeachment Thursday [5/25/2023] after years of scandal, criminal charges and corruption accusations that the state's Republican majority had largely met with silence until now.  In an unanimous decision, a Republican-led House investigative committee that spent months quietly looking into Paxton recommended impeaching the state's top lawyer.  The House could vote on the recommendation as soon as Friday.  If it impeaches Paxton, he would be forced to leave office immediately.

At almost the same time, on the same day...
Texas attorney general calls for state speaker's resignation.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has accused Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan of being drunk while presiding over the state legislature and demanded he resign over video of him slurring his words. [...] Was Phelan drunk?  As one commentator observed, it was either drunkeness or he was "having a stroke:"  [Tweet]

White House U-Haul ramming suspect Sai Kandula jailed until next week, charges downgraded.  The alleged neo-Nazi accused of ramming a rented U-Haul truck into White House security barriers will be held in federal jail pending a detention hearing next week, according to reports.  Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, appeared in a Washington, DC, federal court Wednesday, where Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather ordered he be jailed until a hearing next Tuesday, CBS News reported.  Kandula, from Missouri, slammed the box truck into barriers along Lafayette Square just steps from the White House late Monday, US Park Police officials said.  He had allegedly planned the attack for six months, with his goal to "get to the White House, seize power, and be put in charge of the nation," records show.

Nobody's buying the latest "U-Haul/Nazi" stunt at the White House: "This has FBI written all over it".  We deserve better false flags.  It's as if the FBI isn't even trying anymore.  That's the consensus from most conservatives, who are calling "BS" on the latest "Nazi" stunt that unfolded in D.C., and are calling it just another poorly-orchestrated FBI psyop. [...] There are countless legit reasons why conservatives don't buy this incident, starting with the disgraced FBI's involvement in orchestrating the Russia Hoax, suspicions surrounding FBI's involvement in January 6th, and the FBI's proven involvement in the sketchy "Whitmer kidnapping" plot, just to name a few.  In addition Joe Biden, who was best buddies with a KKK Grand Dragon named Robert Byrd, just delivered yet another divisive speech, where he declared "white supremacy" was the most dangerous threat facing the United States.

The Most Obvious Psyop the Government Has Ever Tried, and No One Is Buying It!  [Video clip only.]

18 Years for J6er, wrist slap for wannabe Nazi assassin.  Sai Vashti Kandula must know someone — or something.  On Monday evening, Kandula drove his rented U-Haul into a barrier a few hundred feet from the White House, backed up, and rammed the barrier again.  Upon being apprehended, Kandula reportedly said he wanted to "kill the president."  On Tuesday, based on statements he made at the scene, Kandula was charged with "threatening to kill, kidnap, inflict harm on a president, vice president, or family member."  If that were not enough, he was also charged with "assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and trespassing."  The fact that he carried a Nazi flag in his backpack had to ramp up the threat level. [...] To make for a better photo-op authorities obligingly spread the flag out on the ground beside the truck. [...] On Wednesday, CNN was reporting that Kandula "has been charged in federal court with one count of depredation of property of the United States in excess of $1,000."  Just one.  CNN, like the rest of the media, either ignored or slighted the shift to this single, relatively minor count.

DOJ Mysteriously and Dramatically Downgrades Charges Against 'White Supremacist' Who Rammed White House Barricade.  On Tuesday, a U-Haul crashed into a barricade outside the White House grounds.  Immediately, speculation that the driver was a "white supremacist" after a Nazi flag was allegedly pulled from the wreck.  In fact, the flag was spread out and displayed for reporters by the FBI agents on the scene.  Why did they do that?  Someone will have to ask them, but the narrative became a lot more complicated after the driver was identified as Sai Varshith Kandula.  Needless to say, he didn't exactly fit the "white supremacist" profile.  Now, in a move that is sure to spark much speculation, the DOJ has suddenly downgraded the charges involved.

The Editor says...
The photo accompanying the article above appears to show that the bollard that the rental truck "crashed" into wasn't even dented.  That's not a crash, that's a nudge.  That's not a terrorist attack, that's an astroturf photo op.

Good Financial News For Pharma Middlemen Spells Disaster for Patients.  Optum PBM (pharmacy benefits management) is one of the three PBM companies that control 79 percent of pharmaceutical distribution in the U.S. Optum recently reported a 25 percent increase in its revenue growth.  Consider the effect of this improved profit margin on patient care, which is the reason for any healthcare system to exist. [...] PBMs are middle men, third parties who contract with health plans to choose the drugs in hospital and outpatient pharmacies.  They claim to achieve lower prices for the health plans and thus save them money.  Drug manufacturers provide large rebates to PBMs as incentives to buy their particular medications.  Put simply, PBMs make their profits by limiting patients' access to the cheapest drugs.  PBMs save money for third party payors, i.e., health plans or insurers, not patients.  Worse, PBMs practice medicine without a license.  By suppling limited lists of authorized drugs, PBMs restrict what drugs doctors can prescribe for their patients.  If a physician believes a drug not on the PBM "menu" is best for a specific patient, the health plan won't pay for that prescription.

Report Confirms Dozens of Senators Are Being Issued Taxpayer-Funded Satellite Phones in Preparation for a "Disruptive Event".  A report confirms that United States Senators have been issued emergency satellite phones.  CBS News reported these devices are part of a series of new security measures being offered to senators by Karen Gibson, Senate Sergeant at Arms.  The official line of reasoning behind offering the satellite phones was "to ensure a redundant and secure means of communication during a disruptive event."  CBS News also notes that the satellite phones were offered partially in response to the January 6, 2021 protests at the U.S. Capitol.

The Editor says...
The people protesting at the U.S. Capitol made no attempt to disrupt cell phone service.  Even the BLM rioters don't have the ability to do that.  And because cell phone service is provided by multiple independent companies, the only way to disrupt all cell phones is by a decree from the government.  And if that happens, the satellite phones would only be able to call landline phones (or other satellite phones).  It would be far simpler for the government to set up its own cell phone system on exclusive radio frequencies that only its phones can access.

Cruz says Biden position on using 14th Amendment is 'legally frivolous'.  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on Sunday that President Biden's position on using the 14th Amendment to unilaterally address the debt ceiling, which the president outlined earlier in the day, is "legally frivolous."  "I think Biden's position on the 14th Amendment is legally frivolous," Cruz said on "Fox News Sunday."  "That's a provision that was put in place to say that we're going to pay our Civil War debts," he added.  "It refers to the Civil War that we had just fought and paying those war debts off."  "I think we have the authority" to use the 14th Amendment, Biden told reporters at a press conference earlier Sunday in Hiroshima, Japan.  "The question is, could it be done and invoked in time that it would not be appealed, and as a consequence past the date in question and still default on the debt.  That is a question that I think is unresolved."  The argument for such a unilateral move is based on a phrase in the amendment to the U.S. Constitution that the public debt "shall not be questioned."  However, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has previously warned that invoking the 14th Amendment would cause a "constitutional crisis."

There's a Shortage of Life-Saving Drugs, Experts Are Concerned.  According to a recent Senate report, drug shortages increased to nearly 30 percent between 2021 and 2022.  "Drug shortages are increasing, lasting longer," the Senate report said.  "The number of active drug shortages in the U.S. reached a peak of 295 at the end of 2022."  Though drug shortages are not uncommon, the current shortage is sparking renewed interest among lawmakers.  "Congress, the executive branch, and industry must work together to respond to this decades-long problem," the report remarked.

US Officials Backtrack on Reports of Killing Al-Qaeda Leader in Syria.  US officials are backtracking on claims they took out a top Al-Qaeda leader in a Syrian drone strike after the family of a sheep herder identified the victim.  Lotfi Hassan Misto, 56, a local sheep herder and father of 10 was identified by the family as the victim in the hellfire missile strike.  [Tweet]

Welcome to the real world, snowflakes!
Big tech lays off workers who need coffee bars and yoga rooms, hires H1 visa types.  Another sort of talking out-of-one-side-of-the-mouth while doing something entirely different example today.  We've been keeping abreast of the lay-offs in the tech sector here as part of our watching the Biden economy teeter and totter precipitously, and there has been quite an adjustment in those overall numbers since last fall. [...] The employees that are retained are dealing with a vastly rejiggered cultural landscape as far as the perks, expectations, work from home, and general employment indulgences that were an ingrained part of their jobs for decades.  Suck it up and tighten that belt if you want to stay.  In one example of shifting business practices in "subdued" times, Microsoft is still paying people, but they've announced they won't be handing out annual raises this year.

67 Arkansas churches leave the UMC.  Sixty-seven congregations in Arkansas have officially disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church, being part of a wave of departures driven largely by the mainline Protestant denomination's ongoing debate over LGBT issues.  At a Special Session of the UMC Arkansas Annual Conference held at the Hot Springs Convention Center on Saturday, the regional body voted to approve the departures of 67 churches.  Arkansas Bishop Laura Merrill said in a statement on Saturday that while it was "a difficult day" for the regional body, she was "grateful for the grace that Conference members extended to each other and to me as we accomplished our work."

Director of Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh Smear Group Begs for Mercy After Releasing Confidential Documents.  The leftist campaign to force Justice Clarence Thomas from the US Supreme Court let its inner clown out when the executive director of the AstroTurf smear group Fix the Court inadvertently released the names of its donors to a Washington Examiner reporter. Fix the Court has not only been a player in the current attacks on Justice Thomas, but they were also a major participant in the smear campaign directed at Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing.  It all started innocently enough with Washington Examiner reporter Gabe Kaminsky taking a deep dive into the finances of the fake groups trying to give the appearance of popular demand for Justice Thomas' resignation.  Kaminsky noticed that the New Venture Fund reported giving $111,677 to Fix the Court.  On the other hand, Fix the Court did not file the required IRS Form 990 but used the truncated IRS Form 990-N used by non-profits raising less than $50,000.  Kaminsky queried Fix the Court Executive Director Gabriel Roth about his violation of federal tax law.

Group demanding transparency for SCOTUS panics after accidentally being transparent.  Gabe Roth, executive director for Fix the Court (a nonprofit on a mission to demand SCOTUS "transparency" and constitutional reform), mistakenly released his group's own financial records... and he's in an absolute frenzy. [...] This all started on Tuesday, when the Washington Examiner contacted Fix the Court to inquire as to why there was an apparent error regarding reported donations.  Roth responded the following day, noting that he "misunderstood filing instructions" and in turn, dispatched entirely unredacted financial disclosures to the news outlet — some might call this "financial transparency."  Upon realizing his mistake, Roth followed up: [...]

Whoa. Elon Musk subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein case.  This bit of news dropped out of the blue today and it could have significant implications for the new owner of Twitter.  The U.S. Virgin Islands issued a subpoena to Elon Musk seeking documents and information related to deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.  (Who absolutely committed suicide in jail and couldn't possibly have been murdered in some sort of contract hit job.)  But the subpoena doesn't appear to suggest that Musk was in some way involved with Epstein's trafficking activities, or at least not at first glance.  It instead says that Epstein may have "referred or attempted to refer" Musk to be a client of JP Morgan.  JP Morgan is at the heart of an ongoing lawsuit in which the company is accused of enabling and benefiting from Epstein's trafficking activities.  But the trafficking does come up again later in the document.

Medical Mavens Discover Men and Women are Different.  Medical journals are ranked by prestige, like universities and restaurants, based on criteria that might be more in the eye of the beholder than based on objective criteria.  In the medical world, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine are ranked number one and two, respectively, despite both having had to retract shoddy published COVID papers over "data integrity questions."  JAMA, or the Journal of the American Medical Association, is number five on the "best medicine journals" list.  It would be reasonable to expect such journals to be publishing cutting-edge medical research papers rather than nonsense better suited for supermarket tabloids.  JAMA, a few weeks ago, published a research letter stating the obvious about males and females.

Biden admin coordinated with liberal dark money behemoth on 'transforming food system,' emails show.  The Biden administration coordinated with Eric Kessler, the founder and principal of the Arabella Advisors consulting firm, which oversees a behemoth liberal dark money network, on key agriculture policy issues, according to emails obtained by Fox News Digital.  The internal Department of Agriculture (USDA) communications — obtained by Americans for Public Trust (APT) and shared with Fox News Digital — show that Kessler was involved in initiatives to "transform" the U.S. food system and to crack down on the meat industry for high prices.  Kessler was the only individual on the email chains who wasn't affiliated with the USDA.  "These emails reveal that Eric Kessler has direct access to Biden cabinet officials and plays an intimate role in shaping this administration's agenda," APT executive director Caitlin Sutherland told Fox News Digital.

DeSantis Quietly Signs New Law Sealing All of His Travel Records From Public, the Law Applies Retroactively.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis always makes a big deal about signing all of the Florida laws that stem from new legislation the people behind his administration submit from his office.  However, when he signed the new law that sealed all his travel records, he did so quietly.  The Ron DeSantis reelection was all a big con job... all of it.  Florida was duped, and I have had a lot of people begging me not to point it out and talk about it. [...] The not pretending reason for the exclusive DeSantis new law is to stop anyone from tracing the background of his travel, and the billionaire special interests and donors who funded it, as he launches his 2024 presidential campaign.  As I have been saying since last summer, the DeSantis '24 campaign was planned years ago — long before anyone else was paying attention.

DA Bragg to Charge Marine Hero Who Defended Passengers Against Subway Monster.  When Jordan Neely assaulted a 67-year-old woman, breaking her nose and causing injuries to her head, the system colluded to set the deranged monster loose. [...] He pleaded guilty on Feb. 9 of this year, in a carefully planned strategy between the city and his lawyers to allow him to get treatment and stay out of prison. [...] He had tried to abduct a 7-year-old girl, also punched a 64-year-old man and threatened to kill a gate agent.  He was on the list of the 50 most unstable people in the subway system.  And a pro-crime regime in New York City refused to do anything to stop the monster.  Finally, on a F train, a few men, including Daniel Penny, a former Marine, stood up to him and wouldn't let him hurt any other women or young girls.  Now a leftist-BLM lynch mob working with DA Bragg's office has seen to it that Penny will be charged with manslaughter.

Daniel Perry Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison.  United States Army Sergeant Daniel Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday for the fatal shooting 28-year-old Air Force veteran Garrett Foster in 2020.  In 2020, according to Perry's defense, Foster had approached Perry's car with a rifle during Black Lives Matter protest.  Perry said he then shot Foster in self-defense when the man had pointed his rifle at him.  The Army Sergeant said that he was working as a ride-share driver at the time, and had just dropped off a client, unaware that protests were taking place.  According to Perry's attorneys, he kept a weapon in his vehicle for personal protection.

RFK, Jr breaks yet another taboo, this time with profound Second Amendment implications.  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr must be driving the progressives, who formerly adored him, nuts. [...] Yesterday, speaking to Mark Steyn, he crossed a red line for his party and implicitly defended the Second Amendment by potentially linking the rise in school shootings to the rise in the use of SSRI anti-depressants, not to the proliferation of guns.  First of all, the US administers 4 times as many as the average European country.  Second, the rise on mass shootings parallels the rise in SSRIs.  And third, Switzerland has even more guns per capita, but few to no mass shootings, along with far less use of SSRIs.

[The] Dutch government [has been] given [the] go-ahead by [the] EU to start buying farms to reduce the food supply.  The European Commission on Tuesday said it had approved two Dutch plans worth a combined 1.47 billion euros ($1.61 billion) to buy out livestock farmers to reduce nitrogen pollution, saying they are permissible under state aid rules.  The Dutch need to reduce excess nitrogen levels, caused in part by decades of intensive farming, a problem that has led to courts blocking important construction projects until the issue is resolved.  Discontent over government plans to address the problem until now date led to a major defeat for Prime Minister Mark Rutte's governing coalition in regional elections in March.

The time to make this statement was about fifty years ago, when most of the assassins and accessories were still alive.
RFK Jr.  Says "CIA Definitely Involved In The Murder" of His Uncle President John F. Kennedy.  Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was recently interviewed by Jason Calacanis and other members of the popular All-In podcast and in that interview, RFK Jr. revealed he believes the CIA was involved in the assassination of his uncle[,] President John F. Kennedy.  The question arose when host Jason Calacanis asked Kennedy directly "Do you believe they (the CIA) were involved in the murder of your uncle?"  Without any hesitation Kennedy responded "They were definitely involved in the murder and the 60-year cover-up."  Kennedy continued "They're still not releasing, you know the papers that legally they have to release."

Report: DeSantis Will Skip 2024 Exploratory Committee Phase and Enter Training Camp for Facial Expressions.  ABC News is now reporting that Ron DeSantis will skip the exploratory committee phase and go straight into full campaign mode.  However, the best part of the information provided from within the DeSantis operation is this, "the team has been paying close attention to how to help manage the governor's facial reactions in the upcoming debate."  Too funny.  Nothing screams authenticity quite like taking political lessons in controlling your facial expressions.  Everything about this DeSantis construct is astroturf, fake, manufactured and inauthentic.  It's the major Achilles heel they just cannot overcome.

Texas State Police show how to remove insurrectionists from a Capitol protest.  Transgender activists created an insurrection at the Texas state capitol in Austin on Tuesday.  That's the proper term for the disruption of a state legislative session these days, right?  Transgender activists have been creating mini-January 6 insurrections in statehouses in red states working on passing legislation to protect minors from life-altering surgery until they are legal adults and mature enough to make such important decisions.  Tuesday it happened in Austin and the activists quickly found out that the state police that protects the capitol building do not play around.  They will take a protester down and quickly remove him or her from the premises.

JPMorgan Chase Acquires First Republic Bank with FDIC Backstopping Deal While Ignoring Current Banking Laws.  The Dodd-Frank laws are still on the books, but the FDIC decision to insure all deposits, regardless of size, now means those laws, rules and regulations are not required to be followed.  Additionally, as a result of JPMorgan gaining another $100+/- billion in deposit assets, the law(s) surrounding the 10% U.S. deposit maximum, within too big to fail banks, no longer exists.  Noted in the announcement, "JPMorgan Chase is assuming all deposits — insured and uninsured."

To put it another way...
Banks can get away with murder.  Yesterday, I expected to submit an article entitled "In business, bigger is not necessarily better" for American Thinker.  The ink wasn't dry on my article before the government took bids on First Republic Bank (FRB). JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the U.S., was the winner.  The biggest gets bigger.  What?  Does the Fed have the legal right to put a distressed bank on the market and effectively sell it to the highest bidder?  In doing this, isn't the Fed playing favorites with the bank leadership that created the problem in the first place?  Have FRB bank leaders been selling their FRB stock the way Silicon Valley Bank leaders did?  Since when has it become law that banks cannot go bankrupt?  Troubled banks can be auctioned off, instead of going through bankruptcy like all other small, medium, and big companies.

ASPCA Exposed: Charity Giant Sits on Millions While Only Donating 2 Percent to Animal Shelters.  Remember those commercials showing footage of dogs and cats living in deplorable conditions while singer Sarah McLachlan croons about being in the arms of an angel?  There is a chance that you might have been moved to donate to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the organization behind those ads.  A recent report might prompt those who supported the ASPCA to reconsider.  The ASPCA has been accused of sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars while giving only two percent of its budget to animal shelters, according to the Center for the Environment and Welfare (CEW).  The group has launched a paid media campaign to expose the ASPCA's priorities, which it claims are more focused on a radical political agenda and enriching itself than helping pets in need.  The campaign currently includes a six-figure TV ad running nationally, a radio spot, and a digital ad on Twitter and Facebook.  The CEW released a report detailing its findings about how the ASPCA engages in practices some would find questionable at best.

Here's the mysterious explosion of the week:
Key Gunpowder Factory Mysteriously Exploded, US Production of the Chemical Now Totally Offline.  A mysterious explosion at a gunpowder factory in Louisiana in 2021 that destroyed the facilities highlights a serious problem in America's military supply chain that makes us all less safe in the face of growing threats from China and our other enemies.  As the Wall Street Journal pointed out on Wednesday, "Fewer weapons manufacturers, shortages and 'single source' contractors limit the Pentagon's ability to ramp up production — including when the sole maker of a crucial type of gunpowder stopped producing."  The explosion occurred two years ago at a gunpowder plant in Minden, Louisiana, when what the paper called "an errant spark" destroyed the entire facility in a plant that the Department of Defense relies on to produce bullets, mortar shells, artillery rounds and Tomahawk missiles.

Tucker Carlson Video Nets 60 Million Impressions in Under 24 Hours.  A video message posted on Twitter by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson after his departure has netted some 19 million views and 60 million impressions, highlighting Carlson's influence and popularity.  He posted the clip at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, the same time as his former Fox News show, and did not address any speculation around his departure.  He also did not explain why he left the company.  For comparison, "Fox News Tonight" with temporary host Brian Kilmeade drew about 1.7 million viewers on Tuesday night.  And President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign launch video posted to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon — or more than 24 hours before Carlson's — had about 40 million views.  And Carlson himself had a nightly audience of about 3 million viewers in recent years, although at times, that figure was much higher.

Whistleblower Who Was Reportedly About to Reveal "Explosive" Information On the Biden Crime Family's Corruption Has Disappeared.  The Gateway Pundit reported back in February that Dr. Gal Luft, the co-director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, reportedly was going reveal explosive information on the Biden Crime Family.  Now he has gone missing under mysterious circumstances.  Luft was an adviser to CEFC China Energy (CEFC), a business conglomerate with extremely close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.  He served alongside Hunter Biden.  CEFC Energy paid Hunter approximately $5 million in 2017 alone to secure energy deals in the United States according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Ron DeSantis Punches Back at Disney Lawsuit: You Have 'No Legal Right to Corporate Welfare'.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has punched back at Disney's lawsuit, with his team saying Disney is trying to "undermine the will" of Florida voters and has "no legal right to corporate welfare."  The Walt Disney Co. filed a lawsuit against DeSantis in federal court Wednesday, claiming the Republican governor is waging a "targeted campaign of government retaliation" in the ongoing fight over Florida's Parental Rights in Education Law, which has been smeared by the mainstream news media as "Don't Say Gay."

Jacinda Ardern's disappearing act.  Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern bade farewell to parliament a few weeks ago.  Ardern had resigned as PM in January, saying she no longer had 'enough in the tank' to lead the country.  After half-a-decade in charge, and regularly feted on the world stage, Ardern has all but vanished as a ubiquitous figure of the age; but more striking is the extent to which her political legacy has, too.  So what has she been up to since?  Ardern has been appointed a trustee of a Prince of Wales' environment award, named the Earthshot Prize.  The prize was created by Prince William to fund projects that, in a not-unimpressive mission statement, 'aim to save the planet.'

Have the attacks on the power grid been solved?  Last year we covered multiple incidents of attacks on electrical substations around the United States leading to some significant power outages.  The perpetrators were rarely apprehended, leading to questions of whether or not there was some larger conspiracy taking place, seeking to destroy the country's already shaky electrical power grid.  Now the Justice Department has announced that several people have been arrested and sentenced in a plot to take out multiple substations around the country.  In an unexpected twist, the motives of the men were apparently driven by racism, with the group being self-proclaimed Nazis and white supremacists.

McCarthy Releases His Proposal to Raise US Debt Ceiling by $1.5 Trillion.  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released his proposal to raise the US debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion.  "Now that we've introduced a clear plan for a responsible debt limit increase, [Biden and Democrats] have no more excuse, and refuse to negotiate," McCarthy said on Wednesday.  "House Republicans have a plan.  The Senate does not.  And the President is ignoring the debt crisis," he added.

Top Homeland Security Official Escorted From Building and Office Marked as Crime Scene.  A Senior Executive Service doesn't get arrested and publicly humiliated over something that everyone in Hillary Clinton's State Department did all day, every day.  By taking him out of the building in custody, they've destroyed his credibility and usefulness.  The next step will be his retirement or removal from the Civil Service if he's not retirement eligible (looking at his LinkedIn profile, he hasn't met the minimum time requirement to retire).  If his gravest sin had been to take a cell phone into a secure office or even a SCIF, this would've been handled much differently.  No, something bigger is going on.  Given Sulc's portfolio, it could be all manner of malfeasance or criminality.  It could also be related to the whistleblowers who are beginning to line up outside Congressional offices with stories of lies and deception by Mayorkas and his inner clique to mislead Congress.

Senate Republicans should not 'help out' Democrats on the matter of Feinstein's judicial seat.  Seems the Democrat masterplan of filling every elected office with Democrats, by fair means or foul, and whether they are fit or fading, hasn't worked out very well for them.  Pennsylvania's Sen. John Fetterman, who's just completed a stretch in a mental hospital for depression, and who reportedly cannot understand a thing anyone is saying to him owing to a stroke, is the most commonly cited example, but there is also the open-air senility of Joe Biden, showing on television screens every night how badly his mental faculties have declined.  Feinstein, though, seems to be in the worst shape — she literally can't do anything.  Because she holds a critical seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, her absence is keeping Democrats from confirming their radical judges and that seems to be a problem for them.  Feinstein won't resign, despite calls for that from Democrats such as Bay Area Rep. Ro Khanna, but she has asked that her seat be temporarily filled by another Democrat, and for that, she needs Republicans to give the O.K.

Former DNI Kash Patel Confirms Jack Teixeira Would Not Have Had Access to Documents He Leaked.  Despite working in information technology within an intelligence wing of the Air Force, Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira would not have legally had access to the classified information he's accused of leaking on a Discord server, former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Kash Patel said Friday. [...] As we reported Thursday, several stories about Teixeira were stealth-edited on Wednesday and Thursday.  One of those stories, from NBC News, originally said that officials had been tracking Teixeira for some time.  Then it was changed to say that they were "onto him."  Then that paragraph was deleted in its entirety.

The Leaker and the Media.  In the aftermath of the outing and arrest of Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, the 21-year old leaker of national security documents, over there at The New York Sun, journalist Matthew Rice headlines a very appropriate question.  ["]Did the Press Find the Leaker Before Law Enforcement?  Or Did the Law Use the Press To Flush Him Out?["] [...] The pattern is clear.  If a leaker is leaking information that embarrasses a Republican president, that leaker is either lionized as a hero if revealed, or deliberately not revealed.  The media hunt for the Flynn leaker — who embarrassed Trump — was non existent.  He or she had to be protected from a president who would go after him or her.  The media hunt for the Supreme Court leaker, a leaker who caused an uproar for conservative judges that resulted in threats of violence directed at the conservative Justices in their homes?  A leak that could easily have embarrassed the liberals on the Court had it been of their clerks?  Non-existent.  Jack Teixeira 's leak has embarrassed Democrat President Joe Biden.  Thus the liberal media swarms to root out the SOB who dared to do this, in this latest case identifying Teixeira quickly and lending a hand to the FBI so they can swoop in and arrest him.

Kash Patel Questions Emerging Narrative on Pentagon Leaks: 'This Is an Extensive Cover-Up'.  Kash Patel, former chief of staff at the Pentagon and former deputy director of National Intelligence, in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Friday, questioned the evolving narrative over the Pentagon leaks — specifically that a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard reservist acted alone to leak top secret military data.  Patel, a former federal prosecutor, said he does not believe "for a single second, this guy — a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman — ran this operation alone."  Patel said, first, the suspected leaker, Jack Teixeira, would not have had access to the information without someone within the Department of Defense (DOD) or the intelligence community giving it to him, providing it to him, or telling him it should be put out there.  "It's just not possible," he said.

The Babylon Bee is suing California's attorney general.  In 2022, California passed an unconstitutional censorship law called AB 587.  We're suing to stop its enforcement.  I've tried to anticipate your questions below. [...] [#1] What's AB 587?  AB 587 is a new law in California that regulates social media companies.  It requires Big Tech platforms to provide periodic reporting to the California Attorney General on several categories of speech, including misinformation, disinformation, extremism, radicalization, and hate speech.  If the platforms don't provide adequate reporting, the state will impose fines to compel compliance.  [#2] How are they lying about the law to make it seem like a good thing?  They're claiming it's just about "transparency."  That's not true.  This is a censorship bill, not a transparency bill.  Here's Gavin Newsom himself explaining why he signed the bill into law:  "California will not stand by as social media is weaponized to spread hate and disinformation that threaten our communities and foundational values as a country."

A Mcdonald's Big Mac Meal Costs $18 in Connecticut.  "Remember those stimulus checks they gave out?  Well... they want it back."  Those were the words of TikTok user @xconmedia, who exposed what may be the most expensive McDonald's Big Mac meal of all time.  The TikToker was at a Connecticut McDonald's when he pulled out his phone to document the ridiculous food prices.  As he zooms into the menu, people can see that a chicken sandwich combo was between $16.69 and $17.89, while the Big Mac combo was $16.89 plus tax.

Rep. James Comer says two county attorneys have asked him how they can 'go after the Bidens'.  Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said that two county attorneys from Tennessee and Kentucky have asked him how they can "go after" the Biden's following Former President Trump's indictment.  Comer made the comments on Wednesday on Fox & Friends.  "And I'll tell you, one of the things that I don't think it's been picked up a lot that's going to be a problem.  And I had two calls yesterday, one from a county attorney in Kentucky and one from a county attorney in Tennessee.  They were Republican, obviously, both states are heavily Republican.  They want to know if there are ways they can go after the Biden's now," Comer said.  He added that the Democrats have "opened a can of worms."

Texas AG Just Threw A Glorious Legal Wrench In Biden's Unconstitutional $1.7 Trillion Spending Spree.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked a federal court on Tuesday to bar the Biden administration from enforcing the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, claiming Congress failed to constitutionally pass the massive spending bill.  While the court is unlikely to freeze the entire $1.7 trillion appropriation, Texas presents a strong case for halting two aspects of the bill.  In February, the Texas attorney general sued the Biden administration, arguing the House of Representatives lacked the constitutionally mandated quorum to pass the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.  Paxton is now seeking a preliminary injunction to bar the federal government from enforcing the law.  As Paxton details in his brief supporting Texas' motion, when the House purported to pass the $1.7 trillion spending bill on Dec. 23, 2022, it lacked a quorum because only 201 representatives were present.  Yet the House proceeded with the vote, counting votes of both the 201 present lawmakers and adding to the tally an extra 226 votes those lawmakers cast on behalf of absent members who had appointed them as "proxies."

Don't insult us... or else.  You are likely aware of the raging protests in France over pension reforms.  As much as I hate to admit it, I am with Macron on this issue.  Raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 is hardly draconian given the increase in lifespans and the fiscal crises all pension programs face.  The protests have been "fiery but mostly peaceful," as they say.  Not a single person has died by guillotine yet, although it is early in the process.  That took a while to get going during the French Revolution.  The French love their escalating violence in protests.  [Video clip]  Yet the arrest of which I am writing has nothing to do with being fiery or mostly peaceful.  Or even encouraging anybody else to be mostly peaceful.  Rather, a woman was arrested for insulting President Macron on Facebook.

Ford to Discontinue AM Radios in Most New Vehicles Starting in 2024.  Ford plans to drop AM radios from most of its new vehicles starting in 2024, raising concerns about public safety communication.  The automaker had previously announced plans to drop the AM radio from its electric vehicles due to "interference" between the electric drive train and AM reception.  The Detroit Free Press reports that beginning in 2024, Ford will no longer offer AM radio in the majority of its newly released gas and electric-powered vehicles.

Canadian federal agencies have fired at least 3 employees found to be spies since 2017.  Since 2017, no less than three people working for various Canadian federal government departments have been fired for being spies working as foreign agents, according to recently released records.  As per Blacklock's Reporter, a recent cabinet Inquiry of Ministry from the House of Commons requested by Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP John Barlow highlights how the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed at least one worker was a Department of Employment staffer, who was fired in 2019.  Another spy was discovered to have been a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) employee, fired in 2019, with a third spy fired in 2017 who worked for the Department of Fisheries.

Ex-CIA chief: Putin is a "dead man walking".  From the beginning of the invasion, the one question that has consumed the media and every intelligence official willing to discuss it involves when and how the war ends.  Those hoping for a quick wrap-up were obviously disappointed since we're now in the second year of the war.  But former CIA official James Olson thinks that an unexpected end to the hostilities may be on the horizon, coming in a potentially unexpected way.  During an interview with the Sun newspaper, Olson predicted that Vladimir Putin can and probably will be taken out by his own people. potentially Russian military officials who are reportedly getting "fed up" with the war and Russia's failure to seal the deal one way or the other.

Autism Skyrockets in American Kids.  Especially in California.  "Autism" rates are skyrocketing among children in the United States, especially in the state of California, according to new data obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The new figures claim one in 36 American eight-year-olds, or 2.8 percent, have been diagnosed with autism.  This is higher than the 1 in 44, or 2.3 percent of December 2021.  By comparison with the CDC's first autism prevalence report, published in 2007, the increase is shocking:  only 1 in 150 children, or 0.7 percent, had been diagnosed sixteen years ago.  The new data makes concerning reading at a time when the nation's children seem sicker and unhappier than ever before.  Back in November, we reported on how members of Generation Z are suffering massive, pandemic-induced depression.  Millions of Zoomers were diagnosed with mental-health problems during the pandemic, highlighting the terrible effects of the social-distancing measures, and the constant barrage of fear propaganda, on a generation that had already been identified as perhaps the most fragile and troubled in recent times.

Florida's surgeon general is the first responder on scene, and saves a man's life.  Harvard graduate Dr. Joseph Ladapo has been called a "quack" and "unqualified" for his traditional, pro-science approach to healthcare; unlike a certain Supreme Court justice, he can tell you the differences between a man and a woman.  Thankfully though for a man experiencing a cardiac arrest on the grounds of the Tallahassee capitol, Ladapo doesn't specialize in "gender-affirming care" or "equity" medicine — he's a real, and apparently very good doctor.

This sounds like something Bill Clinton would do.
DeSantis Approves $100 Million To Help Cops, Teachers And Healthcare Workers Buy Homes.  Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the "Live Local Act" Wednesday, which in part allocates $100 million to help teachers, healthcare workers and police officers buy homes.  Senate Bill 102, called the "Live Local Act," will appropriate a total of $711 million in an effort to make housing more affordable for working Floridians.  The bill provides incentives for private investment in affordable housing and bans local rent controls, News4Jax reported.  "Being able to have folks who are teachers, police officers, firefighters, all these important things — you can't do it if they have to drive an hour, an hour-and-a-half just to get to work every day.  I mean, we want people to be able to live in the community where they're working," DeSantis said during a news conference in Naples.

The Editor says...
By making it easier for "teachers, healthcare workers and police officers [to] buy homes," the Governor is creating a caste system, in which the people who support the government are a little higher than everyone else.

US Senate votes to repeal measure that gave go-ahead for 2003 invasion of Iraq.  The US Senate voted on Wednesday to repeal the resolution that gave a green light for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, an effort to return a basic war power to Congress from the White House 20 years after an authorization many now say was a mistake.  Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands and nearly 5,000 US troops were killed after George W Bush's administration falsely claimed Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.  "This body rushed into a war," said the Virginia senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat who has pushed for years to repeal the powers, adding that the Iraq war has had "massive consequences".  Senators voted 66-30 to repeal the 2002 measure and also the 1991 authorization that sanctioned the US-led Gulf war.

Barge Hauling 1,400 Tons Of Methanol Slams Into Ohio River Dam.  A "navigation accident" on the Ohio River caused a barge carrying 1,400 tons of methanol to break free from its vessel and slam into a dam, becoming partially submerged.  Around 2 a.m.  Tuesday night, a vessel towing 11 barges in the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, collided with a stationary structure at the entrance of the Portland Canal close to the McAlpine Lock and Dam, according to a press release from the city.  The collision caused 10 of the 11 barges to break free from the vessel, sending three of them into the McAlpine Dam.  One such barge was reportedly hauling 1,400 metric tons of methanol and became partially submerged, the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet stated.

Incredible Body-Cam Footage of Nashville Shooting Destroys the Uvalde PD and Its Left-Wing Apologists.  As RedState reported, dramatic body-cam footage of police confronting and killing the Nashville Christian school shooter emerged on Tuesday.  It was a picture of heroism as officers rushed into the school to clear rooms and stop the carnage.  Within minutes, they had located the shooter, with one officer taking down the self-identified "transgender man" with a precision that only comes from actual training and the courage to use it.  Another officer finished the ordeal after the shooter again tried to go for her gun.

[The] Taliban [is] Making Hay With the Staggering Amount of Military Gear Left in Afghanistan.  When Joe Biden ordered the chaotic, deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, he didn't just leave behind our dignity, he also left behind billions in weapons and armaments.  Although we've known that most of that equipment ended up in Taliban hands, new photos and videos are emerging showing just how much we essentially donated to the violent group.  The Taliban has reportedly been busy repairing many of the vehicles we had intentionally sabotaged when we abandoned ship:  [TWeet]

Parents Bill of Rights: These Republicans Voted 'No'.  Friday morning, the House of Representatives passed the Parents Bill of Rights Act (H.R.5), a measure that would guarantee parents a meaningful voice in their children's education.  In a sane political environment, this would not have been a controversial bill.  Yet it barely squeaked by in a 213 [to] 208 vote.  Predictably, the Democrats did the bidding of their teachers union paymasters by unanimously opposing the bill.  But why did five Republicans vote against it, particularly considering that it was integral to the Commitment to America on which they ran in the recent midterms?  Some of their names will be all too familiar:  Reps.  Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.), and Matt Rosendale (Mont.). [...] Their ostensible objection to the bill is that it undermines federalism.

Let's see how last night went in France.  Oh, 903 fires in Paris alone?  If you haven't been following the news, the Frenchies are angry because their government raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.  So they're burning everything to the ground.  According to the mayor of Paris, there were 903 fires recorded in the city last night alone.  [Tweets]  Many of the fires are piles of trash that has stacked up because the sanitary workers have gone on strike.  But wouldn't ya know, when you light things on fire in narrow European streets, the embers have a tendency of setting buildings on fire, which happened in this case.

Things Are Getting Spicy in France as Mass Protests Turn Violent in Some Areas.  History tells us the French 'do revolution' quite well, the current status of the protests against President Macron's unilateral pension reform cuts are no exception.  Worker strikes have hampered France for over a week in protest to:  (1) the pension reform; and  (2) the undemocratic way it was enacted via unilateral fiat by the French President, Emmanuel Macron.  Today the worker strike turned to massive protests in the streets throughout several regions.  As the day wound down, those protests then turned violent as the ultra-left-wing "Black Bloc" anarchists began attacking police.

Israeli Lawmakers Propose A New Law That Would Put Those Who Preach The Gospel In Public In Public In Jail.  Is it possible that the Israeli government this year could pass legislation making it illegal for people to share the Gospel message in the very land where Jesus was born, raised, preached, died, buried and rose from the dead?  Unfortunately, yes.  As Palm Sunday and Easter approach — the two most sacred days on the calendar for those who follow Jesus as both God and Messiah — two members of the Knesset (Israel's parliament) introduced a bill last week that would ban any and all efforts to tell people about Jesus.  The bill would send violators to prison.  [Video clip]

Midsize Banks to Feds: Insure All Our Deposits for Two Years.  A coalition of midsize banks sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC), the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Reserve requesting that the FDIC insure all their deposits for the next two years, according to Bloomberg.  The request comes amidst a banking crisis that started earlier this month with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and then Signature Bank.

Millions of Tiny, Suspicious Political Donations Questioned by Watchdog Group.  An 80-year-old Midwestern woman from an affluent suburban area made nearly 9,000 small donations totaling more than $330,000 to political causes and candidates in four years, according to federal election records.  She says she didn't.  "That would not slip by me," she told The Epoch Times.  "If I was losing money, I'd know it.  It wasn't my money."  "I am a frequent and generous giver.  I estimate I contribute about 50 times per year.  I know every penny I donate."  The woman, known as Donor  C, was also surprised to learn that Federal Election Commission reports showed small donations appearing in her name after she stopped giving.  "There's a hole somewhere that needs to be plugged and I'd like to see that done.  I'd like to know if this is elder abuse," she said.

Almost 200 US Banks Are at Risk of Silicon Valley Bank-Like Collapse: Study.  Nearly 200 more banks could be vulnerable to the same type of risk that collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) earlier this month, according to a recently published study.  There are 186 banks across the United States that could collapse if half of their respective uninsured depositors withdraw their funds, researchers with the Social Science Research Network found.  Deposits at member banks of up to $250,000 are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., although the agency agreed to insure depositors' funds far above that after SVB's collapse this month.  "Combined, losses and uninsured leverage provide incentives for an SVB uninsured depositor run," an abstract of the paper reads.  "We compute similar incentives for the sample of all U.S. banks.  Even if only half of uninsured depositors decide to withdraw, almost 190 banks are at a potential risk of impairment to insured depositors, with potentially $300 billion of insured deposits at risk.

A milestone on the road to financageddon.  Yesterday the U.S. Big Banking Cartel announced its intention to provide $30 Billion in unsecured deposits to First Republic, an action without precedent in their history.  This brings to the fore the issue of TBTF, Too Big To Fail financial and other institutions.  Since the global financial crisis, this has morphed into the term SIFI, Systemically Important Financial Institutions, with lists compiled at the national level by financial regulators and at the international level by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).  There are 30 G-SIB's or Globally Systematically Important Banks, including eight from the U.S. In addition, there are 22 U.S. D-SIB's or Domestically Systematically Important Banks.

First Republic Bank execs quietly sold $12M in stock before SVB crash.  First Republic Bank executives quietly sold nearly $12 million worth of its stock in just the past three months, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Executive Chairman James Herbert II sold the most of any of the other insiders, off-loading a whopping $4.5 million worth of shares since the start of the year.  In all, four of the struggling bank's top executives sold $11.8 million worth of stock so far this year, at prices averaging just below $130 a share, the Journal found.

Musk brought internet to Brazil's Amazon.  Criminals love it.  Brazilian federal agents aboard three helicopters descended on an illegal mining site on Tuesday in the Amazon rainforest.  They were met with gunfire, and the shooters escaped, leaving behind an increasingly familiar find for authorities:  Starlink internet units.  Starlink, a division of Elon Musk's SpaceX, has almost 4,000 low-orbit satellites across the skies, connecting people in remote corners of the Amazon and providing a crucial advantage to Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.  The lightweight, high-speed internet system has also proved a new and valuable tool for Brazil's illegal miners, with reliable service for coordinating logistics, receiving advance warning of law enforcement raids and making payments without flying back to the city.

The Editor says...
The Internet was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the communications of any other.

Milley Won't Call Russia's Downing of U.S. Drone an Act of War.  In a joint press conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attempted to deescalate when asked if Russia's downing of a U.S. drone was an act of war.  Both Austin and Milley committed to continue flying and operating wherever international law allows, calling upon Russian leaders to operate their military aircraft in a safe, professional, and nonaggressive manner.  The incident Tuesday [3/14/2023] involved a Russian Su-27 aircraft striking the propeller of a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone, which U.S. officials said was on a routine mission in international airspace when two Russian jets attempted to intercept it.  The unmanned drone was diverted into international waters and now is deep under the waters of the Black Sea.

With any loan over $50 billion, you'll also receive a free toaster.
Credit Suisse to borrow up to nearly $54 billion from Swiss National Bank.  Credit Suisse announced it will be borrowing up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.68 billion) from the Swiss National Bank under a covered loan facility and a short-term liquidity facility.  The decision comes shortly after shares of the lender fell sharply Wednesday, hitting an all-time low for a second consecutive day after its top investor Saudi National Bank was quoted as saying it won't be able to provide further assistance.

Merit issue: Just one guy on Silicon Valley Bank's board knew anything about investment banking.  Before its collapse Friday, wokesterism surrounded Silicon Valley Bank like a miasma.  The wokesterly attentiveness didn't per se destroy that mid-sized bank, given that most banks play these games and the big ones are very loud about it.  As I noted earlier, Johns Hopkins University professor of economics, Steve Hanke, put his finger on the problem more precisely in an email:  ["][T]he real SVB issue was terrible banking and risk management that resulted in a massive duration mismatch between SVB's liabilities (read: deposits) and its assets (read: long-dated bonds). The mismatch was stupidly not hedged.  SVB was a poorly run bank, a disaster waiting to happen.  Any regulator worth his salt should have seen this coming long ago.["] [...] No wonder they couldn't manage the bank.  They had a merit problem in their top management, with characters hired for their political connections.  One of them, Mary J. Miller, was an actual Obama administration official.

Biden's Banking Busts.  The failure of three banks in the last two weeks, including Silicon Valley Bank on Friday and Signature Bank on Sunday, is a saga of utter government incompetence.  Call these bank collapses Biden's Banking Busts.  The Biden administration has been obsessing on woke causes while banks teeter toward insolvency.  Three days before Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen cautioned that climate change puts the banking industry at risk.  Yellen was in la-la land, speculating that future storms and tornadoes could diminish the value of banks' assets.  Weather is a risk, but she was oblivious to the much more immediate problem facing banks — the plummeting value of the bonds they own.  She was heedless to the impending downfall of SVB and possibly several other small banks that had purchased long-term bonds when interest rates were near zero.  In 2022, after doing nothing to tame inflation the previous year, the Federal Reserve hiked rates repeatedly to make up for their previous inaction.  Those rapid rate hikes, the most drastic in decades, made the banks' bonds lose value.

'Rapid Deterioration': Major Rating Service Downgrades U.S. Banking System.  Following the biggest bank failure since the financial crisis of 2008, Moody's Investor Service has downgraded its rating of the U.S. banking system in the latest sign that President Biden's Monday morning attempt to assuage concerns went over like a lead balloon.  [Tweet]  Moody's — one of three major rating entities — downgraded its outlook for the U.S. banking system from "stable" to "negative" on Tuesday morning "to reflect the rapid deterioration in the operating environment following deposit runs at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Bank, and Signature Bank (SNY) and the failures of SVB and SNY," Moody's explained.  In addition to downgrading the entire banking system, Moody's also issued warnings for several individual banks "with substantial unrealized securities losses and with non-retail and uninsured US depositors" that "may still be more sensitive to depositor competition or ultimate flight" and end up "with adverse effects on funding, liquidity, earnings and capital."

Signature Bank boss hosted a company seminar on gender-neutral pronouns 'ze' and 'hir' five months before becoming the third largest bank failure in US history.  A seminar on gender-neutral pronouns hosted by Signature Bank just months before its collapse now has critics accusing the company of not having its priorities in order.  The bank, which was shut down by regulators at the weekend to avoid a US banking crisis, held the seminar in October and featured its chairman Scott Shay along with corporate consultant on gender issues Finn Brigham.  Video of the seminar, which goes for more than an hour, shows Brigham and Shay delivering a lecture about 'pronouns' with the ultra-woke company seizing the opportunity to laud their title as the 'first bank in the United States to have an openly gay man on the board.'

Shares in Credit Suisse Fall to All-Time Low After Bank Admits 'Material Weakness'.  Warnings have emerged of a wider banking collapse on the backs of the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank, with a financial expert who predicted the 2008 financial crisis warning that Credit Suisse may be the next to fall after the Swiss bank's shares fell to an all-time low on Tuesday [3/14/2023].  Switzerland's second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, saw its shares fall by five per cent in early trading on Tuesday to a record low for the company after confirming some $8 billion in losses in 2022 and admitting that there was "material weakness" in its accounting system for financial reports.

Silicon Valley Bank Spent $74 Million on Black Lives Matter and Social Justice Causes.  Silicon Valley Bank's collapse is almost entirely self-imposed, but they're getting an almost-bailout anyway.  President Biden has said the taxpayers will bear the brunt of guaranteeing all SVB deposits.  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) already insures deposits up to $250,000, a pittance compared to the collapse of this billion-dollar bank.  Many in the financial punditry class believe the move is necessary to prevent a chain reaction that could take down other big investment banks.  There is plenty to be debated about the merits of that action, but it certainly does make it harder to accept that Americans are being forced to bail out millionaires when SVB has been grossly irresponsible with their own funds.  As it turns out, SVB was a massive donor to Black Lives Matter and other social justice causes, to the tune of nearly $74 million dollars.  $73,450,000 to be more exact.

Signature Bank Was Staring Down a Criminal Probe Before Its Collapse.  One of the banks that collapsed late last week, sending the financial world into a tizzy, appears to have been facing a possible criminal probe ahead of regulators seizing it.  Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were looking into the financial firm's work with cryptocurrency clients.  Cryptocurrency (or crypto) has been losing a lot of value in recent months, but the volatile digital currency has also been controversial because it is unregulated.  New York's Signature Bank is being looked at specifically for money laundering, according to Bloomberg.

Only one member of failed SVB's board had a career in investment banking; the rest were Obama, Clinton mega-donors.  Just one member of Silicon Valley Bank's board of directors had a career in investment banking, while the others were major Democratic donors, it has been revealed.  Tom King, 63, was appointed to the board in September after previously serving as the CEO of investment banking at Barclay's.  He has had 35 years of experience in investment banking.  But he is the only one on the board with a career in the financial industry, while others are a former Obama administration employee, a prolific contributor to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and even a Hillary Clinton mega-donor who prayed at a Shinto shrine when Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election.

Silicon Valley Bank Pledged Nearly $74 Million To Black Lives Matter Causes.  Silicon Valley Bank might have been able to make good on $74 million promised to customers had it not pledged the money to leftist causes.  According to a new database by the conservative Claremont Institute, the collapsed bank donated or pledged to donate nearly $74 million to groups related to the Black Lives Matter movement.  Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers' Research, told The Federalist that SVB's failure on the heels of its left-wing activism "is yet another indication that SVB was focused on woke virtue signaling instead of protecting their customers' deposits."

Signature Bank de-banked Trump after Jan 6 — now the regulators have shut them down.  Regulators shut down New York City based Signature Bank on Sunday [3/12/2023], a financial institution which had previously cut ties with President Donald Trump following the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.  Signature Bank is the second financial institution shuttered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) this week after Friday's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.  According to CNBC, "Signature is one of the main banks to the cryptocurrency industry.  As of Dec. 31, Signature had $110.4 billion in total assets and $88.6 billion in total deposits, according to a securities filing."

Justice Department and SEC to probe stock sales ahead of Silicon Valley Bank collapse, report says.  The US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.  The tech and start-up-focused lender based in Santa Clara, California, was taken over by regulators on Friday during a run on its deposits, making it the second-largest bank failure in US history.  It is not unusual for there to be such investigations when large financial institutions or public companies collapse or suffer unexpected losses, but the separate probes will also look at stock sales that company bosses made days before the bank failed.

Barney Frank blames crypto panic for his bank's collapse.  Elizabeth Warren blames Trump.  Former Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Elizabeth Warren — two key architects of the post-2008 system of Wall Street regulation — are at odds over what's dragging down banks once again.  Frank, who chaired the House Financial Services Committee in the wake of the global financial crisis and wrote sweeping new rules enacted in 2010, most recently served on the board of New York's Signature Bank, which regulators shut down Sunday.  From his front-row seat, he blames Signature's failure on a panic that began with last year's cryptocurrency collapse — his bank was one of few that served the industry — compounded by a run triggered by the failure of tech-focused Silicon Valley Bank late last week.  Frank disputes that a bipartisan regulatory rollback signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2018 had anything to do with it, even if it was driven by a desire to ease regulation of mid-size and regional banks like his own.

Too Big to Fail.  The big news over the weekend was the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.  While some have pointed to the bank's poor management and hyper-focus on wokeism and green energy as a culprit, many point to the Fed's rapid interest rate hikes and a balance sheet heavy on securities and light on loans.  Likely, it's a combination of several factors but whatever the causes, the big question has been whether and to what extent the federal government would step in.  While Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, on Sunday, insisted there would be no bailout of SVB, harkening back to the 2008 economic crisis, the hauntingly familiar refrain of "too big to fail" has returned, with some insisting that even if the bank isn't bailed out, depositors with amounts over the $250,000 insured by the FDIC nevertheless should be or there's liable to be a domino effect with other banks and we'll see bank runs and financial catastrophe.

Biden Tries to Reassure Americans on Banks, but He Just Can't Stop Lying.  This morning, Joe Biden addressed the bank collapses, including Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.  As we reported on Sunday, the Federal Reserve Board assured depositors that they would have full access to their money on Monday.  The purpose of that move and Biden's speech was to try to assure Americans that the banking system was safe.  "You can have confidence that the banking system is safe," Biden said during his remarks.  "Your deposits will be there when you need them."  That's what he needed to say.  But then, because he's Biden he just can't leave things alone and stick to reality.  "I am going to ask Congress and the banking regulators to strengthen the rules for banks to make it less likely this bank failure will happen again," Biden said.  Then he falsely blamed President Donald Trump who hasn't even been in office for more than two years and had nothing to do with this collapse.

The Federal Reserve Just Made An Emergency Decision Which Will Fundamentally Change Banking In America Forever.  Did you think that the Federal Reserve was just going to stand by and watch the U.S. banking system completely collapse?  In response to the stunning failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the Federal Reserve announced a rescue plan on Sunday evening that is going to radically change banking in America forever.  All deposits at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank will be fully guaranteed and will be available on Monday.  Of course the Federal Reserve can't just make an exception for these two banks.  If they are going to do this for them, that means that they are going to have to do it for everyone else too.  So what this means is that from this point forward the Federal Reserve is essentially promising to guarantee every bank account in America.  Considering the fact that more than 19 trillion dollars is deposited with U.S. banks, that is quite a promise to make.

Wokester apocalypse at Silicon Valley Bank?  On the left, they're claiming President Trump triggered the meltdown of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday through signing off on deregulation.  On the right, they're saying it was wokester priorities that drove the bank bust.  It's hard to square that circle with what's known about why the mess happened.  Yes, they were a wokester bank, but there are caveats, and I'll explain why that matters.

Woke head of 'risk assessment' at Silicon Valley Bank 'prioritized' LGBT initiatives before bank lost billions and collapsed.  Collapsed lender Silicon Valley Bank operated without a chief risk officer between April 2022 and January 2023 while the operation's United Kingdom-based CRO stands accused of prioritizing pro-diversity initiatives over her actual role.  This revelation comes after the firm became the largest bank to collapse since the 2008 financial crisis - disclosing a $1.8 billion loss in its finances.  SVB's former head of risk, Laura Izurieta, who formerly performed a similar role for Capital One, left the bank in April 2022.  She wasn't replaced until January 2023 when the bank hired Kim Olson, formerly of Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui.

THEY get woke, and YOU go broke.
Home Depot co-founder warns of banks like SVB that are 'badly run,' focused on 'woke issues'.  The ramifications of Silicon Valley Bank's (SVB) collapse have yet to fully present themselves, but Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus had no doubt as to what caused it when he called out specific "woke issues" given precedence to shareholder expectations.  [Video clip]  The businessman wasted no time when he joined Fox News host Neil Cavuto to call out the leftist policies promoted by President Joe Biden's administration while ignoring the detrimental impacts being felt by most Americans.  Appearing on Saturday's "Cavuto Live," Marcus began with a nod to continued spin on whether or not the economy is in a recession and the exaggerations of the unemployment rate that leave out the number of people who've stopped looking for work.  "I can't wait for Biden to get on the speech again and talk about how great the economy is and how it's moving forward and getting stronger by the day," he said.  "And this is an indication that whatever he says is not true.  And maybe the American people will finally wake up and understand that we're living in very tough times, that, in fact, the recession may have already started.  Who knows?"

Bonuses were paid to SVB staff just hours before bank collapsed.  The federal government will not bailout Silicon Valley Bank, despite fears of a market meltdown, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Sunday [3/12/2023].  The bank, the 16th largest in the US, collapsed on Friday after a 60 percent drop in shares, which sparked a run on the bank as panicked customers withdrew their cash.  It was the worst US financial institution failure since 2008, with SVB controlling $209 billion in total assets at the end of 2022.

Silicon Valley Bank employees received bonuses hours before government takeover.  Silicon Valley Bank employees received their annual bonuses Friday just hours before regulators seized the failing bank, according to people with knowledge of the payments.  The Santa Clara, California-based bank has historically paid employee bonuses on the second Friday of March, said the people, who declined to be identified speaking about the awards.  The payments were for work done in 2022 and had been in process days before the bank's collapse, the sources said.

Let the seller beware!
Homeowners Lose Millions to 'We Buy Houses' Investors.  According to a new report from the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University, homes in Philadelphia sell to wholesale investors for an average of 51 percent or $126,000 less versus transactions between individual buyers and sellers on the formal market.  That represents a potential $500 million in home equity captured by investors instead of homeowners between the beginning of 2018 and the middle of 2022, according to the report.  Off-market transactions are concentrated in some of Philadelphia's most marginalized neighborhoods.

Chinese Rocket That Launched Spy Satellites Breaks up Over Texas.  The second stage of a Chinese rocket that launched three spy satellites has just broken up this week over Texas, according to the U.S. Naval Institute. [...] The four-ton rocket reentered the atmosphere on Wednesday at 17,000 miles per hour and disintegrated, but it's only being reported now.  While they haven't found any debris yet from the rocket stage, they're saying the debris field could be miles wide and hundreds of miles long.  It's not clear what kind of a hazard this could pose, and the Chinese have had issues in the past with space debris like this.

The Editor says...
Thanks for keeping us all well-informed in a timely manner, Uncle Sam.

Ford patent application reveals plan to remotely lock people out of cars for missed payments.  There may be more to the Ford Motor Company's enthusiasm for self-driving cars than a drive to advance technology as a newly published patent application revealed plans on what they might install to handle missed payments.  With the introduction of vehicle access services like OnStar that allowed cars to be locked or unlocked and even turned on or off remotely, speculation that such capabilities would be used against the owner was not far behind.  Now, as Ford proudly promotes their "top-rated active driving assistance system" BlueCruise, a more than 18-month-old patent application revealed how they could repossess the vehicle if payments are missed.

Fetterman's Office Releases Photos of Senator 'at Work,' but Are They Staged?  Sen. John Fetterman somehow cosponsored legislation on rail safety last week despite being voluntarily committed for severe depression at Walter Reed hospital.  Now, Fetterman's office has released photos clearly meant for those who raised questions over whether the senator was actually working or unelected staffers were doing the work and attributing it to him.  On Monday afternoon [3/6/2023], Adam Jentleson, Fetterman's chief of staff, posted photos of him and the ailing senator having a "productive" meeting at Walter Reed, discussing the rail safety legislation.  [Tweet]

Fetterman Staff Releases 'Proof of Life' Photos, and They Don't Look Great.  What exactly is going on with Sen. John Fetterman?  That's a question many have been asking, and those around him haven't exactly been forthcoming with answers.  Despite attempts by Fetterman's staff and a compliant press to dismiss his spate of health issues as routine, it's not every day that a US senator checks himself into a mental ward at Walter Reed hospital.  Severe depression was the official reason given for his latest trip to a medical facility, and that condition was compounded on top of other, already known serious health issues.  Fetterman's recovery from his massive stroke prior to last year's primary obviously hasn't gone as predicted or hoped.  On Monday, after much speculation, Fetterman's chief of staff released what some are calling "proof of life" photos... and they don't look great.  [Tweet]

CPAC 2023: the End of an Era.  The hollowing out of CPAC is heartbreakingly evident.  The staff of National Review has not attended for the last several years. [...] Fox News is nowhere to be found, and many other popular outlets are absent from Radio Row.  Real America's Voice is the most prominent attraction, and Newsmax is the primary sponsor.

Air Mobility Command Removes Tail Numbers and Unit Info from Planes, Alarming Watchdogs.  Air Mobility Command has directed its refueling and cargo planes to obscure the majority of identifying information painted on the aircraft, citing national security concerns — an unusual move that is alarming to government watchdogs.  James Stewart, a spokesman for Air Mobility Command, told Military.com in an emailed statement that airmen's missions take them around the globe and often involve sensitive movements of cargo — the main reason behind the change.

A Guy Says He Had a Heart Attack and Went to Hell in 2016 — Here's What He Saw.  According to the man, he went to the center of the earth, which he referred to as the belly of the earth as described in the Bible.  He claims to have seen demons and heard music.  He further stated that a lot of the music on earth is inspired by demons.  The idea of Hell and the afterlife has been a topic of interest and debate for centuries.  Many religions and cultures have different beliefs about the afterlife, and some individuals have claimed to have had near-death experiences where they have reported encountering different entities and places.  [Video clip]

George Santos Faces Two More Calls for Ouster From Fellow Republicans.  Representatives Marc Molinaro and Anthony D'Esposito on Tuesday came out in favor of expulsion for George Santos, a fellow New York Republican, building on a groundswell of support for the move as the embattled fabulist rejects demands to voluntarily resign from the House.  "His dishonesty is so extensive, and with so many ongoing investigations, he has eroded his ability to serve," Molinaro told Bloomberg.  "That he doesn't see this or seemingly understand or care about the damage he's doing to the institution, his constituents and himself — is so troubling there's nothing less that should happen.  His dishonesty is fundamentally destructive."

Pennsylvania Republicans Call on Fetterman to Appear on Camera to Prove He Is "Alive and Well" or Resign.  Pennsylvania Republicans are calling on Democrat Senator John Fetterman to appear on camera to prove he is "alive and well" or resign.  "Because of the now confirmed lies that were told during the 2022 general election regarding the health of Senator John Fetterman, as well as the threats made against a journalist who interviewed him, the Washington County Republican Party refuses to take assurances from the Office of the Senator or Democrat operatives that Fetterman is able to carry out his duties as Senator," the Washington County Republican Party said in a Facebook post.

New Bill Would Allow Texans to Have Chickens in Back Yard as Egg Prices Continue to Skyrocket.  Forget the old phrase (misattributed to Herbert Hoover, by the way), "a chicken in every pot," as egg prices continue to soar across America, several new bills recently introduced in the Texas Legislature would allow residents of the Lone Star State to have chickens in "every" backyard.  As reported by the Killeen Daily Herald last Thursday, Texans are currently paying between roughly $4 and nearly $9 for a dozen eggs at H-E-B Grocery Company, based in San Antonio, for example, equal to or more than the cost of rotisserie chickens.  (Personally, I'd rather have the rotisserie chicken.)  Anyway, that's a [big] jump, egg lovers.  David Anderson, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension economist, Bryan-College Station, told the Herald that a recent U.S.  Department of Agriculture retail egg report showed that a dozen eggs cost $1.79 in December 2021 and $4.25 on average in December 2022 nationwide.

Pentagon Asks Troops to Stop Displaying Big US Flags.  A memo issued Feb. 10 said it is no longer acceptable for troops to carry the U.S.  flag horizontally, such as on the field at sporting events, or for the flag to land on the ground after flying behind a parachutist, Stars and Stripes reported.  The memo bars uniformed troops from directly participating in the "unfurling, holding, and/or carrying of giant horizontal U.S.  flags."  It also prohibits military jump teams from using the flag in their performances if it "cannot be caught reliably and handled respectfully by ground personnel."

This Is America.  Consider recent news items reporting stories of unusual events, ones growing in frequency.  With the technology and knowledge developed over decades, stupid stuff shouldn't happen nearly as much as it does.
  •   "Balloongate" raised the specter that China or Russia could have been floating nukes over the U.S.  for years because someone manually changed the filters on U.S.  radar displays to exclude balloons.
  •   Ford halted production of their newest E.V.  vehicle due to battery problems.
  •   Southwest Airlines stranded thousands of passengers because outdated scheduling software was not equal to the tasks at hand.
  •   An outside hack crippled Florida's Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.  Surgeries were canceled, manual record-keeping returned to use, and general chaos ensued.
  •   mRNA Vaccines may not be vaccines at all?  Traditionally, vaccines provide immunity from a disease.  Today, we understand that the primary value is not immunity but rather a reduction of symptoms and death.  This is not what was asserted to the public by the CDC, which continually appears to redefine the intent of the shot.
  •   Approximately 9 million Americans receive Federal Disability Benefits, and another 5.5 million former military receive full or partial disability.  An additional million plus receive private disability.  These numbers are the highest in history and call into question the legitimacy of the process, which seems to offer government-funded disincentives to work.
  •   Is our education system failing?  Today, 65% of children can't read at grade level.  Reading ability has been on a downhill trajectory since 1992, but the government and teachers' unions underplay that obvious and disturbing failure all too easily.

The Editor says...
The writer goes on to blame incompetence and "woke" nonsense, but I think he's on the wrong track.  All of the above is, in my opinion, the result of malfeasance on the part of our government, or cyber-attacks from other governments, most likely China.  In my opinion, the Southwest Airlines "scheduling software" outage sounds a lot like a cyber-attack from overseas, rather than an error made by a contractor, as was claimed.

Georgia grand jury forewoman shares spells and magic on wacky Pinterest page.  The Georgia grand jury forewoman who laughed about bringing down the former president has a wacky Pinterest page with collections of pinned magic spells and all things witchy.  Emily Kohrs, 30, has been on a bizarre media tour that is already causing headaches for prosecutors after she giggled during a televised interview with MSNBC when she said she 'kind of wanted' to subpoena Trump just to get the chance to swear him in.  Many of Kohrs social media accounts have been deleted, but her Pinterest page remains with several collections of pins dedicated to Wicca and Witchcraft.

How A Texas Lawsuit Over Proxy Voting Could Nuke Biden's Entire $1.7 Trillion Spending Spree.  Joe Biden's Dec. 29 signing of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 was invalid because the House never actually passed the omnibus spending bill the president purportedly signed into law.  At least, that's what Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claims in a little-noticed lawsuit he filed last week against the Biden administration.  If a court agrees, the taxpayer-funded $1.7 trillion federal spending spree — and every other aspect of that bill — could be rendered void.  While the "if" in that sentence does some heavy lifting, it is not because Paxton's lawsuit is weak on either the facts or the law.  On the contrary, his complaint in Paxton v. Department of Justice makes a seemingly unassailable case that the House of Representatives lacked the constitutionally mandated quorum to pass the appropriations act.  Nonetheless, the enormity of a court striking an omnibus spending bill may leave the judicial branch shrinking from its constitutional duty.

What's Really Behind the Egg Shortage?  If the price of eggs has you seriously considering starting your own backyard flock, you're not alone.  Egg prices have more than doubled compared to what they were a year ago, with a median cost of $4.25 for a dozen.  Many assume rising inflation is to blame, but the official narrative states avian flu, affecting up to 58 million birds, is the more likely cause.  Another theory has surfaced from chicken farmers who have linked problems with egg laying to a certain brand of chicken feed.  It's also curious timing, as the egg shortage began amidst a series of mysterious fires and other disasters at U.S. food processors.  It's relevant to note that in March 2022, President Biden openly stated food shortages are "going to be real."  He also said he spoke with European allies about "how we could increase, and disseminate more rapidly food shortages."  Although it's now been largely scrubbed from the internet, the statement wasn't corrected by the White House.  It circulated on social media, prompting Facebook to immediately flag it as fake news.

Reckitt announces recall of 145,000 cans of baby formula for contamination.  Nearly 150,000 cans of baby formula are being recalled over concerns that it may have been contanimated with a deadly bacteria.  Reckitt, based in the UK, has voluntarily recalled cans manufactured between August and September and sold across the US, Guam and Puerto Rico because of possible cross-contamination with Cronobacter sakazakii.  The bacteria lives in very dry places and sporadically appears as a contaminant in dry foods like formula, powdered milk and herbal teas.

Oakland goes dark as fire rips through California power substation.  A major power outage caused by a fire at an electrical substation shut down the Oakland Airport in Northern California Sunday evening.  More than 9,000 customers in the Bay Area are still impacted and flights out of the area were halted after a fire broke out at a Pacific Gas and Electric substation around 1pm.  Photos and videos posted on social media show stranded passengers at the airport waiting at their gates and to get through security which was shut down for hours.

The Editor says...
If the airport doesn't have a massive backup generator (and a UPS on every computer terminal), that's a sign of gross mismanagement.  Every airport, government office, and grocery store should have a robust backup power system, if all their transactions depend on computers.  Radio and television stations — I think it's safe to say MOST of them — have such equipment already.

Elon Musk Rips Pentagon for DEI Tweet.  Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk ripped the Department of Defense on Sunday after it tweeted that "diversity is a strategic imperative."  The DOD tweeted on Saturday, "Diversity is a strategic imperative critical to mission readiness and accomplishment.  We were on site for the 2023 inaugural [Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] Summit as DEIA experts led forums to advance the DEIA and DoD mission — because our people matter."  Musk responded, "Your strategic imperative is defending the United States."

The Internet Is Now Officially Too Big as IP Addresses Run Out.  The organization that assigns IP addresses in North America — the numbers that identify every computer, smartphone and device connected to the Internet — ran out of numbers overnight Wednesday.  It's not the end of the world, because there's a newer, more robust system rolling out, but it's a milestone in our shared online history, nonetheless.  IP addresses are the four-number strings like 74.125.224.72 that you'll sometimes see in your browser's address bar, in the guts of your smartphone's system settings, or that you might be asked to type in to your cable modem or WiFi router.  That address, 74.125.224.72, is one of many that should take you to Google.com.

The Editor says...
This is baseless sensationalism.  There is already a new system in place that has plenty of IP addresses for everybody.

US Air Force Grounds Fleet of Planes Because Their Tails Could Fall Off Mid-Air.  The Air Force has grounded hundreds of KC-135 refueling planes until they are inspected for a potentially faulty part in the tail section, officials said this week.  The Air Force ordered the inspections Tuesday for a "non-conforming part in the vertical tail assembly," according to the U.S. Air Force Materiel Command in a statement published on Wednesday.  "The Time Compliance Technical Order restricts flight operations until the approximately 30-minute inspection is completed."  As of Sunday, about 90 KC-135s have been inspected, the Air Force said, and 24 were found to have non-conforming pins.  Planes that were inspected and had the proper pins are now flying again, it said.  Officials are also checking variants of the plane, including the RC-135 and W-135 aircraft.

U.S. Projected to Add $22 Trillion in New Debt Over Next 10 Years.  The U.S. is on a path to nearly double federal debt over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday.  The nonpartisan office updated its Budget and Economic Outlook for the decade ahead, projecting that the federal budget deficit will average around $2 trillion each year over the next 10 years.  By 2033, the total debt of the federal government held by the public will rise by $22.1 trillion from $24.3 trillion last year to $46.4 trillion, according to the CBO.

Mike McCaul Discusses Ongoing Sky Battles with UFO's — The Best Way to Defeat Them Is More Money for Ukraine.  McCaul identifies China as the most likely culprit for sending the spy and surveillance equipment over North America, claiming the timing of the spycraft arrival against the backdrop of the military revealing the latest stealth bomber, the "B-21 Raider," does not seem coincidental.  Additionally, because of course he does, Chairman McCaul notes that if we do not continue to send billions to Ukraine, then China and Russia will continue sending spy missions over the United States.  The way we defeat the UFO's is to send more money to Ukraine.  That's his logic, and he's sticking to it.  [Video clip]

Bombshells, Landmines, and Nemesis.  Octogenarian journalist Seymour Hersh's recent allegations that the United States blew up sections of the Russo-German Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were scarcely covered by the media that otherwise runs with the usual Hersh-fed embarrassments to the U.S. government.  Oddly, in this case, it stayed mum.  The story was adamantly denied by the Biden Administration and most of the bipartisan foreign policy establishment. [...] While Hersh mentioned Denmark and Norway as cooperating with the United States, it is equally difficult to believe that any European Union or NATO nation would on its own attack the assets of another member, especially the shared investments of Germany that for some time has dominated the governance of EU and the policies of European members of NATO.  More disturbingly, on the eve of the Ukraine war in January 2022, Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland quite indiscreetly boasted, "If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward."  She did not say what she meant by "another" way.  That was not an isolated threat.  Joe Biden reiterated the same warning a month later.  "If Russia invades," he said, "then there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2 ... We will bring an end to it ... I promise you; we will be able to do it."  His choice of "end" implied more than voluntary German disconnection from an otherwise intact Russian pipeline.

Seymour Hersh's pipeline bombing story is being challenged.  I believe Biden was perfectly capable of doing what Hersh alleged but, because it would have been a war crime, we need more information than Hersh offered.  To date, that corroboration has not been forthcoming.  Oliver Alexander is an analyst who uses publicly available information to reach his conclusions.  He's written a Substack essay explicitly challenging Hersh's view: "Blowing Holes in Seymour Hersh's Pipe Dream: On the surface Seymour Hersh's story looks passable, but as you dig deeper it has more holes than the Nord Stream pipeline."  Alexander's key point is that the endless details that Hersh threw into his essay are what undo its veracity.

Clueless:
National Archives Apologizes After Telling Visitors to Cover Pro-Life Clothes to See Bill of Rights.  The National Archives on Friday apologized for telling visitors that they must cover up or remove their pro-life attire while being in the chamber where the original copy of the Bill Of Rights is on display.  "As the home to the original Constitution and Bill of Rights, which enshrine the rights of free speech and religion, we sincerely apologize for this occurrence," said the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which maintains the National Archives Museum in Washington.  The apology comes after conservative law group American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), on behalf of four March for Life participants from three states, sued NARA for First Amendment violations.  According to the complaint, each of them "separately and uniquely decided to visit the National Archives to view our nation's founding documents" on the morning of Jan. 20 while wearing various clothing with pro-life messages.

Fetterman Released From Hospital, Set to Return to Senate, and So All is Well Now, Right?  Sen. John Fetterman (D-What?) was finally released from George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Friday, after going in on Wednesday because he was "feeling lightheaded."  That's some serious lightheadedness to require three days in a hospital bed, but as is always the case with Fetterman, whatever is really going on is shrouded in a fog of denial and deception.  Fetterman is reportedly in fine fettle now, and according to CNN, will head back to the Senate on Monday.  That's great, but will he understand anything that is being said there?  After all, it was just on Thursday that Fetterman was revealed as having described his difficulty understanding what people say "as trying to make out the muffled voice of the teacher in the 'Peanuts' cartoon, whose words could never be deciphered."  This condition didn't just show up on Wednesday.

Matt Gaetz Leaves Democrat Witness Squirming And Stuttering.  Elliott Williams was a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General under the Barack Obama regime in addition to his position at the Raben Group.  He also serves as a legal analyst for CNN.  During the hearing, Williams was defending the FBI colluding with Big Tech to censor conservatives and the truth.  Matt Gaetz (R-FL) left Williams stammering when he questioned him.  Williams was trying to squirm away from acknowledging that his lobbying firm represents Google, George Soros's Open Society, and Pfizer.  In the process, Gaetz exposed the unholy union between the DC Swamp and the private institutions targeting sacred rights of Americans.  [Video clip]

Caution:  This story is based on a single anonymous source.
How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline.  The U.S. Navy's Diving and Salvage Center [...] has been training highly skilled deep-water divers for decades who, once assigned to American military units worldwide, are capable of technical diving to do the good — using C4 explosives to clear harbors and beaches of debris and unexploded ordinance — as well as the bad, like blowing up foreign oil rigs, fouling intake valves for undersea power plants, destroying locks on crucial shipping canals.  The Panama City center, which boasts the second largest indoor pool in America, was the perfect place to recruit the best, and most taciturn, graduates of the diving school who successfully did last summer what they had been authorized to do 260 feet under the surface of the Baltic Sea.  Last June, the Navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.

Seymour Hersh's Claim That the US Blew up the Nord Stream Pipelines Is Some Weak Stuff, but Congress Must Investigate.  I have a lot of difficulty believing that Joe Biden was the driving force behind the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines.  It is not in keeping with his history, though dementia does change people.  It is not consistent with the circumstances. [...] There seem to be at least two sources here — someone who was at the central meeting and someone else inside the CIA.  Let's examine what we do know.  Why would the Navy propose to use a "newly commissioned submarine?"  The USS Oregon, fast attack boat SSN-793 was commissioned in May 2022; before the USS Oregon, the most recently commissioned submarine was the fast attack USS Vermont, SSN-792.  Both are capable of delivering SEAL Delivery Vehicles or divers.  The USS Vermont belongs to the Atlantic Fleet.  The Navy proposing that a nuclear submarine torpedo a pipeline is farfetched.  The idea the CIA came up with the plan to use Navy divers because the Navy didn't think of it also strikes me as nonsense. [...] I also find it difficult to believe that any number of bureaucrats would sit around the table cavalierly planning something they thought was "an act of war."  This next part is where I think the whole story goes off the rails. [...]

US Bombed Russia's Nord Stream Gas Pipeline After Months-Long Planning by White House - Seymour Hersh.  Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has made the sensational claim that the United States was behind the bombing of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline in September last year.  Writing in his blog on Substack on Wednesday, Hersh said US Navy divers planted explosives at the pipelines in June last year, under the guise of BALTOPS 22 NATO exercise.  The article says that the bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline was the culmination of months-long planning and preparations by the US.  President Joe Biden and all his top leadership team participated in a series of top secret discussions in the lead-up to the act.

Exposing US Terrorism — Part Of A Plan To Remove Zhou?  In the wake of Seymour Hersh's bombshell reporting on the US terror attack on German-Russian civilian energy infrastructure — i.e., the sabotage attack on the Nordstream 2 pipeline — Tom Luongo goes for the Big Picture:  [Tweet]  These are interesting questions because one thing that becomes clear from Hersh's reporting is that not everyone who was "in the loop" on the planning for the terror attack was on board with it.  Some considered it "stupid" and reckless.  In other words, a typical Neocon scheme.  But in terms of the Big Picture, also consider these tweets, which have their counterpart in Hersh's article:  [Tweets]  How would you feel, as a German citizen, having it confirmed that your Chancellor signed off on sabotaging a key part of Germany's civilian energy infrastructure?  But beyond that, who put the pressure on him to go along?  The US?  Some Globalist cabal?

Seymour Hersh claims Biden ordered the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.  A report is circulating that Biden expressly ordered U.S. Navy divers to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines through which Russian natural gas flowed to Europe.  If that's true, Biden committed an act of war.  I have a proposal, though, to keep Putin from launching an ICBM in our direction.  The allegation comes from Seymour Hersh, 85, the journalist the highlight of whose long career Wikipedia describes.  In 1969, Hersh broke the story of the My Lai massacre that had happened the year before.  Since then, Hersh has alleged that U.S. intelligence tricked the Soviets into shooting down Korean Air Flight 007 in 1983; claimed that Nicholas Davies, an editor for the Daily Mirror, was a secret Mossad agent (something Davies denied); broke the Abu Ghraib story; claimed that the U.S. was trying to destabilize the Iranian mullahs during the George W. Bush presidency; alleged that the Obama administration systematically lied about every detail of Osama bin Laden's death, except for the fact that he was dead; and has a laundry list of "interesting" claims revolving around John F. Kennedy. [...] All of this means that, when Seymour Hersh alleges something, I wait before reaching a conclusion.  That's definitely my attitude regarding Hersh's latest allegation at his new Substack; namely, that Biden ordered the attack on Russia's Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022.

Details Surface of Biden Administration Deliberately Destroying Nord Stream Pipeline, Then Lying About It Repeatedly.  One of the things about big lies is the sheer weight they create, and the effort needed to maintain them.  Everyone of reasonably intelligent disposition knew the Russians did not blow up their own Nord Stream gas pipeline last year; they had no motive to do so.  All indications were always that the U.S. government conducted the operation and then obfuscated blame toward Russia.  Investigative journalist Mr. Seymour Hersh now writes a comprehensive outline showcasing just how the Biden operation to destroy Nord Stream was conducted.

James O'Keefe Put on Leave at Project Veritas.  Has There Been a Coup?  Project Veritas has experienced huge success recently with its reinstatement on Twitter and the viral videos exposing corruption at Pfizer.  The removal of James O'Keefe comes shortly after this win, and many people have speculated about the reasons behind it.  Candace Owens of the Daily Wire has come out in support of O'Keefe, stating: "There is no Project Veritas without James O'Keefe.  I say this as a donor to the organization, but more importantly, as a colleague who watched him pour everything he had into PV over the years.  The money and supporters will follow James."

Mark Steyn Leaves GBNews After Company Demands Contract Indemnifying Them Against Lawsuits for Wrong Think and British Regulatory Speech Violations.  Mark Steyn, the only man qualified to replace Rush Limbaugh, has announced his departure from GBNews after the British media company requested a contract making Steyn legally accountable for any speech or wrong-think as identified by British regulators within the Office of Communication (OfComm).  Within Britain, all media speech is monitored by the Office of Communications (OfComm), where official government censors track commentary according to regulatory and compliance rules established by the government.  Previously, Mark Steyn ran afoul of the OfComm investigators when he began questioning the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccinations.  There are two investigations ongoing with possible fines pending for violating rules on government approved speech.  Into this mix comes the now capitulating GBNews organization, where Mark Steyn and Neil Oliver have both pushed the boundaries of acceptable thought.

BP scales back climate goals as profits more than double to £23bn.  BP has scaled back its climate ambitions as it announced that annual profits more than doubled to $28bn (£23bn) in 2022 after a sharp increase in gas prices linked to the Ukraine war boosted its earnings.  In a move that will anger campaigners, the oil and gas giant cut its emissions pledge and plans a greater production of oil and gas over the next seven years compared with previous targets.  The huge annual profit led to renewed calls for a toughened windfall tax, as oil companies reap rewards from higher gas prices while many households and businesses struggle to cope with a sharp rise in energy bills.

It's not Broadway, it's just a movie.  And probably a forgettable movie at that.
AMC Theatres offers cheaper tickets for worse seats, while raising prices for the middle.  AMC Theatres has introduced a new pricing program, offering cheaper seats for movie fans who don't mind sitting in the front row, in the latest attempt to increase attendance and profits after the COVID-19 pandemic.  The U.S.' biggest cinema circuit on Monday said its new pricing initiative, called "Sightline," will be expanded to all its domestic locations by year end, including dine-in cinemas, after having already rolled out at some AMC theaters.  The price of a "standard" seat in the auditorium isn't changing.

The Editor says...
Here's a better idea:  Flexible ticket prices based on independent reviews of the film.

NSA [is] Courting Thousands Of Fired Woke Big Tech Workers For Intelligence Activities.  Thousands of terminated far-left Big Tech workers may soon have prominent positions in America's most notorious spying agency.  The Nation Security Agency (NSA) is embarking on one of their biggest hiring sprees in the last three decades.  Big tech workers have utilized their power to collect personal data, cancel conservatives on social media, and collude with Democrats to cover up scandals.  They have also failed to protect children from sick pedophiles online as well.  How do you feel about these loathsome individuals potentially collecting your data using taxpayer dollars?  Despite congressional efforts to restrict such activity, the spying on US citizens by the NSA continues unabated.

UK Military Would Run Out of Ammo In One Day of Fighting Russia, Warns General.  The British military's supply of ammunition would run dry in just one day in a direct engagement with Russia as a result of years of spending cuts to the nation's defence, a former top general has warned.  General Sir Richard Barrons, who formerly served as the Joint Forces chief, claimed that spending cuts have depleted the British military to such an extent that, in a hot war with Russia, the UK would run out of ammunition and artillery shells within just one day.

New Study: How Ivermectin Kills Prostate Cancer Cells.  I spent the first semester of my course, The Biology of Cancer, reviewing all of the aspects of The Hallmarks of Cancer.  This morning, firing up Pubmed to continue preparing my lecture prostate cancer, I found this gem of a study, which happens to be a collaboration between my former employer, The University of Pittsburgh, and Southern Medical University-Guangzhou.  I don't know the authors: Title: Integrated analysis reveals FOXA1 and Ku70/Ku80 as targets of ivermectin in prostate cancer[.]  The authors exposed various prostate cancer cells lines to Ivermectin and found that ivermectin binds to two proteins: FOXA1 and Ku70/Ku80. This leads to the inhibition of androgen receptor (AR), E2F1 expression, and DNA damage repair activity.  The cells stopped dividing (G0/G1 cell cycle arrest), experience extensive DNA damage, and die.

Aren't eggs expensive enough already?
Kroger Begins Selling World's First Carbon-Neutral Eggs in the US.  Back in December 2021, Kroger Co., one of the largest grocery store chains in the United States, and Kipster Farms, a Dutch company, formed a strategic partnership to bring the "world's first carbon-neutral, cage-free eggs to retail shelves in the U.S."  "Simple Truth is excited to partner with the innovative team at Kipster to further elevate our brand's purpose to be a force for good," said Brad Studer, senior director, Our Brands for Kroger.  "These Simple Truth and Kipster eggs will be produced in a closed-loop system that aligns with the highest health and welfare standards for people and animals.  These sustainable, zero-waste eggs reflect yet another milestone in Kroger's Zero Hunger | Zero Waste mission to help create communities free of hunger and waste."

How I wish this were true.  All they're going to "trim" is a rate of expansion.
Rep. Ralph Norman says the GOP is preparing a plan to trim the size of the American government.  South Carolina GOP Rep. Ralph Norman says that the Republicans are working on a legislative plan to shrink the size of government.  "We have got to present the American people a plan," Norman said on Wednesday's edition of the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show.  "Financial security is national security, and we're not on a course where we can can maintain that trajectory.  It has got to be changed, and people realize that."  While Rep. Norman was one of the 20 Republicans who voted against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during the election for that position earlier this month, he acknowledged McCarthy was doing a good job as Speaker.  "Kevin McCarthy has lived up to everything he told us," he said.  "The things that mattered to me included the budget.  If you had to list one thing that we've got to tackle sooner rather than later, it's the budget."

What's next — a midnight raid on Jimmy Carter?
National Archives Demands Obama, Bush, Cheney, Clinton, Gore to Check Personal Records for Classified Docs.  The National Archives demanded the last six administration's presidents and vice presidents search their personal records for classified information after classified materials were found in the possession of former Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Mike Pence.  The list of those requested to scour their personal records includes former President Barack Obama, George Bush, and Bill Clinton, former Vice Presidents Dick Cheney, Al Gore, and Dan Quayle.

The Editor says...
My opinion of Dan Quayle would go up if he's found to have Secret documents in his office.

Flashback: Pence went after Trump over classified documents before finding stash in his own house.  Former Vice President Mike Pence once criticized former President Trump for mishandling classified documents in November, only for Pence to discover classified documents in his own home this week.  Pence made the comments during a November appearance on Meet the Press, with host Chuck Todd questioning him on a number of topics.  Pence called Trump's handling of classified documents "not proper" at the time.  "I've not hesitated to criticize the president when I think he was wrong.  And clearly, possessing classified documents in an unprotected area is not proper," Pence said, going on to criticize how Biden's Justice Department handled the issue.

Classified documents found at Mike Pence's home in Indiana.  Lawyers for former Vice President Mike Pence said a "small number" of classified documents were found at his home in Carmel, Indiana, last week.  Pence's lawyers notified the National Archives and Records Administration of the discovery on Wednesday, according to a letter obtained by CNBC.  The classified documents were discovered on Jan. 16 after Pence had outside counsel with experience handling classified documents search his own home and records "out of an abundance of caution," following the news that classified documents were found at President Joe Biden's home and office, an attorney for Pence told the Archives.  The discovery, which was reported earlier by CNN, came after Pence said on several occasions he did not have any classified documents.  Gregory Jacob, an attorney at O'Melveny tasked with handling Pence's records, said in letter sent Sunday to the National Archives that the Justice Department sent FBI agents to Pence's home at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday to retrieve the documents, which were being stored in a safe, while he was in Washington, D.C., for the March for Life.

The Editor says...
Why do FBI agents always "visit" at night?  Why can't they drop by during normal business hours?  Is "shock and awe" really necessary when confronting somebody like Mike Pence, or is it just a bad habit?

Feds seize almost $700 million of FTX assets in Sam Bankman-Fried criminal case.  Federal prosecutors seized nearly $700 million in cash and assets connected to Sam Bankman-Fried, primarily in the form of Robinhood shares that were owned by the FTX founder, a court filing revealed Friday [1/20/2023].  John Ray, who replaced Bankman-Fried as CEO to guide FTX's restructuring, is trying to rescue funds that were lost by the crypto company's depositors when the firm spiraled into bankruptcy in November.  Bankman-Fried was arrested on criminal fraud charges in December and is released on a $250 million bond as he awaits trial.

National Archives Issued 3 Statements Claiming Obama's Records Were Fine.  The National Archives issued three statements, one on August 12, one on September 8 and one on September 23, supposedly rebutting claims that there were any issues with Obama's presidential records.  The September 8 statement specifically denied that any records from the Obama administration were missing.  Or, very specifically, NARA "is not aware of any missing boxes of Presidential records from the Obama administration."  Not aware is of course 'lawyerese' for plausible deniability.  In November, the first tranche of classified documents was found at Penn Biden.  NARA's only statement on Nov 9 involved Trump's documents.  Ditto for another Dec 20 statement.  Was NARA really unaware of the Biden documents at that point?

Bipartisan coalition making new push to ban congressional stock trading.  A bipartisan group of lawmakers is making a new push to ban members of Congress from private stock trading.  It's an attempt to "demonstrate that lawmakers are focused on serving the interests of the American people — not their own stock portfolios," Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, said in reintroducing the measure along with Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy.  After failing to get a floor vote when last introduced in 2021, the "TRUST (Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust) in Congress Act," gained increasing support across the political spectrum in 2022 with 75 cosponsors, and its backers say that the number will grow even larger this time around.

Secret rule change will see House lawmakers get a $34,000 pay raise.  In one of their final acts in power, House Democrats secretly passed through a rule change that will see lawmakers in the lower chamber get a $34,000 pay raise.  The new rule, proposed by Democrats on the House Administration Committee, allows House members to be reimbursed for the cost of lodging, food and travel while on official business in Washington DC.  It was tucked into the House's internal rules, rather than in annual spending bills, and therefore was not debated on the House floor, according to the New York Times.

Nixon Threatened to Reveal the CIA's Involvement in the Kennedy Assassination.  White House Domestic Policy Chief John Ehrlichman wrote that when he served as the White House Legal Counsel, Nixon ordered him to request that the CIA hand over all documents pertaining to John Kennedy's murder.  Nixon was furious when Richard Helms, the CIA Director, refused his presidential order to hand them over.  This stunning new Watergate-era tape captures an increasingly besieged Nixon desperately seeking to mobilize the CIA in his defense by threatening to expose their greatest secrets.  Nixon also knew that Congressman Gerald Ford, as a member of the Warren Commission, had, at the explicit direction of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI Director, altered the official autopsy diagram for President John F. Kennedy; moving the marking from a bullet in his upper back to his neck in order to accommodate the single-bullet theory and to conceal the fact that Kennedy had been hit with more than the reported three shots.

JPMorgan shutters website it paid $175 million for, accuses founder of inventing millions of accounts.  JPMorgan Chase on Thursday shut down the website for a college financial aid platform it bought for $175 million after alleging the company's founder created nearly 4 million fake customer accounts.  The country's biggest bank acquired Frank in September 2021 to help it deepen relationships with college students, a key demographic, a Chase executive told CNBC at the time.  JPMorgan touted the deal as giving it the "fastest-growing college financial planning platform" used by more than 5 million students at 6,000 institutions.  It also provided access to the startup's founder, Charlie Javice, who joined the New York-based bank as part of the acquisition.  Months after the transaction closed, JPMorgan said it learned the truth after sending out marketing emails to a batch of 400,000 Frank customers.

Biden, Trudeau and AMLO Release the "Declaration of North America" — Prepare your Affairs Accordingly.  Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau and Lopez-Obrador released an action outline called the "Declaration of North America."  The DNA is a declaration centered around six pillars: 1) diversity, equity, and inclusion; 2) climate change and the environment; 3) competitiveness; 4) migration and development; 5) health; and 6) regional security.  The action-oriented outline provides the roadmap for the ideological intentions of the three governments.  I would strongly urge everyone to review the declaration, because just like a 5-year financial plan, every family should first know the scale of the chaos they are going to encounter in order to make plans to secure their life.  The declaration does not need much interpretation to be understood, this is the framework for how the United States, Canada and Mexico see the future of North America.  Unfortunately, only a miniscule number of Americans will read the Declaration, and yet it is information like this that tells you the intent of government in our life.

England just made gigabit internet a legal requirement for new homes.  My years-long battle to get gigabit internet installed may soon be over, thanks to new rules introduced by the UK government that make it easier to install faster broadband into apartments and flats across the UK.  Additionally, a new law has been introduced that requires new properties in England to be built with gigabit broadband connections, sparing tenants from footing the bill for later upgrades.  Amendments to Building Regulations 2010 were announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) on January 6th that mandate new homes constructed in England to be fitted with infrastructure and connections required to achieve gigabit internet connectivity.

In McCarthy Negotiations, GOP Landed On [the] 'Most Significant Win For Conservatives In A Decade'.  Life expectancy in the United States is at its lowest level since 1996.  Teen suicide rates spiked nearly 30 percent in the last decade.  Though drug overdose deaths declined from a record high in 2021, they remain 50 percent higher than just five years ago.  In the second quarter of 2022, the majority of workers lost a median 8.5 percent in real wages — a 25-year high.  Marriage and fertility rates are falling.  A heightened nuclear threat looms amidst the invasion of Ukraine.  In the last fiscal year, the government recorded 2.76 million illegal crossings at our southern border, as tens of thousands of desperate people stream into the country every month, trafficked by cartels.  American happiness is at a record low.  So is institutional trust.  It's in this dismal context that Kevin McCarthy's bid for the House speakership faltered over the course of four frenzied days last week.  McCarthy finally secured the gavel late Friday by striking a deal with the House Freedom Caucus, or HFC.  "It's the most significant win for conservatives in a decade, possibly the biggest in a generation," a senior congressional aide told The Federalist on Sunday. "The rules package, if adopted, will actually impact policy outcomes by forcing a transparent and open process."

Biden's Ten files were found day BEFORE midterms — but Department of Justice investigation has only just been made public.  Joe Biden on Monday refused to answer why classified documents had been found inside the offices of his Washington D.C. think tank in November — news that has only been made public now.  Biden was in Mexico City on Monday, for a meeting with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.  As the press was being ushered out of the meeting room, one reporter yelled out: 'Mr President, any response to the discovery of classified documents?'  Biden, flanked by his Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the Attorney General Merrick Garland, did not respond to the question, which was shouted as a Mexican government official began thanking the visiting U.S. delegation.

The Disturbing Details Behind the Bird Flu and Egg Prices.  Consumers can take a lot, but when you start raising prices on staples like eggs and milk, a definite din begins to rise from the streets. [...] Besides the bird flu, the cost of eggs is also being pumped up thanks to rising electric and gas prices, as well as high feed and fertilizer prices, which have only recently started to come down.  Despite all of the gloom, Joe [an anonymous farmer] concluded with words of encouragement.  "We farmers are great at producing food.  We'll figure it out.  We'll get through it.  And consumers will have inexpensive food again.  We just don't know how far down the road that will be."

DeSantis moves forward with plan to put Disney World under state control.  Last April, Florida put an end to the special status originally granted to Disney World back in 1967.  The whole battle began after Disney decided to criticize the "Parental Rights in Education" bill which DeSantis had signed in March. [...] By October, Variety was reporting that Disney had been "weakened" by the battle. [...] DeSantis had a line in his recent inauguration speech that "Florida is where woke goes to die."  So for him, continuing to push back on Disney is probably smart politics.  The decision last year to take them on certainly didn't hurt him in the election and, assuming Disney doesn't pack up and leave the state, it will probably make a good segment in a 2024 stump speech.

The Editor says...
Suppose Disney 'pack[s] up and leave[s]" Florida.  Where would they go?

Kevin McCarthy Finally becomes Speaker on 15th ballot after violent scenes in Congress.  On the 15th ballot over a series of four days, Rep. Kevin McCarthy finally won the coveted title:  Speaker of the House.  'That was easy, huh?' McCarthy began in his victory speech — shortly after South Carolina Representative Mike Rogers had to be held back from attacking Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.  The two Republicans almost came to blows over Gaetz's refusal to back McCarthy during the 14th vote, costing him that contest, with the violent clash coming as tempers frayed over the mammoth voting-process.

GOP-Controlled House Removes Metal Detectors Pelosi Put in Place after J6.  Metal detectors first installed outside the House chamber after the January 6 Capitol protests were removed Tuesday as Republicans took control of the lower chamber.  Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) ordered the installment of the machines after the riot and later threatened lawmakers who did not comply with the security measure to pay a $5,000 fine for a first offense and $10,000 for a second.  "It is tragic that this step is necessary, but the chamber of the People's House must and will be safe," she said at the time.  Pelosi's rules led to outcry from several Republican members, including Representatives Louie Gohmert of Texas and Andrew Clyde of Georgia.  After they were both fined under Pelosi's policy, they filed a federal lawsuit in 2021 claiming that the use of metal detectors to screen members of Congress was unconstitutional.  However, a federal judge upheld the fines.

Arrests made in Washington power grid attack.  One of the bigger mysteries to show up during the holiday season was the series of attacks on electrical substations in Washington state on Christmas day.  Thousands of people were left without power just as their festivities were beginning, and the cost of repairs to the facilities is estimated to be in excess of three million dollars.  We immediately began speculating on the motive for such attacks.  Was this a group of domestic terrorists?  Were anarchists trying to shut down society during a holiday period?  Might foreign adversaries be involved?  Now two men have been arrested and they are being charged with the attacks.  But it appears that terrorism and anarchy were not their intent.  The pair reportedly took down the electrical power to the area to shut down security and surveillance systems at one or more local businesses so they could break in and rob them while all of the stores were closed for Christmas.  So rather than turning out to be some sort of Machiavellian terror plot, this was a couple of bozos planning a robbery.

The Editor says...
Let me guess:  Were a few FBI "informants" also involved in this plot?  Isn't there an easier way to shut off the power to a gas station than to shut off the power to the whole city?

Eco-Terrorists suspected of vandalizing power stations, thousands without power.  Deputies arrived on scene and saw there was forced entry into the fenced area.  Nothing had been taken from the substation, but the suspect vandalized the equipment causing a power outage in the area.  Deputies were notified of a second burglary to the TPU substation at 8820 224th St E which also had forced entry with damage to the equipment.  Nothing was taken from this site either.

Hakeem Jeffries Makes a Very Insurrection-Like Call to Retake the House 'Immediately'.  Democrats aren't coping well with their loss of power, having been partially dethroned during the last mid-terms.  As happened during the Obama years, many on the left had once again convinced themselves a permanent majority was attainable, but just two years later, those hopes have been dashed, and now we stand on the precipice of a new GOP-led House of Representatives.  Nancy Pelosi's replacement, Hakeem Jeffries, seems to be pretty wound up about it.  He put out a tweet on Monday evening that sounds very insurrection-like.  [Tweet]  There's a lot to comment on here, not the least of which is the idea that Jeffries or anyone else should interfere in the seating of a man who was duly elected by his constituents.

Was Idaho Quadruple Murder Suspect Nabbed by DNA from Open Source Databank?  CNN is reporting that the suspect in the Idaho quadruple homicide, Bryan Kohberger, was pounced on by police after unknown DNA at the scene of the crimes was matched to one of his relatives on a site popular with the public for tracing ancestry.  CNN did not name its source for this information and is the only news outlet reporting this development.  Moscow police have warned against taking information from any source other than official channels due to the massive amounts of misinformation that have been circulating since the murders happened.  If, however, CNN's source is correct, it could explain why the FBI was tailing Kohberger for four days before an arrest was made.  Detectives have been known to retrieve DNA from a suspect's garbage cans or drinkware left behind in a restaurant in order to confirm their suspicions.

Just When You Thought the Water Crisis in Jackson, Miss., Couldn't Get Any Worse.  We already know how dire the water situation has become in Jackson, Miss.  The city's lack of attention to the water infrastructure, thanks in part to the far-left focus of leadership, has let the city's residents down, leaving many citizens without clean drinking water.  As PJ Media's own Rick Moran reported back in September, the mayor was too busy chasing radical dreams to actually help his city. [...] Since then, conditions haven't gotten much better, but one factor has come along to make Jackson's water crisis even worse:  cold weather.

Leaked Document Exposes EU's Secret Plan for Palestinian Authority Takeover of Judea and Samaria.  A newly-leaked European Union document has exposed a clandestine plan to expand the Palestinian control over Judea and Samaria.  The 6-page confidential policy document, reportedly written by the EU mission in East Jerusalem, shows the European bloc's intent to help Palestinians gain full control of Judea and Samaria, even the areas inhabited by Israeli Jews.  Judea and Samaria, also referred to in the media as the West Bank, was split into three "Areas" under the Oslo Accords of 1993.  The Area A is to be exclusively administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Area B jointly by the PA and Israel, and the Area C by Israel.  The Area C is home to some 400,000 Israelis.

Two major pharmacies limit children's pain medication sales in the name of equity.  Think of it as trying to purchase toilet paper during the beginning of the pandemic.  It was all about being in the right place at the right time to score a package.  The same is happening now with children's pain medication.  There are shortages in supplies around the country.  Two major drugstore retailers are limiting purchases now in the name of equity — to guarantee that everyone can find products when necessary.  It's not a supply chain problem like it was with toilet paper during the pandemic.  It's a planning problem.  Apparently, drug stores were caught unprepared for the "tripledemic" Americans are dealing with now.  The tripledemic consists of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV infections.  Walgreens and CVS confirmed on Monday that they limit children's pain medication purchases.

Dallas-Fort Worth's most heartbreaking restaurant closures of 2022.  North Texans saw a devastating spate of COVID-related closures in 2020, and its lingering effects plagued popular restaurants in 2021, too.  The number of restaurant closures seems to be smaller in 2022 than in 2020 and 2021 during the heart of the pandemic, says Texas Restaurant Association CEO Emily Williams Knight.  Many flailing businesses found ways to move, sell or make a change instead of giving up for good — and stay tuned for a story about that soon.

The Editor says...
I live in Dallas County and I eat at a variety of restaurants about 350 days per year, and of all the restaurants listed in the article above, I've only heard of one.  And I won't lose a minute of sleep over any of them closing, because I am neither an alcolohic nor a vegetarian.  (I hope that's not too harsh.) -->

1st openly trans Army officer arrested for trying to pass secrets to Russia.  U.S. Army Maj. Jamie Lee Henry was arrested on Thursday after allegedly trying to pass health information about U.S. military members to Russia.  Henry previously caught media attention after coming out as the first openly transgender active duty U.S. Army officer.  On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of Henry, 39, and wife Anna Gabrielian, 36.  The pair was indicted on Wednesday on charges of conspiracy and the disclosure of individually identifiable health information ("IIHI").

The Editor says...
Here's a tip:  If you're going to be a spy and sell secrets to Russia, maybe you shouldn't draw attention to yourself beforehand.

CVS and Walgreens to pay billions over something they couldn't have stopped.  A long-simmering lawsuit attempting to at least partially blame two of the larger pharmacy chains in the United States for a steep rise in drug overdose incidents came to a close today.  Both CVS and Walgreens have agreed to the proposed terms and they will fork over a combined 10.7 billion dollars, with Walgreens paying a slightly higher amount.  The companies have also agreed to implement more "robust" controlled substance compliance programs, prescription reviews and training programs.  Going completely unmentioned in this settlement is the fact that nobody at either pharmacy chain actually writes prescriptions.  And where will all of this money be going?  To state and local governments, with a small amount going to indigenous tribes.

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Denied Bail in Bahamas After Arrest, Faces up to 115 Years in Jail.  Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been denied bail after his Dec. 12 arrest in the Bahamas at the request of the U.S. government.  In a hearing that lasted more than three hours on Dec. 13, Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt denied Bankman-Fried's $250,000 bail request, citing a heightened flight risk because of the former billionaire's access to financial resources.  The judge ordered the 30-year-old to be remanded to Bahamian custody until Feb. 8, 2023.  Bankman-Fried was arrested by Bahamas law enforcement at the request of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who notified the Bahamas Attorney General's Office that it had filed criminal charges against the former crypto billionaire, who once had an estimated net worth of $26 billion.

Cambridge Dictionary Slammed After Changing Definition of the Word 'Woman'.  Cambridge Dictionary changed the definition of the word "woman" and critics are not happy about it.  Christopher Rufo, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, shared the new definition on Twitter.  According to the dictionary, a woman is "an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth."

The Editor says...
Perhaps a lot of things were said when I was born, but none of that changes what I am.

U.S. Intel Begins Positioning Mexican President AMLO as Enemy of North America.  It's subtle like a brick through a window when you have the bigger picture in mind.  Joe Biden and Canada's Justin Trudeau are in ideological alignment, willing to destroy the entire North American economy as they construct the new climate change energy systems for the U.S and Canada.  However, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador (AMLO) has already indicated — including direct statements to Joe Biden at the White House — that he is not willing to put the Mexican economy into collapse and try to engineer an economic future on solar panels and windmills.  That puts Mexican President AMLO in the crosshairs of a unified climate change agenda as outlined by the World Economic Forum and western leadership under the guise of the Build Back Better agenda.

Lauren Boebert officially wins U.S. Congressional District 3 in Colorado after recount.  The Colorado secretary of state certified the 2022 general election on Monday.  "The certification was conducted after each county's bipartisan canvass boards submitted their official abstract of votes to the Secretary of State's Office, as well as the conclusion of a mandatory recount in the race for Colorado's U.S. Congressional District 3 and permissive recount of the Colorado House District 43 race," part of a news release from the Secretary of State's Office reads.  The race for U.S. Congressional District 3 went to an automatic recount because of how close it was.  Incumbent Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert officially won by 546 votes over Democrat Adam Frisch.

Soccer writer Grant Wahl dies at World Cup match in Qatar.  Grant Wahl, an American journalist who helped grow the popularity of soccer in the U.S. and reported on some of the biggest stories in the sport, died Saturday while covering a World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands.  He was 48.  Wahl fell back in his seat in a section of Lusail Stadium reserved for journalists during extra time of the game, and reporters adjacent to him called for assistance.

US Soccer Journalist Grant Wahl Died Yesterday — His Brother Says He Was Killed For Supporting The LGBT Religion.  Renowned soccer journalist Grant Wahl has died, the U.S. Soccer Federation reported Friday.  Wahl, 48, was in Qatar covering the World Cup when he passed away.  Wahl's agent, Tim Scanlan, said that the journalist "appeared to have suffered some sort of acute distress in the press room" of the stadium during the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands, when the two teams began playing in extra time.  Paramedics were called to the scene, Scanlan said, but were unable to revive him.

Biden's DOJ Is Investigating an Accidental Death in Israel.  A Watchdog Wants To Know Why.  A watchdog group is asking the Justice Department to turn over all internal documents related to its decision last month to launch an FBI probe into Israel's accidental killing of a Palestinian-American reporter.  The probe from the America First Legal Foundation, a conservative watchdog group, comes after the DOJ sent shockwaves through the American pro-Israel community and the Israeli government when it announced last month that it is conducting its own investigation into the death of Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist who was shot by Israeli forces during a standoff with Palestinian terrorists.  Israel conducted its own investigation in the matter with cooperation from the U.S. State Department and determined that Abu Akleh was accidentally killed by a stray bullet fired by Israeli soldiers.  While the State Department said it was satisfied with Israel's probe, the DOJ decided to involve the FBI after a cadre of far-left lawmakers in Congress pressured it on the matter.

Former EPA Official to Newsmax: Americans Need to Prepare Now For Outages.  Americans should be preparing now for energy shortages to hit this winter after the Biden administration "from day one has initiated a war on U.S. energy," particularly on the coal, oil, and natural gas that provides 80% of the country's total energy usage," Mandy Gunasekara, a former chief of staff for the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Newsmax Sunday [12/4/2022].  "Americans are going to have to take some of these matters into their own hands because the Biden administration and Democrats at the local level have been ignoring their responsibility to shore up the grid system," Gunasekara said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."  "It's not because of natural shifts and the 'market.'  This is by design, by the Biden administration trying to shutter coal, trying to limit the development of natural gas here in the United States."  Further, the administration is willing to go abroad to places such as Venezuela and other countries that are run by dictators, "where people have no standards for humanitarian values" to bring oil to the United States, she said.

US reveals $700 million next-gen stealth bomber: 'Will last for decades'.  The U.S. military this week unveiled the long-awaited B-21 bomber, a stealth craft meant for intensive long-range missions that will replace the decades-old bomber currently in service.  The B-21's "edge" will "last for decades," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the unveiling event at the Northrop Grumman facility in Palmdale, Calif.  The U.S. Air Force said in a tweet that the B-21 will be "a dual-capable, penetrating-strike stealth bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions."  "The B-21 will form the backbone of the future Air Force bomber force consisting of B-21s and B-52s," the Air Force noted.

The Editor says...
What happened to the B1 bomber that everybody was so proud of back in the 1980's?

Opposing viewpoint / wet blanket:
"This Changes Everything".  The unveiling of the new Northrup Grumman B-21 "Raider" long-range bomber, with its stealthy design, app-style updates, and $2 Billion price tag, was pure Hollywood.  If you want to watch it, the CEO begins her spiel at minute 39.  B-21 technology is capped at 2010 standards; it flies with F-35 engines.  The planes (two have been built) will fly for the first time this spring — 18 months behind schedule.  These real secrets were not unveiled yesterday, nor was how much the US taxpayer has paid and will pay for these bombers.  No doubt, this would have spoiled the fun.  The mantra "This Changes Everything" was repeated several times by several speakers, indicating the opposite must be true  — it changes nothing.

Quebec Sets Plan to Bar Most Immigrants Who Don't Speak French.  Quebec Premier Francois Legault, concerned about the decline of the French language in the Canadian province, has set a new goal for immigrants:  They should all speak French.  Legault's nationalist Coalition Avenir Quebec party was re-elected with a huge majority in October, partly on a platform of protecting French as the dominant language in the province of 8.7 million people.  His speech to the legislature Wednesday laid out his priorities for his second term, including a plan to bar almost all economic immigrants who don't speak French by 2026.

Who Is Killing The Crypto Millionaires?  Are some of the cryptocurrency industry's most important pioneers being targeted by someone?  We just learned that a 53-year-old cryptocurrency billionaire named Vyacheslav Taran has died, and he is the third big name to suddenly meet his maker in recent weeks.  So is this just one giant coincidence, or is there some common denominator that links all three of them?  There is so much that we don't know right now, but it is interesting to note that all three of these deaths have happened at a time when the cryptocurrency community is going through an unprecedented amount of turmoil.

Triggering the Great Reset.  Both the East, led by China and Russia, and the West, led by U.S. and EU globalists, want to fundamentally change the world order.  They call this change the Great Reset, first termed by Klaus Schwab, founder and executive director of the World Economic Forum (WEF).  The WEF consists of the world's wealthiest people, including over 1,000 global corporations and most of the G-20 leaders. [...] During the Obama administration, China achieved enormous gains in overtaking the United States.  China's rise was a boon for corporations.  They ignored the $600-billion-a-year thievery of American technology in hopes of accessing the largest market on earth, stocked with some of the cheapest labor and raw materials available. [...] China experienced its worst economic years since their 2001 World Trade Organization entry.  Corporate lobbyists paid Uniparty politicians handsomely to overthrow the president.  Wall Street teamed with China to try to halt Trump's tariff imposition on the communist nation and China paid nearly $14 billion to politicians and 600 U.S. groups, all to work against Trump.

Biden administration approves rule that funnels workers' retirement funds into left-wing causes.  The Biden administration has quietly finalized a rule allowing employers to funnel workers' 401(k) funds into investments that support woke causes that address issues such as climate change and diversity.  The Labor Department approved the rule last week, just two days before the Thanksgiving break.  It will affect roughly 150 million workers and $10 trillion in assets covered under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.  The rule says asset managers and retirement plan administrators should consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors when selecting investments.

The Consumer Economy Has Completely Collapsed — "It's a Ghost Town" for Holiday Shopping Everywhere.  That's the typical ground report from areas all over the country.  No one, literally almost no one, is doing any holiday shopping and the traditional Black Friday rush to get deals and discounts just didn't happen.  Financial media are scratching their puzzlers, perplexed with furrowed brows.  Interestingly, almost every financial media outlet is using the same Retail Federation talking point about anticipating an 8% increase in holiday sales this year.  Apparently, pretenses must be maintained.  Meanwhile, news crews and camera crews are having a desperate time finding any holiday shopping to use as background footage for the claims that sales are strong.

"Decolonizing" science.  Our Western Elites™ are obsessed with promoting suicide, but usually it is the suicide of someone else.  But in the case of Nature, the British science journal, it is their own suicide that they are rushing toward.  A once proud journal that was widely held to be the most prestigious in the world, Nature's editors have decided that Western science is vastly overrated and should be "decolonized." [...] Science as a method was invented in Europe a few hundred years back.  That's just a historical fact.  It is a product of a time and place, and has persisted because it is a particularly useful tool for understanding the world and enabling us to manipulate it.  Its practice doesn't depend upon race, gender, or any particular body type.  It just requires a human brain and a willingness to follow a method for inquiring about the world.  Nature's editors don't see it that way, and in the process it has decided to sacrifice science itself to wokeness.

Very Serious Shortages Of Medications Have Erupted All Over The United States.  Hospitals are filling up all across America, and there are extremely alarming shortages of some of our most important medications.  Health authorities are warning that RSV, the flu, and COVID are combining to create a "tripledemic", and there are simply not enough medications to go around.  Personally, I am most concerned about RSV.  It is spreading like wildfire from coast to coast, and we are being told that very young children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable.  I wrote an entire article about the RSV outbreak earlier this month, and since that time things have gotten even worse.  Our medical system is being absolutely flooded with sick kids, and this has caused very serious shortages of amoxicillin, augmentin, Tamiflu, and albuterol.

Tense exchange over redacted documents ends with Freedom Convoy lawyer being tossed from hearing.  After a heated exchange during testimony at the Public Order Emergency Commission hearings on Tuesday, Freedom Convoy lawyer Brendan Miller was asked to leave the room by Justice Paul Rouleau.  The tense exchange began after Miller had asked Rouleau if Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino's director of communications, Alexander Cohen, could be called to testify, with Miller also wanting clarity on outstanding written motions he had filed to have some of the documents submitted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's federal government be unredacted.  During the heated back-and-forth, Miller argued that there was "relevant" points in said documents that would serve as evidence about "misinformation" in a text message chat that was crucial "in building the narrative with respect to the protesters in Ottawa being extremists."

Italy's Giorgia Meloni to revoke benefits for Italians who refuse a job.  The Italian Prime Minister has announced a major overhaul of Italy's economy signalling a shift from previous governments on state benefits.  Giorgia Meloni's plan includes a phase-out by the end of next year of the so-called "citizens' wage," the crowning achievement of the 5-Star Movement, which was in power from 2018-2021.  Ms Meloni had vowed to abolish the expanded welfare programme altogether during the campaign, arguing that it encouraged people to stay on welfare when they could work and was abused by fraudsters.  The changes announced on Tuesday would knock eligible workers out of the system after eight months or after they refuse a job offer, and requires recipients to actually live in Italy.

Brazil Begins Snatching Kids Away From Parents Who Question Election Results.  Brazilian President Lula da Silva has instructed child services to begin taking children away from parents who deny the election results.  Since October millions of disenfranchised Brazilians have taken to the streets to protest what they claim was a stolen election from former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Add Amoxicillin to the Things in Critically Short Supply Saga.  I have a dear friend, a single mom heroically raising three boys.  As if that isn't enough reason to provide her prayerful support, one of the boys has a miserable ear infection.  My friend is a nurse, so she knows her way around the medical world.  The doctor prescribed the antibiotic amoxicillin.  There's one small problem, though.  There's a nationwide shortage of the stuff.

Trudeau's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act in order to deal with the Freedom Convoy is being reexamined.  You probably remember the Freedom Convoy, made up of a bunch of noisy truckers who protested the Canadian governments COVID mandates and policies.  The group blocked streets in downtown Ottawa in January 2022.  Eventually Prime Minister Trudeau responded by freezing people's bank accounts and threaten to seize their property.  He was able to do this by invoking a Canadian law called the Emergencies Act which gave him broad powers including the ability to freeze people's bank accounts. [...] There is currently a public inquiry into Trudeau's use of the act and so far it doesn't look terribly good for him. [...] During the inquiry, lawyers asked the leadership of the RCMP if the threat assessment had been made properly.  They claimed they couldn't remember if they were briefed on it as it was happening and a commission lawyer suggested that under the time pressure, "It might be understandable that corners were cut or direct contact was used."  It really sounds like they were just making it up as they went along but my confidence that Justin Trudeau will ever be held accountable for his own actions is pretty low at this point.

The worst is yet to come: FTX pandemic could 'wipe out' several crypto companies.  Cryptocurrency venture Multicoin Capital has written a letter to its investors about further fall in the business before it could recover.  In the upcoming weeks, the company anticipates that the FTX pandemic will "wipe out" several trading firms, according to a report by CNBC.  "We expect to see contagion fallout from FTX/Alameda over the next few weeks," read the letter.

I was told exactly the opposite by my dope-smoking friends in 1970.
Marijuana smokers are MORE likely to develop lung disease than cigarette users.  Marijuana smokers are slightly more likely to develop lung disease than cigarette users, a shock study suggests.  Researchers looked at roughly 150 adults from Ottawa around 50 years old who were either pot users, tobacco smokers or non-smokers.  They found 75 percent of marijuana users had emphysema compared to 67 percent of cigarette or cigar users.  Emphysema is a lung disease which leaves sufferers struggling to breathe.  Those who don't smoke at all were better off, with just five percent suffering from the condition.

Conservatives Flip School Boards In Wave Of Education Wins.  Election night did not deliver the overwhelming victory Republicans had hoped for on a national level, but on a local level — in school board races — conservatives picked up a wave of wins across the country.  This week, conservatives flipped at least nine school boards in at least six states — Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Florida — giving them conservative majorities, according to two parental rights groups who endorsed many of the victorious candidates.  The wins signal that parental rights were a significant factor at the ballot box on Tuesday.

Biden's student loan handout struck down by federal judge in Texas.  A federal judge in Texas struck down President Biden's student loan handout in a Thursday night ruling.  Biden's plan, which aims to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients in college and up to $10,000 for others who borrowed using federal student loans.  "Whether the Program constitutes good public policy is not the role of this Court to determine.  Still, no one can plausibly deny that it is either one of the largest delegations of legislative power to the executive branch, or one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States," United States District Judge Mark Pittman wrote.

Free Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips.  In yet another of the Left's increasingly brazen miscarriages of justice, Monday, November 7 will mark a week since the leaders of True the Vote, Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, were imprisoned in Houston for refusing to disclose the identity of an FBI informant.  But as is always the case with the Left, there is much more to this case than that:  the imprisonment of Engelbrecht and Phillips is part of the Left's efforts to cover up its own election crimes.  Engelbrecht and Phillips are deeply committed patriots; the Freedom Center was privileged to help Catherine Engelbrecht launch True the Vote in its first promotional video, which was filmed in David Horowitz's living room with David as its endorser.  These are heroic individuals on the frontline of the battle for American democracy, and now that they're directly in the Left's crosshairs, they should be supported by every patriot.  Engelbrecht and Phillips have maintained, quite rightly, that whenever they have acceded to demands to reveal their sources in the past, the Left has doxed and harassed those sources.  It's also quite clear that this legal harassment that Engelbrecht and Phillips are experiencing right now is designed to distract attention from and obscure what they've discovered about severe vulnerabilities in our elections process.  Once again, Leftists are covering up their own misdeeds.

Catherine Englebrecht and Gregg Phillips Released from Imprisonment by Order of Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.  By order of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips have been ordered RELEASED from custody, reversing the lower court decision which led to their detention and imprisonment for six days. [...] Konnech CEO Eugene Yu was arrested for exploiting access to U.S. election data, including election worker information, and transferring the files to China.  Eugene Yu and Konnech sued True the Vote and are using the U.S. civil judicial system to find out who told the FBI about the Chinese data harvesting operation.  Federal Judge Kenneth Hoyt demanded that Phillips and Englebrecht reveal the names of everyone who was present when the original data files were shown to True the Vote.  Englebrecht and Phillips stated they did not ever possess the data file, do not have it and refused to name all the participants who may have seen it.  Judge Hoyt threw them in jail last Monday until Englebrecht and Phillips give up the names to the court and the Chinese Communist Party.

Jean-Pierre Denies Trump's Claim That Pro-Life Activists Are Being 'Locked Up' By Federal Officials.  White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied a claim made by former President Donald Trump that pro-life activists are being "locked up" by the Biden administration.  Trump said at a campaign rally in Iowa Thursday that the administration and "radical Democrats" are "locking up pro-life activists" and "persecuting" their political opponents.  The press secretary denied this claim when asked to respond at Monday's briefing.  "Clearly that's not true," she said.  "I'm not going to say more than that.  It's just not true, it's false, it's a lie, it's not true.  So I'm going to move on."

Dystopian Pro Abortion Messages Being Written With Drones In Philadelphia Skies.  Demonstrators have used drones to write pro-abortion messages in the Philadelphia sky, according to activist, author, and filmmaker Paolo Mendoza.  "This week we took to the streets to fight for abortion access and bodily autonomy," Mendoza wrote in the Twitter post.  [Video clip]

Justice Department Files Federal Criminal Charges Against David DePape [which] Allows [the] Government to Control and Hide Evidence.  The Department of Justice on Monday announced two federal criminal charges against David DePape.  "DePape was charged with attempted kidnapping, and with retaliating against a federal official by threatening or injuring a family member."  CNBC reported.  The US government will now control and hide the evidence — and shape the national media narrative.

Transcript of Embarrassing Press Briefing Is Missing from White House Website.  On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attempted to explain what she thinks Republicans will do to the economy and struggled to be coherent in the process.  "And you know, it is, it is, um, it is, you know, it is not, uh, it is, uh, it is, you know, it is reckless.  It is playing a reckless game with our economic... ec.. with our-our economy."  [Tweet]  I wrote at the time that the official White House transcript for this briefing had yet to be released, and predicted that when they did finally release it, it would "be a hoot."  Well, I wish I could tell you that it was, because, as of this writing, nearly three days after that embarrassing display, the White House has yet to release the transcript from that briefing.

Kari Lake: That break-in at Katie Hobbs campaign headquarters is 'Jussie Smollett part two'.  Republican Kari Lake is going to be the next governor of the great state of Arizona and Democrats are losing their minds.  The latest indication of the level of desperation of Democrats involves a break-in reported at the campaign headquarters of Lake's Democrat challenger, Katie Hobbs.  Hobbs and the Arizona Democrat Party were quick to point a finger at Lake.  The Hobbs campaign headquarters was burglarized earlier this week.  Police were called and some items were reported taken from the headquarters.  The break-in happened during the night and no suspect has been identified.  The campaign, not the police, later released a photo of a suspect.

Katie Hobbs Blames Kari Lake for Office Break-In but Goes Silent When Police Prove Her Wrong.  Democrat Katie Hobbs, Arizona secretary of state and gubernatorial candidate, was quick to amplify claims that "dangerous misinformation" from her Republican opponent Kari Lake was connected to a break-in at her office this week.  Police have now reportedly arrested a suspect and confirmed the break-in had no political motivation, so Hobbs did what any self-respecting Democrat political candidate would do — she refused to discuss the new development or her former accusations.  "AFTER accusing my team of coordinating a Watergate-style break-in of her office, Katie Hobbs has now flip-flopped and DOES NOT want to talk about the crime," Kari Lake tweeted Thursday. [...][ But while Hobbs was happy to spread unproven accusations Wednesday, by Thursday she apparently didn't want to discuss the break-in.  Kari Lake shared a video on Oct. 27 of Hobbs nervously refusing to comment or explain after it was reportedly confirmed that the perpetrator of her office break-in was not politically motivated.

Europe now has a natural gas oversupply (if you include ships waiting to unload).  This summer Russia started monkeying with the natural gas supply to Germany and the rest of Europe, claiming there was some technical problem that required maintenance.  Then they cut the gas off completely and not long after that someone blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.  The result of all this has been a huge spike in energy prices in Europe and concern that there might not be enough gas to heat homes this winter.  But here we are in late October and the situation is looking very different.  For one thing, Europe has mostly filled the underground gas storage tanks for the winter.  Collectively, the plan was to fill storage to 80% by November 1 but with a week left to go, European storage is 93.4% filled.  When Russia started playing with the gas supply, prices went way up but now the opposite is happening.  Prices have dropped below $100 for the first time in months and there are lots of liquified natural gas tankers floating off the coasts of Europe waiting to unload.

US Has Only 25 Days of Diesel Supply; Shortage Could Cripple Economy.  The United States is down to 25 days of diesel supply as a top White House official declared the stockpile levels to be "unacceptably low."  Data provided by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that diesel stockpiles are at their lowest level for October in records that date back to 1993, according to a Bloomberg News analysis.  EIA data show that the United States, as of Oct. 14, has 25.4 days of supply — down from 34.2 days of supply four weeks prior.  National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, a top adviser to President Joe Biden, told Bloomberg News last week that current diesel levels are "unacceptably" low and that "all options are on the table" to increase supplies.  The diesel crunch comes just over two weeks before the November 2022 midterm elections and will likely drive up prices even more.  Diesel is the fuel used by freight trains and commonly used by long-haul truckers to transport goods and food.

Ol' Man River is Not Rolling Along.  If you think the price of energy and food has reached the limit, I have bad news for you:  All signs are it's going to be much worse.  Hot Air described the coming supply chain wreck.  Water levels on the Mississippi are tied with an all-time low.  And that portends a bitter winter for consumers:  ["]Just under half (47%) of all grain is moved by barge, according to the USDA.  Approximately 5.4 million barrels of crude and 35% of thermal coal are moved on the Mississippi.["]  That's just a small amount of Mississippi traffic, A great deal more than grain and coal normally is shipped by barge on the Mississippi.  That domestic decline in shipping is compounded by the mess in those ports bringing in foreign products.  To avoid the snarl in California's ports (compounded by California's labor laws and air-quality regulations), ships are being diverted and unloaded in New York and New Jersey.  Those ports offer far less unloading capacity than those in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The Justice Department Gets Smacked Down.  On Sept. 20, we reported on an outrageous subpoena served by the U.S. Justice Department on the Eagle Forum of Alabama.  Fortunately, in the face of vigorous opposition expressed in amicus briefs filed by literally dozens of conservative organizations supporting the Eagle Forum's motion to quash (i.e. throw out) the subpoena, Justice Department lawyers caved and narrowed their request, as the judge in the case put it, to "1%" of what they were demanding before.  It gets better.  At a hearing on Oct. 14 on the motion, according to a transcript we have obtained, federal Judge Liles C. Burke castigated the Justice Department for its "vastly overbroad and unduly burdensome" subpoena and declared that he "would have issued an order to quash" the subpoena if the Justice Department had not withdrawn almost all of it.  And Burke hinted that he would be open to considering sanctions against the Justice Department.

Steve Bannon sentenced to 4 months in jail for contempt of Congress.  Former top Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon was sentenced Friday to four months in jail for defying a subpoena from the congressional probe of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.  A U.S. District judge also fined Bannon $6,500. But he ruled that Bannon will not have to serve the sentence until an expected appeal plays out.  Both the jail term and fine came in below the punishments recommended by federal prosecutors.  The proceeding makes Bannon one of the highest-profile figures to be sentenced to jail on charges related to the insurrection.  Prosecutors wanted the court to sentence Bannon to six months in jail — the top end of the federal sentencing guidelines range — and the maximum fine of $200,000.

Joe Biden Seems To Suggest The Wife Of Ailing John Fetterman Would Replace Him, Make A "Great Lady In The Senate".  In a jaw-dropping speech from Joe Biden, the president seemed to suggest that the clearly disabled radical Senate candidate John Fetterman would be replaced by his formerly-undocumented immigrant wife, Gisele.  The Daily Caller reported late Thursday that Biden dropped this major hint by saying she would make a "a great lady in the Senate" while campaigning alongside the far-left invalid. [...] With Biden, it's always impossible to tell if he meant to say it or if he simply revealed too much of behind-the-scenes gab.

Reporter Asks Fetterman, "Why Did He Decide To Appear With Biden Now," While POTUS Was Standing Next To Him - His Reaction Speaks Volumes.  Joe Biden on Thursday [10/20/2022] traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to deliver remarks on his admin's plan to fix the nation's infrastructure.  Biden was greeted by Democrat US Senate candidate John Fetterman and his handler/wife Gisele Fetterman.  Stroke victim John Fetterman and Dementia Joe together is quite the duo.  As expected, the Fetterman/Biden event was a dumpster fire.  Biden couldn't even read his teleprompter.

The Morning Briefing: Fetterman's Wife Is Giving off a Creepy Jill Biden Vibe.  The guy dresses like a stoner uncle who has spent the last 30 years reliving the six months he spent in a ska band when he was 19.  An uncle who you're sure does weird things to your hamster when you're not around.  He really does seem like proof that most of the Democrat votes cast in and around the Philadelphia area are done so by dead people.  Normally even someone as callous as I would avoid criticizing a stroke victim.  Fetterman has, however, made himself fair game by deciding that he would rather be a United States senator than tend to his health.  Or has he?  Is this still John Fetterman's dream or has it become his wife's dream?  I wasn't even aware of Gisele Fetterman until last weekend when she pitched a hissy fit because NBC News conducted an interview with her husband and didn't doctor it to make him seem all there.

ABC Investigative Reporter Abruptly Resigns Then Vanishes After FBI Raid at His Home.  An ABC News investigative reporter, James Gordon Meek, suddenly resigned from his position at the major network after his Virginia home was raided by the FBI last spring, and has since seemingly disappeared.  According to the ABC News network, Meek "resigned very abruptly and hasn't worked for us for months."  Meek, 52, had not been charged with any crime, but his apartment is reportedly empty and his neighbors have not seen the reporter since the raid in April.

ABC News Reporter Writing Book On Biden's Afghanistan Disaster Vanishes After Being Raided By FBI: Report.  An award-winning ABC News investigative reporter who was working on a book about President Joe Biden's disastrous pullout from Afghanistan has not been seen in months after his apartment was raided by the FBI reportedly in connection with having classified material on his computer.  Rolling Stone broke the story about 52-year-old James Gordon Meek, an Emmy-winning journalist, on Tuesday.  Meek was also former senior counterterrorism adviser and investigator for the House Homeland Security Committee.  The FBI conducted a pre-dawn raid on his upscale apartment in Arlington, Virginia, back in April and he has not been seen since.  The publication claims that sources familiar with matter said that he was the target of a federal investigation and that the FBI allegedly found classified information on his laptop during the raid.

Fetterman Finally Releases 'Medical Record' (But You Won't Believe What It Really Is).  The first and most obvious problem is... those are not his medical records, and you'd have to be a fool or a member of the press to believe they are.  But I repeat myself.  What the campaign released [...] is a one-page letter from Fetterman's primary physician, Dr. Clifford Chen of Pittsburgh's UPMC.  It's basically a doctor's note assuring voters that although he's been sick, little Johnny can come to class today. [...] That letter doesn't exactly inspire confidence for anyone who's actually seen the candidate try and campaign.  That's why last week, during his first post-stroke interview, Fetterman required "a large computer screen with closed captioning" to understand what NBC correspondent Dasha Burns was asking.  "In small talk before my interview," Burns said afterward, "it wasn't clear he understood what I was saying."

Fetterman cleared by doc who donated to campaign after NBC interview fiasco.  Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman released a letter Wednesday from a doctor who claimed the commonwealth's lieutenant governor has "no work restrictions" after suffering a stroke in May — but failed to disclose he donated hundreds of dollars to the candidate after becoming his primary care physician.  Dr. Clifford Chen wrote in the letter, dated Oct. 15, that Fetterman was "recovering well from his stroke and his health has continued to improve" — and that he "can work full duty in public office."  What Chen did not say, and what Federal Election Commission records show, is that he donated to Fetterman's campaign on at least four separate occasions.

There's Another Problem With Fetterman's Doctor's Note.  After weeks of stuttering on the campaign trail, John Fetterman, the most famous stroke victim in the country and candidate for the U.S. Senate, released his so-called "medical record" from his primary care physician, Dr. Clifford Chen of Pittsburgh's UPMC, to clear up questions about his ability to serve.  As PJM's Stephen Green previously noted, it wasn't actually a medical record at all, just a doctor's note.  According to Dr. Chen, Fetterman "spoke intelligently without cognitive deficits" and his speech "was normal and he continues to exhibit symptoms of an auditory processing disorder which can come across as hearing difficulty."  "Overall, Lt.  Governor Fetterman is well and shows strong commitment to maintaining good fitness and health practices.  He has no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office," Chen wrote.  Of course, anyone who has seen Fetterman speak can easily conclude Chen is full of it.  Fetterman's speech is clearly compromised, and he appears to have some cognitive impairment.  But, why would Chen write such a clearly bogus letter?  Well, according to a report from the Washington Free Beacon, Chen is a big-time Democratic donor, and that might just have something to do with it.

Mysterious GPS Disruptions Spread In Texas Near Fort Hood.  GPS interference in Texas has spread from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area to now east and west regions of Waco, Texas.  One area west of Waco with high levels of GPS interference is butting up against America's third-largest military base, Fort Hood.

What happened to GPS in Denver?  Something big happened to GPS service in the Denver area on Jan. 21.  On that day, Air Traffic Control issued a notice advising pilots of problems with GPS reception spanning about 8,000 square miles in the Denver area.  The advisory, posted at 10:33 p.m. [Mountain] time, said GPS was unreliable within a 50-nautical-mile radius of the Denver International Airport.  Interference was likely to be experienced by aircraft on the ground and as high as 40,000 feet above sea level.  The advisory also said the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS), both designed to make navigation with GPS more precise, as well as the ADS-B collision avoidance and traffic management system, would be unreliable.

GPS Signal Mysteriously Disrupted Around Dallas Airports.  GPS interference is being reported around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area airports, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.  The first reports of signal degradation occurred about 24 hours ago.  "Significant GPS interference being reported by pilots in the Dallas area.  Aircraft being rerouted onto non-RNAV arrivals," the flight tracking website ADS-B Exchange first reported Monday afternoon [10/17/2022]. [...] Bloomberg said the "runway at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has been closed after aviation authorities said GPS signals there aren't reliable."  The FAA said it was investigating GPS signal degradation in the metro area and looking closely to see if this could be due to "possible jamming of the global-positioning system."  So far, the FAA has found "no evidence of intentional interference."  And airlines have yet to report major disruptions.

The Editor says...
This is a problem, but unless the airlines are over-relying upon GPS for landing their planes, it shouldn't be a big safety issue.  In the last 30 seconds of an approach, don't the pilots look out the window for visual clues more than they look at the GPS?  Is everyone convinced that the GPS can never fail?  I'm not.

Alaska Snow Crab Season Canceled After 1 Billion Crabs Vanish.  The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has officially canceled the winter snow crab season, according to CBS News.  It is the first time in history this has ever been done, however, it is now necessary due to the crabs' rapidly declining numbers in the Bering Sea.  According to state officials, it is estimated that one billion crabs have vanished in two years.  This constitutes a 90% population loss.

PepsiCo's Average Product Prices Spike 17% Year-Over-Year.  While the Fed sits around and rearranges numbers, equations and definitions to try and couch what is obviously an ugly inflationary picture for the country, at least one company is giving it to people straight:  PepsiCo.  The company reported earnings this morning, posting a 9% rise in its Q3 sales and offering up increased guidance as it keeps raising prices on both snacks and its flagship beverages.  The 12% increase it expects from full year organic revenue, noted by the Wall Street Journal this morning, comes at the hands of average prices rising an astonishing 17% from the year prior.  The price hikes have also helped the company raise its profit outlook.

Biden admin: Trans women must register for draft; trans men don't have to.  Under President Joe Biden's administration, transgender women who are born male must register for the Selective Service, which provides the Defense Department with troops in the event of a military draft.  Transgender men who are born female do not have to register for the Selective Service.  While the policy was established before Biden took office, the Biden administration has not changed the standard.  According to the Selective Service System website, nearly "all male US citizens and male immigrants, who are 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service."  The website states that all biological males must register for the draft, including "U.S. citizens or immigrants who are born male and have changed their gender to female."

Tulsi Gabbard leaves Democratic Party.  Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced she left the Democratic Party on Tuesday, denouncing the organization as an "elitist cabal."  Gabbard, who retired from the House of Representatives in 2021, attacked the institution in a nearly 30-minute video posted to her YouTube account.  She did not announce plans to join the Republican Party or adopt any other political affiliation, however.  "I can no longer remain in today's Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism," Gabbard said in an excerpt posted to Twitter.  She went on to call on other moderate Democrats to follow in her footsteps.

Tulsi Gabbard Announces She's Leaving the Democratic Party.  For several years now, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has openly spoken out against Democratic leadership, first in 2015 when she was the Vice Chair of the DNC and made waves after calling for more debates between the Democratic party candidates for president because she (correctly) believed the system put in place by then-Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz was being rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton before the people even had a chance to cast their votes.  She left the DNC in protest in 2016.  Three years later, Gabbard threw her hat into the ring and ran for the party's presidential nomination herself, along the way criticizing the "powerful elitists" within the party who she continued to believe were squelching debate in favor of their preferred candidates.  Though she didn't win the nomination, Gabbard again caused a stir within party ranks when she effectively torpedoed then-Sen. Kamala Harris' presidential run by scorching her over her record as California's top prosecutor during a July 2019 debate.  Between that, and Gabbard's growing concerns over their obsession with "wokeness" and also what she felt were the party's increasing "warmonger" tendencies, it was only a matter of time before she decided to leave the party.

Denmark, Sweden view Nord Stream pipeline leaks as 'deliberate actions'.  [Scroll down] Mikhail Krutikhin, an energy analyst from the RusEnergy consultancy, told DW that initial evidence clearly pointed to sabotage, and said that a key question going forward would be whether the damage originated inside or outside the pipe.  He said the shape of the damaged segments of pipe should indicate this.  If the explosion came from without, "then it was an explosion from outside made by some sabotage group or some underwater equipment," he said.  If the explosion originated inside the pipe, "then it was Gazprom," adding the Russian energy giant "could easily send something technicians call a pig — a robot that goes inside the pipeline."  Krutikhin said it is "very easy to send it in the pipe to a specific point and then have it explode."

GPS Sends Dad Over a Bridge That Was No Longer There.  A GPS system along with local North Carolina government officials are in the crosshairs after a father of two girls was killed in a shocking car accident thanks to a myriad of failures that residents say should never have happened.  Phil Paxson was driving home on a rainy Sept. 30 night after attending a birthday party for his nine-year-old daughter when a GPS direction caused him to crash and die, the Daily Mail reported.  Paxson was following a GPS to get home when the system directed him to take a bridge near Hickory, North Carolina.  But instead of crossing the river safely, Paxson's car abruptly plunged more than 20 feet into the waters below because the bridge was no longer there.  The span had been destroyed nearly a decade before — in 2013 — after a heavy storm ripped through the area, and the bridge was never replaced.

Bangladesh power grid collapses, leaving 140 million people without power.  [Scroll down] Another commenter wrote that a similar situation occurred in Utah back in the 1980s.  Claiming to have worked for Utah Power and Light (UP&L) at the time, this person says the situation in Bangladesh is "surprisingly easy to have happen."  "A big generator trips offline, now the load is too high, a bunch of load trips offline, now there's too much generation, more generators trip, and in a cascade taking only seconds, you've lost everything," he writes.  "Bringing it back up is a matter of delicately balancing load and generation as you rebuild the network.  And that's if nothing fried.  UP&L dropped it once while they were bringing it back and had to start over, but eventually they got it."

First new cobalt mine in decades opens in Idaho; key component in electric vehicle batteries.  A new cobalt mine, the first in decades, opened in Idaho Friday [10/7/2022] to meet the demand for a key rare-earth mineral used in electric vehicle batteries and other military and aerospace parts.  The mine, operated by Australia-based Jervois Global, is located near a defunct open-pit cobalt mine.  In an effort to be more environmentally conscious, the new mine is mostly underground and will be capped once its operations eventually cease.  Department of Energy Undersecretary for Science and Innovation Geri Richmond told the crowd gathered for the opening that "We're talking about building a world class clean energy economy, and this mine, this project ... is key to that vision," according to NPR.

America's national debt has now surpassed $31 trillion.  America's national debt has climbed north of $31 trillion for the first time, a milestone that comes at a time of historically high inflation, rising interest rates and growing economic uncertainty.  The nation's total public debt outstanding closed at $31.1 trillion on Monday [10/3/2022], according to Treasury Department data published Tuesday.  The US government went on a borrowing spree during the Covid-19 pandemic to help shore up the nation's economy as the deadly virus upended lives, labor markets and supply chains.  Outstanding debt has climbed nearly $8 trillion since the beginning of 2020.  And it has jumped by $1 trillion in just eight months.

The Editor says...
Fun fact:  The dollar amount is approaching 31.62 trillion, which is the square root of one octillion!  Math geeks and Scrabble players are generally the only people with any concept of the meaning of "octillion."

Bangladesh's Power Grid Collapses.  The power grid has failed and completely collapsed in Bangladesh leaving around 140 million people without power.  Nearly everyone is left without power as of Tuesday afternoon, Bangladesh time.

Longtime journalist fired after media report frames her personal pro-life work as 'partisan politics'.  A television journalist was fired last week after a liberal news outlet published an article framing her personal pro-life work as unprofessional "partisan politics."  Melanie Standiford was the news director for the Gray Media television station in North Platte, Nebraska.  Two months after she circulated a pro-life petition through her church and community, the longtime reporter and mother of 13 was fired after her employer was made aware of the work she had done in private and in line with her Christian beliefs.

Prisoner swap: Venezuela releases 7 jailed Americans, US frees 2 prisoners.  In a rare softening of hostile relations, Venezuela has freed seven imprisoned Americans in exchange for the United States releasing two nephews of President Nicolás Maduro's wife who had been jailed for years on drug smuggling conspiracy convictions, the White House said Saturday [10/1/2022].  "Today, after years of being wrongfully detained in Venezuela, we are bringing home Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Jose Pereira, Matthew Heath, and Osman Khan.  These individuals will soon be reunited with their families and back in the arms of their loved ones where they belong," President Joe Biden said in a statement.  Vadell, Toledo, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, and Pereira are five of the six American oil executives known as the "CITGO 6" arrested in Venezuela more than four years ago.

MSNBC depicts CDC director Rochelle Walensky as black, using bizarre skin color alteration on live TV.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Rochelle Walensky is back in the news, this time as a "black" woman.  Walensky appeared on MSNBC this week in blackface (and black chest) to push Americans to drag their children in for the all-new two-in-one "vaccine" for the Fauci Flu (covid) and seasonal influenza.  "There's no way to know how bad a flu season is going to be, um, but we are, um, hearing potential for it to be a severe season," a really dark Walensky stated to the host.  "And we would encourage vaccines."  The Rachel Dolezal wannabe went on to urge people over the age of 65 to get the "high-dose" vaccine.  She then urged parents to vaccinate children as young as six.  "You can get your flu vaccine and, uh, your covid vaccine at the same time," she added.

The Editor says...
I'm a little surprised that such a thing hasn't been tried before.  Here's how it works, or at least how it could be done:  You're probably familiar with the idea of a green screen chroma-key.  This technique has been used (and over-used) since about 1970, most commonly to make a TV weather man appear to be standing in front of a giant map.  Earliest use of the chroma-key in local TV stations featured a large blue wall.  About 1980, everybody switched to bright green, because back then, the green channel in a color TV camera had the best signal-to-noise ratio.  Sometime around 2010, the manufacturers of high-end TV studio cameras began to include a skin detail feature which is essentially a skin-tone chroma-key:  Wherever the camera sees flesh, especially in the middle of the raster, it turns the "detail" sharpness way down, to make everyone's skin look flawlessly smooth.  (Without this feature, High-Definition cameras are brutally honest about skin texture.)  Anyway, the detail-killer could be used to lower the black level, i.e., to make all skin darker.  I've never heard of that being done before, but the technology exists.  When MSNBC is called out on the incident described in the article above, they'll probably blame it on a technical malfunction — unless they brag about it.  As developers say, it's either a bug or a new feature.

Swedes Report New Fourth Leak in Nord Stream Pipeline 'Sabotage'.  Swedish authorities have reported a new fourth alleged leak in the Nord Stream pipelines in the Swedish economic zone as some fear that the damage to the multi-billion-pound pipelines may not be repairable.  The Swedish coastguard reportedly found the fourth leak in the massive energy transmission pipes on Tuesday but the existence of the new leak was not reported in Swedish media until Wednesday evening.  This new hole is said to be leaking gas that can be seen at the surface of the sea making a disturbance hundreds of feet wide.

Routine childhood vaccines may raise the risk of asthma by a third, shock Government-funded study finds.  It has been a question pondered by scientists mostly on the fringes for decades.  Now a federally-funded study has found a possible link between vaccines containing aluminum and a higher risk of asthma in children.  Results showed children who received all or most of their routine childhood shots had a 36 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with persistent asthma by age five than kids who got fewer vaccines.

Tucker Carlson Discusses Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage, Almost Certainly a U.S. Covert Action Against Russia.  Tucker Carlson accurately outlined the most likely suspect of the sabotage against Russia's Nord Stream I and II pipeline today.  When you consider the media blitz by Joe Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, last weekend (ABC, CNN, NBC and CBS); specifically pointing out the U.S. position against Russia; it is almost a certainty that U.S. action was behind the underwater detonation of explosives to take out Nord Stream pipeline system.  [Video clip]

WSJ Prints Blistering Editorial Ripping Gore/Kerry for Bullying World Bank With Insane Climate Demands.  The WSJ board accuses Kerry and Gore of harassing World Bank President David Malpass for not bowing to their every whim and demand.  The World Bank's purpose is to alleviate poverty around the globe, so its outlook is not necessarily the same as the elites on Martha's Vineyard and in Silicon Valley.  The Journal points out that bringing third-world countries into the first world ... ["] ... requires energy, which today is still most efficiently and affordably provided by fossil fuels.  Yet Mr. Kerry recently cautioned African leaders against investing in long-term natural gas production, as if they have an alternative if they want to develop.  This is an indulgence in a place like California, which is affluent enough to pay twice what its neighboring states do for energy.["]

Expensive New England winter is coming.  New England is approaching what grid officials and utility executives expect to be a very pricey winter for energy consumers and one that risks a shortage of energy during extended periods of extreme cold.  It's not an unfamiliar forecast for the region, where cold temperatures and natural gas pipeline constraints have a record of driving supply tightness, and thereby driving prices up, during cold winter months.  But this year, those pipeline constraints are overlaid by extremely competitive energy markets globally and fuel commodity prices that are already higher than normal going into winter.  That's led to warnings that $1,000 monthly utility bills could be in order.  At the heart of the challenge are New England's power generation and residential heating profile.  Natural gas accounted for 53% of the region's power in 2021, while gas is widely used for home heating.  In Massachusetts, more than half of households used gas to heat their homes in 2020.

Unfinished Ford Trucks Keep Piling Up in Massive Lots Visible From Space.  If you thought parts shortages couldn't get any worse for the auto industry than they did last year, then it's time to hit reset.  We've seen multiple car companies, including international giants like Honda and Toyota, struggle to deliver vehicles simply because they can't source the components they need.  The same is true with Ford, which announced this week that up to 45,000 vehicles will be held in its inventory this quarter until they receive essential parts — mainly chips.

Lawmakers want investigation of Energy Department transferring expensive tech to China.  Lawmakers want answers on why the federal government allegedly handed over to China expensive, advanced battery technology that cost taxpayers millions of dollars to develop.  Sens. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican, and John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican, said Monday that they want the Department of Energy to investigate the alleged illicit transfer of $15 million worth of the technology to China.  "We are concerned that this is an overt dereliction of duty by DOE, and that this case may be emblematic of a department that routinely and flippantly permits government-funded technology to be transferred to China," the senators wrote to Energy Department Inspector General Teri Donaldson.

Pope Francis Throws Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Under The Bus.  Pope Francis has decided not to protest the Hong Kong trial of Cardinal Joseph Zen, arrested last May for his part in the nation's pro-democracy movement.  This week a reporter asked the pope whether Cardinal Zen's arrest and trial constitute a violation of religious freedom, to which the pontiff basically answered that Zen got what was coming to him.  The pope first denied that China is undemocratic, insisting that such labels are unhelpful because China is a very "complex" country.  Second, he acknowledged Zen's arrest but refused to criticize it or to defend the 90-year-old cardinal.

People who work from home tripled in two years.  According to data revealed by the U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C. can add to its list of distinguishing characteristics that it is America's work-from-home capital.  In the calendar year 2021, 48.3 percent of all employees in D.C. worked remotely.  The city of Seattle was a close second at 46.8 percent, followed by San Francisco at 45.6 percent, with Austin and Atlanta at 38.8 and 38.7 respectively in a close tie for fourth place.  Conversely, cities like Memphis, El Paso, Texas and Wichita, Kansas rounded out the bottom of the list with a large number of blue-collar employees who necessarily must be on site for their jobs.

Disney World dump: Guests complain of broken-down rides and filth as costs skyrocket.  Guests at Disney World in Florida are complaining about the outrageous cost for average families to visit the resort while griping about broken-down, faulty rides, dirty facilities, and filth littering the walkways and attractions.  CEO Bob Chapek has overseen Disney's expanding immoral wokeness while hiking prices into the stratosphere and allowing the resort to devolve into disrepair under his watch.  Social media is being flooded with complaints by visitors who are relentlessly bashing the Happiest Place on Earth while carping that Chapek is obsessed with cutting costs and raising prices instead of reinvesting in the resort, according to the New York Post.

Idolatry:
Michael Jordan's '98 finals jersey sells for $10.1 million at auction.  Michael Jordan's jersey from the 1998 NBA finals smashed records when it sold for $10.1 million at auction Thursday [9/15/2022].  The red away-game jersey that Jordan wore in Game 1 of the Chicago Bulls' series against the Utah Jazz was the feature of the Sotheby's auction.  It is now the highest-priced item in sports memorabilia history, according to a report.

Montana adopts permanent block on birth certificate changes.  Montana health officials on Friday made permanent a rule that blocks transgender people from changing their birth certificates even if they undergo gender-confirmation surgery.  The move by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte's administration comes just days before a court will hear arguments over the legality of a similar rule that's been in effect on an emergency basis since May.  The ACLU of Montana has asked state Judge Michael Moses to strike down the emergency rule.  Moses in April had temporarily blocked a 2021 Montana law that made it difficult for transgender people to change their birth certificate.

Massive Increases in U.S Natural Gas Exports are Driving Up U.S. Energy Prices.  It is good to see at least one energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, speaking common sense.  In an article by Clark Williams-Derry for Barron Magazine [SEE HERE], the author accurately outlines how significant U.S. Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exports are driving up natural gas prices for American consumers.  The author accurately refutes the notion that exports do not drive-up domestic prices, by walking through the example of how natural gas prices dropped for U.S. consumers when the liquefied natural gas plant in Quintana, Texas [Freeport LNG] was temporarily shut down, blocking a portion of the export capacity.  However, that facility is about to come back on-line and with increased exports from other facilities domestic U.S. prices have already doubled.

Retailers pull lobster from menus after 'red list' warning.  Some retailers are taking lobster off the menu after an assessment from an influential conservation group that the harvest of the seafood poses too much of a risk to rare whales and should be avoided.  Whales can suffer injuries and fatalities when they become entangled in the gear that connects to lobster traps on the ocean floor.  Seafood Watch, which rates the sustainability of different seafoods, said this week it has added the American and Canadian lobster fisheries to its "red list" of species to avoid.

Four star general says Americans are too obese or criminal to join the armed forces and defend the country.  Recruitment numbers for the Army are at historic lows as Americans are either too fat or criminal to join the defend the country, an Army general warned.  Lt.  Gen Xavier Brunson, the commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, theorized as to why recruitment is so low following a July statement from the Army that announced it wouldn't meet its 485,000 recruitment goal for 2022, falling short by a staggering 20,000 recruits.  Officers across the country are failing to meet recruitment numbers as fewer youth are qualified to serve, which some blame on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Death Warrant for American Ingenuity.  Last September, scores of patent-holders demonstrated in six cities across the U.S. [...] These men and women of ingenuity were protesting America's decade of stolen dreams:  the years since the passage of the America Invents Act (AIA) of 2011 and the establishment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), which together have made it easy for big corporations to steal their ideas and profit from them with impunity.

Maybe they're hoping Joe Biden will forgive these loans, too.
Americans are now taking out loans to pay for groceries.  A growing number of Americans are using 'buy now, pay later' services to purchase basic goods such as groceries, raising concerns about consumers taking on more debt.  Installment-pay services such as Klarna and Afterpay offer interest-free short-term loans to cover purchases, but the fines for late payments can be steep, and critics fear their ease of use could lure shoppers into dangerous debt.  In 2021, $45.9 billion in pay-later transactions were made online, a sharp increase from $15.3 billion the year before, according to a GlobalData analysis reported by the New York Times.

Frankenstein: Scientists create embryo with brain and beating heart entirely from stem cells.  Scientists at the University of Cambridge have created a series of "model embryos" that include a functioning brain, a beating heart, and the foundation for all of the other bodily organs you would expect.  But unlike previous generations of these sorts of experiments, they did not use any eggs or sperm.  The entire embryo was crafted from stem cells that were "trained" to begin forming the organs.  The future potential of this sort of technology is clearly staggering, particularly in the field of transplant surgery, but there are ethical questions to be addressed as well.  At least for now, however, we're not talking about human embryos.  These were all the embryos of laboratory mice.

Sex offender arrested after allegedly offering parents $100k to 'buy' their daughter, and he's done it before.  A registered sex offender in Florida was apparently looking to pick up his next victim like he would a loaf of bread by offering a parent $100,000 to purchase their young daughter while strolling through a Winn Dixie grocery store last week.  The same man reportedly offered to plunk down double the money in 2018 in exchange for another woman's 8-year-old child, according to a Fox 35 report at the time.  Police reported that they began the thorough investigation into the alleged actions of Austrian native Hellmuth Kolb after "the parent's clear concern that someone was insistent on attempting to purchase their daughter in a grocery store."

The White House Is Outing Members Of Congress Who Took PPP Loans.  The Left had to have some sort of comeback for criticism of President Joe Biden's student loan cancellation plan, and it finally stumbled on one:  PPP loans.  And why not?  A student loan was one you voluntarily took out so that you could attend college or graduate school; a PPP loan was one to allow you to keep payroll while the government shut down your business without your consent ... exactly the same thing.  As we reported earlier, Ben Shapiro was reportedly "owned" by someone who found that he'd accepted $20,000 in PPP loan forgiveness — the only problem is that they got the wrong Ben Shapiro.

US economy shrank by 0.6 percent in second quarter — signaling recession.  The economy shrank by 0.6% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year — the second consecutive quarter that the nation's gross domestic product contracted, thus signaling the onset of a recession, according to the latest data.  The US Commerce Department issued a revised reading of second-quarter figures on Thursday — nearly a month after its initial report measured a 0.9% contraction compared to the year prior, Fox Business reported.  In the first quarter of this year, GDP fell by 1.6% — the worst-performing quarter since the spring of 2020.  At the time, much of the country was in lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus.

NYPD cops ordered not to 'congregate' or converse on city streets, memo shows.  The NYPD released a memo ordering cops not to "congregate" or take part in "unnecessary conversation" with each other — just weeks after Mayor Eric Adams chastised officers on the street for chatting on the job, The [New York] Post has learned[.]  The order dated Tuesday marks a revision to the patrol guide for officers and supervisors — instructing them to ensure cops aren't gathering together.  "Do not congregate, or engage in unnecessary conversation, with other members of the service while on post, absent police necessity," the order states, addressing police officers.

The Editor says...
Everyone else in town has the freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech.

Texas School District Bans Critical Race Theory, Will Not Promote 'Preferred Pronouns'.  The Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District in Texas voted Monday to ban the teaching of critical race theory and not promote, require, or encourage the usage of pronouns not aligned with a student's actual sex.  The 4-3 vote also implemented a strict process for reviewing library books and requires that students use the restrooms and locker rooms that align with their actual sexes.  Library materials must be posted online and readily available for review by parents and a strict oversight process has been put in place for choosing and approving books.  ISD policy further bans the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity until the fifth grade, boys from playing in girls' sports, and New York Times "1619 Project" disinformation.

Sanas, the buzzy Bay Area startup that wants to make the world sound whiter.  Silicon Valley startup Sanas has a lofty goal:  to make call center workers sound white and American, no matter the country they're from.  And that's just the beginning of their grand plan.  The voice tech company's website features a photo of a smiling man, cropped so you only see a disembodied, toothy grin.  Underneath the anonymous mouth, a demo invites you to "Hear the Magic" of Sanas.  As you press play, you hear one side of a simulated conversation; a man with an Indian accent reads a familiarly tortured call center script about a missing package.  Click the "With Sanas" slider, and the voice transforms instantly into something slightly robotic, a tad uncanny and unmistakably white.

The Editor says...
[#1] Why is it important to "sound white?"  Obviously there is a widespread perception that salesmen cannot be trusted if they're not white.  [#2] Telemarketers are pests.  What makes someone think that I'm eager to sell my house to the 47th stranger who calls me to ask if I want to sell it?  What makes someone think that I'm stupid enough to think that you're really calling from "the credit card department" to get my personal information?  Telemarketers could be eliminated, if the phone companies really wanted to be done with them.  The national "do not call list" turned out to be a farce, and the Caller-ID system is easily spoofed.  That's the phone companies' fault.  Also, it should be easy to sign up for phone services that block entire area codes, or block all calls that originate outside the U.S.  How hard could it be?

In other words, telemarketing is about to become even more of a scam.
The AI startup erasing call center worker accents: is it fighting bias, or perpetuating it?  "Hi, good morning.  I'm calling in from Bangalore, India."  I'm talking on speakerphone to a man with an obvious Indian accent.  He pauses.  "Now I have enabled the accent translation," he says.  It's the same person, but he sounds completely different: loud and slightly nasal, impossible to distinguish from the accents of my friends in Brooklyn.  Only after he had spoken a few more sentences did I notice a hint of the software changing his voice:  it rendered the word "technology" with an unnatural cadence and stress on the wrong syllable.  Still, it was hard not to be impressed — and disturbed.  The man calling me was a product manager from Sanas, a Silicon Valley startup that's building real-time voice-altering technology that aims to help call center workers around the world sound like westerners.

MTG Files Articles of Impeachment Against AG Garland.  This could be the first step toward Attorney General Merrick Garland's impeachment.  Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia introduced articles of impeachment targeting Garland in the House of Representatives on Friday.  [Tweet]  Greene's impeachment resolution accuses Garland of "endangering, compromising, and undermining the justice system of the United States" by aiding in the "persecution" of former President Donald Trump.  The impeachment articles come one day after Garland revealed that he personally signed off on a search warrant application targeting Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

Judge Roy Moore Wins $8.2 Million Defamation Judgment Against Senate Majority PAC.  The Senate Majority PAC, the Democrat swamp apparatus in Washington D.C., is being forced to pay a $8.2 million judgment to Judge Roy Moore after a jury found them guilty of defamation.  The Senate Majority PAC helped Democrats win a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama back in 2017, killing Moore's chances to win as an outsider.  The destruction of his campaign included circulating ads with false accusations that insinuated Moore is a pedophile.  The claim deemed defamatory by the court was used by the Senate Majority PAC in their "Shopping Mall Ad" against Moore.  It claimed falsely that Moore was "actually banned from the Gadsden mall for soliciting sex from young girls." million Now, they will have to pay $8.2 [million] for their scurrilous accusations.

Bidenflation [is] Making Mexico Great Again, Retails Sales Up 30% in Mexico.  The price differential is remarkable.  In this report from NewsNation, they follow Americans who travel to Mexico for their essential purchases.  Not only is gasoline over a $1/gal cheaper, but everyday essential items are significantly lower.  Retailers in the video highlight an increase in sales of 20 to 30% from cross border shoppers.  Biden's economic plan is Making Mexico Great Again.

Adams [is] covering up for lies about NYC's failing shelter system.  Texas has sent perhaps a few hundred illegal immigrants into New York City for the "sanctuary" that Mayor Adams proudly proclaimed last year, which Adams now blames for a breakdown in services to the homeless.  That's nonsense, reports Janaki Chadha.  New York City's shelter system began breaking down when Adams took office, and Adams hasn't gotten any "stuff done" to resolve it — except to shift blame to Texas: [...] In an interview with CBS New York this morning, Adams called Abbott an "un-American governor" and insisted that the entire problem in New York originated in Texas:  [Video clip]

Baby formula shortage is extending into late summer.  The baby formula shortage that turned into a crisis in the spring has persisted into the late summer, with out-of-stock rates hovering at about 28% for four weeks.  Nearly 26% of baby formula powder was missing from store shelves in the week leading up to Aug. 7.  That rate the week prior was about 27% and 30% the week before that, according to data-monitoring from the consulting firm IRI Worldwide.  The shortage became a national concern in May, resulting in a crush of parents panic-buying limited supplies.  Powder formula sales around the week that the shortage first made major news were nearly 20% above their yearly average, according to IRI.

Democrat Slips up and Admits on Live TV He's Engaged in Insider Trading, FBI Does Nothing!  A sitting senator just admitted on national tv that he is basing his stock buys and sales based on what he is hearing will happen in congress to companies affected by bills that may or may not pass.  That is insider trading!  If you know a company or entire niche of businesses are about to get a law passed stopping or helping them, then you go and make stock purchases based on that insider knowledge; by definition that is insider trading!

DOD 'Wiped' Phones of Senior Trump Officials — Jan. 6 Communications No Longer Accessible.  Some senior Trump administration officials had their phones "wiped" by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. Army after the former president left office, meaning messages that were sent around the time of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach are no longer accessible, court filings show.  The DOD acknowledged that the phones belonging to former Pentagon officials had been wiped as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by American Oversight, a non-profit watchdog organization.  American Oversight had sought the communications that those officials had with Trump, former Vice President Pence, Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, or anyone communicating on their behalf on Jan. 6.  The watchdog group submitted the FOIA requests pertaining to the records on Jan. 12, 2021, six days after the breach of the Capitol building.

Spain Bans Air Conditioning Dropping Below 27°C.  Responding to Europe's energy crisis, Spain has controversially banned air conditioning from dropping below 27°C (80.6°F) in the summer.  The new government decree, which applies to a whole host of public buildings as well as shops, hotels and other venues, will also stop heating from being raised above 19°C [66.2°F] during the winter.  "The rules will be mandatory in all public and commercial buildings, including bars, cinemas, theatres, airports and train stations," reports EuroNews.  Ominously, the report also notes that the action is "extended as a recommendation to Spanish households," meaning it could one day become mandatory similar to hosepipe bans and be enforced by fines.

Al Qaeda Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri Is Dead — for at Least the 4th Time.  Notorious Al Qaeda terror group leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was reported to have died in a drone strike over the weekend in Kabul, Afghanistan.  President Biden announced the news from the balcony of the White House.  But you'll forgive some people if they fall into the "trust but verify camp" on al-Zawahiri-is-dead news.  You see, the world was also told that al-Zawahiri died before.  Task and Purpose inserted natural skepticism about Monday's news in a story headlined, "Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda deputy is totally dead for real this time."  The military website acknowledged that "after mistakenly being declared dead several times in the past, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri's death has been officially announced — presumably for the final time — by President Joe Biden on Monday."

Baby Formula Shortage May Have Been Caused By Factory Employee Playing With Stun Gun:  Report.  The ongoing national baby formula shortage might have been triggered, at least in part, by a factory employee playing with a stun gun while he was on the clock.  An employee in the quality services department at Abbott Laboratories' formula plant in Michigan triggered a whistleblower report to regulators by playing with a stun gun at the facility, according to a report by The Detroit News.  The whistleblower report ultimately led to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommending a shutdown of the plant, which cut off a major supply of American baby formula.

The Editor says...
One unwise employee did not cause the baby formula shortage.  The FDA caused it.

Joliet plans to build park to force sex offenders out of nearby home.  The Joliet City Council voted unanimously in favor of purchasing a home to turn into a park Tuesday night.  The reason for the purchase is to force child sex offenders to move out of another home nearby.  Six sex offenders moved into an apartment building in the Cunningham neighborhood in Joliet this spring and one has since moved out.  Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and residents are not happy, and say they were not notified.  FOX 32 Chicago talked to a resident who lives in the same building as the sex offenders, and he said his street has been like a ghost town. [...] Per state law, sex offenders are not supposed to live together but a federal judge ruled that unconstitutional after a lawsuit.

Beef Prices Expected to Increase Even More, as Farmers Are Forced to Sell off Cattle Herds.  The United States Department of Agriculture says the cattle market has shrunk to an extent that hasn't been seen in years.  According to the latest cattle report, "of the 91.9 million head inventory, all cows and heifers that have calved totaled 39.5 million."  Down from two percent in 2021, there are 30.1 million beef cows, and the milk cows decreased to 9.38 million in the United States. [...] In June, the price of ground beef was up 9.7 percent from a year ago.  Due to the decrease in supply, increased input prices, as well as drought conditions, we could see another price surge.

Why is the baby formula crisis still getting worse?  You probably haven't seen many stories about baby formula shortages on the cable news networks or on the front pages of the larger newspapers lately.  And that lack of coverage might lead you to believe that the problem has finally been addressed.  But you would be incorrect.  Actually, the shortage is worse now than it was two months ago, though it varies from region to region.  As of this week, 70% of all baby formula brands were out of stock.  The people faring the worst are in Rhode Island, where 79.3% of all baby formula brands are currently out of stock.  The most popular American brands are almost impossible to find, with imports from places as far away as Europe and Australia being the only ones available.  (If you're lucky enough to find them.)  Too many mothers of infants are now complaining that the government is ignoring their plight.

Fed's Favorite Gauge of Inflation Surges to New 40 Year High.  A key measure of inflation showed prices soaring by more than expected in June.  The personal consumption expenditure price index rose by 6.8 percent compared with 12 months earlier, an acceleration of inflation from the 6.3 percent annual gain in May, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  Economists had expected a slightly lower reading of 6.6 percent.  This is the biggest year-over-year gain since January of 1982.

Russia will withdraw from International Space Station by 2024.  Russia's new space chief, Yuri Borisov, said Tuesday that the space agency Roscosmos plans to create its own space station.  Dimitry Rogozin, Borisov's predecessor, had previously said that Russia would be willing to discuss keeping its astronauts on the ISS, but only if the United States dropped its sanctions against Russia's space industry.

The Editor says...
It's another Biden administration first!  The first hostage situation in space!  Somebody notify the Space Force!  Fortunately, SpaceX (presumably) will pick up the remaining astronauts, when the time comes.  But of course that won't be necessary because Biden will give Russia whatever they want.

New Crowdfunding Craze in Minneapolis:  Police.  There's a new crowdfunding craze in Minneapolis, the city that helped birth the #DefundThePolice movement:  Police officers.  Residents of the City of Lakes are so fed up with rising crime and decreasing police patrols that they're hiring off-duty cops.  The crowdfunding effort is officially sanctioned by the Minneapolis Safety Initiative, created by the city council earlier this year.  The program's "suggested contribution" is $220 per month, per household.  That's a "buyback" (their word) of two hours of additional patrolling each month.  "In aggregate," the Safety Initiative's site claims, "we expect that all neighbors' contributions will purchase 10 hours of additional patrol per day, based on the number of households that we expect to contribute."

If Biden Backs the Blue, why is his team giving a deal to terrorists who attacked the NYPD?  Democrats are wising up to the fact that soaring crime rates, rogue prosecutors and calls to "Defund the Police" are political liabilities.  That's one reason President Joe Biden has been encouraging community leaders to tap federal COVID-relief funds to beef up local policing.  And just last week, his administration announced it will try to boost police funding in next year's budget.  "Other politicians talk about funding the police, but President Biden and Congressional Democrats actually got it done," a White House fact sheet on his plan claimed.  But if Team Biden really does now "Back the Blue," why is it giving a sweetheart deal to two domestic terrorists who pleaded guilty to firebombing a New York City police van and planned to firebomb others?  After all, it's rare for any prosecutor's office to let a violent defendant withdraw a guilty plea and even rarer for the US Department of Justice to do so.

Tucker Carlson targets up a serious, dangerous crisis in American science.  Last week, University College London released a massive study showing that the antidepressants that the majority of adult Americans are guzzling like candy do not treat a chemical imbalance in the brain because depression isn't caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.  This is just the latest in a series of body blows American science has taken in the past few years — and Tucker Carlson lobs some nuclear missiles, in the form of facts, targeting the way in which the pharmaceutical industry and government money have corrupted science, placing Americans at tremendous risk.

The corruption of medical science is surges on.  Three stories this past week clearly illustrate that the field of medical science — based on the philosophy to always seek the truth no matter where it leads — is now teetering on the edge of death, and might already have died.  First we have the revelation that a major 2006 paper on the roots of Alzheimer's disease is likely fraudulent, its results fabricated. [...] This discovery might also explain why there has been a 99% failure rate for all Alzheimer drug trials.  Most of that work was based on [Sylvain] Lesné's work, specifically on his paper that pointed to amyloids.  One wonders how Lesné's image fabrication was not noticed during peer review.  One also wonders why no one ever tried to independently confirm his results, something that used to be a requirement before any new discovery was considered firm.  Instead, his paper was accepted, and the medical field immediately dedicated two decades and hundreds of millions of dollars of research, based on his paper and all worthless.  This lack of scientific rigor smacks strongly of the lust for money, rather the seeking of truth, as the fuel for all this Alzheimers research.

Permanent daylight saving time hits brick wall in House.  More than four months after the Senate unanimously passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent in the U.S., the measure has hit a brick wall in the House.  The main impediments dimming the legislation's chances of passing appear to be fundamental disagreements over its language and a general consensus that other matter[s] take precedence as the House grapples with high inflation, gun massacres and fending off judicial threats on issues such as abortion and marriage equality.

The Editor says...
This is such a simple issue, everybody understands the problem, and the vote to fix the problem would probably take about an hour.  And yet, the do-nothing Congress can't even get this done.

Army to shift $1 billion to recruiting, retention efforts; rely more on reserves as ranks shrink.  The Army will shift about $1 billion to recruiting programs and will rely more heavily on reserve units as its ranks dwindle and the service struggles to attract new soldiers, Army officials said in a memo this week that described a high-stakes "war for talent" that confronts America's armed forces and comes at a crucial moment for national security.  Faced with demographic shifts and a red-hot civilian job market, Army officials said the number of active-duty soldiers is expected to drop considerably over the next several years.  They said the Army's strength will be about 466,000 by the end of the fiscal year.  It could drop to as low as 445,000 by the end of 2023, they said, "barring a significant positive change in the current recruiting environment."

The Editor says...
Here's a "recruiting and retention effort" that won't cost a dime:  Fire the Secretary of Defense and put a man in his place who knows what he's doing.  Knock off the anti-masculine and anti-white indoctrination.  Terminate the Covid vaccine mandates.  Never mention global warming, fuel conservation, or carbon footprints ever again.  Expel all the gender-confused and transvestite weirdo perverts.  In other words, remove all the left-wing disincentives that Obama and Biden put in place.

America's baby formula shame:  Biden's 53 flights of foreign back-up is only enough to feed infants for a week, leaving shelves still bare.  On February 17, Abbott, the largest formula manufacturer in the country, announced an urgent recall for its Similac products amid fears that a harmful bacteria found at its plant in Sturgis, Michigan, had made its way into products.  Not only did it stop the plant from producing formula for weeks, but it also rendered much of the formula that had already been sold inedible.  Suddenly, mothers had to throw out their stockpiles and hunt for more.  In another sector, the result might not have been as catastrophic.  But Abbott produces around 40 percent of all of the baby formula in the US.  And 40 percent of that 40 percent was produced in the shut-down plant — taking a huge chunk out of the market in one fell swoop.

Entire North Carolina police department resigns after new town manager is hired.  An entire police department in North Carolina resigned Friday after the hiring of a new town manager.  Police officers and other officials in the small town of Kenly have submitted mass-resignation letters citing stress, a hostile work environment and an inability to continue the department's long-term betterment projects.  In a letter to Town Manager Justine Jones, Police Chief Josh Gibson expressed regret toward the negative changes he felt were occurring in the department.

Kenly to hold emergency meeting after police force, 2 clerks resign in protest over 'hostile' work environment.  Kenly Police Chief Josh Gibson and all his full-time officers resigned on Wednesday.  The town is left with three part-time officers to run the rest of the department, serving a population of about 2,000.  Kenly's town attorney Chip Hewett told WRAL News that the town would be holding an emergency meeting on Friday night at 7 p.m. to discuss how the town would be handling public safety.  "We just learned about this [Wednesday], it effects the entire police dept and staff members, we are looking at having an emergency special meeting to figure out how to move forward with it," Hewett said.

N.C. Police Chief, Entire PD Quit, Citing New Town Manager.  Kenly, North Carolina, a small town located near Podunk and not far from Hee-Haw, lost its police chief of almost 20 years, plus all five of its full-time cops and two city clerks — in one day.  This after Kenly was already down three officers from its roster.  The tiny town of 2,000 residents is left with three part-time officers and help from the Johnston County Sheriff.  Kenly hired a new town manager, Justine Jones, one month ago.  Rumor has it she is "woke."

Home sales fall, mortgage demand crashes to 22-year low.  If the economy can be likened to a game of musical chairs, it looks like the music is ending for the housing market — fast.  Two big indicators today show that the Federal Reserve's actions to tighten money supply as a brake on inflation has already had a big impact.  Mortgage demand crashed to a 22-year low last week, leaving sellers potentially in a situation where prices may have to fall.

Defense bill directs Pentagon to end costly search for extremism in military ranks.  Senate lawmakers want the military to end a program created after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to eliminate White nationalists and other extremists from its ranks.  The language calling for an end to the effort is contained in a report accompanying the Senate's annual defense policy bill, and it cites a Pentagon analysis showing that the military has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and devoted millions of hours searching for extremism in its service branches, even though it is exceedingly uncommon.  "The committee believes that spending additional time and resources to combat exceptionally rare instances of extremism in the military is an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds, and should be discontinued by the Department of Defense immediately," senators advised in the report.

The Non-Crisis Nitrogen "Crisis" In The Netherlands.  On the Fourth of July, a group of angry Dutch farmers and fishermen, presumably dressed as colorful Frisians, and in the grip of angry exuberance, burnt bales of hay on roads, and blocked up highways with tractors and farm equipment, shutting down traffic throughout the country.  Ports and borders were stopped up. [...] This was all in protest of the government's declaration that nitrogen is a "crisis", and so threatening to confiscate farms to "solve" the "crisis."  Prediction:  Later, it will be said to be a coincidence when the government eventually disposes of the confiscated farms by selling them to rich people.

Baby formula shortage getting worse despite Biden airlifts.  The ongoing shortage of baby formula across the United States has become more acute in recent weeks, despite the Biden administration flying in millions of bottles worth of formula from across the world over the past two months.  According to the market research firm IRI, 28.3% of powdered baby formula products were out of stock at US stores for the week ending July 10 — a higher percentage than the 23.7% reported out of stock for the week ending May 22, when the shortage dominated headlines.  The most recent availability figure was a slight improvement from the previous week, when the out-of-stock percentage stood at 29.5%, the highest figure so far this year.  By contrast, the normal out-of-stock range prior to the COVID-19 pandemic hovered between 5% and 7%.

WSJ: The baby-formula shortage is getting ... worse?  A White House website didn't solve it.  Airlift flights from Europe didn't fix it.  Nine months after the New York Times first reported the shortages and three months after Joe Biden acknowledged he finally learned of it, retail inventory of baby formula dropped to its lowest level in July, the Wall Street Journal reports this morning: [...] What about Joe Biden's touted airlifts of supply from Europe?  That may have helped take the edge off, but that's all.  The amount transported covers less than a week of US consumption.

Ex-CIA engineer convicted in massive theft of secret info.  A former CIA software engineer was convicted on Wednesday of federal charges accusing him of causing the biggest theft of classified information in CIA history.  Joshua Schulte, who chose to defend himself at a New York City retrial, had told jurors in closing arguments that the CIA and FBI made him a scapegoat for an embarrassing public release of a trove of CIA secrets by WikiLeaks in 2017.  Schulte watched without visibly reacting as U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman announced the guilty verdict on nine counts, which was reached in mid-afternoon by a jury that has deliberated since Friday.

Why Is NYC Suddenly Putting Out PSAs About What To Do In Case Of A Nuclear Attack?  If a nuclear blast befalls the Big Apple, New Yorkers should immediately seek shelter indoors and stay put.  That's according to a new public service announcement the city released Monday outlining the three key steps New Yorkers should take in case Gotham gets nuked, either by a foreign power or a terrorist with a "dirty bomb":  [Video clip]

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees the country.  Sri Lanka's embattled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has flown out of the country, heading to the neighbouring Maldives, according to local officials.  The 73-year-old leader, his wife and a bodyguard were among four passengers on board an Antonov-32 Sri Lankan military aircraft which took off from Colombo's international airport on Tuesday, immigration officials told Agence France-Presse.  "Their passports were stamped and they boarded the special air force flight," an immigration official involved in the process said.  There was no immediate confirmation Rajapaksa had reached the Maldives.

Church of England refuses to define the word 'woman'.  The Church of England refused to offer up a definition of a woman, arguing that recent developments required "additional care" when attempting to define the word.  "There is no official definition, which reflects the fact that until fairly recently definitions of this kind were thought to be self-evident, as reflected in the marriage liturgy," Senior Bishop Rt Rev Robert Innes said when asked to define the word, according to reporting from GB News.  Innes' remarks came in response to a question posed by lay member Adam Kendry during the General Synod, who asked:  "What is the Church of England's definition of a woman?"  The Bishop argued that the definition of a woman used to be "self-evident" but no longer had a simple answer.

Texas Authorities Urgently Beg Residents to Turn Off Air Conditioning Because There is No Wind to Power the Windmills.  Amid a heatwave throughout most of Texas, The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, is urgently asking Texas residents to conserve electricity because "it has projected a shortage in energy reserves Monday [7/11/2022] "with no market solution available."  Voluntary conservation is needed between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday."

The Editor says...
The article goes on to give the reason for the potential outages, including "record high electric demand."  Here's a news bulletin for ERCOT:  There will be "record high electric demand" again next summer, and the summer after that, because thousands of people are moving to Texas from California, Mexico, and elsewhere.  Get a clue, ERCOT:  Coal is abundant and cheap.  Natural gas is almost limitless.  But wind is sporadic at best.  If my power goes off one more time, I'm gonna buy a gas-guzzling generator and triple my "carbon footprint."

Update:
Since I made that rash pronouncement, my power has failed twice:  Once for about three hours and again last Sunday [9/4/2022] for 15½ hours.  The record outage at my house is 17 hours.  Last Sunday night I was killing time by walking around the block, and got into a conversation with some people who live nearby, whose power was also out, and we all admitted that we constantly talk about getting a generator but we never do it.

The swamp doesn't drain itself, but sometimes it leaks.
Over 300 Virginia state employees resign in wake of Gov. Youngkin's telework policy.  More than 300 employees from five state agencies have resigned since Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Virginia's new telework policy in early May, according to records obtained by 8News.  This includes 183 Virginia Department of Transportation employees, 28 of whom cited "telework options" as the reason for leaving.  Two VDOT workers who listed telework as the reason did move to another state agency, records obtained by 8News after filing a Freedom of Information Act request show.  On May 5, Youngkin updated the state's telework policy for all state employees to begin working in-person full-time by July 5, a change the governor's office stressed would provide "options for and supports the use of telework where appropriate."

DeSantis Effect:  At $21.8 billion, Florida records highest surplus in state history.  The state of Florida saw a surplus of $21.8 billion for the 2022 fiscal year, the highest in state history and more than 21% higher than the state's spending plan, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.  Tax collections in May were $742 million above estimates; preliminary data for June is approximately $950 million above estimates.  "Despite the headwinds created by the Biden administration's policies, Florida is in a strong fiscal position because we preserved freedom and kept our economy open," DeSantis said.  "Our responsible policies have allowed us to make record investments to support our communities, promote education, protect the environment, and provide record tax relief for Floridians, all while building record reserves to protect the state against the reckless fiscal policies from Washington."

Furious Dutch Farmers Spraying Are Fighting The Globalists With Both Barrels And We Should Be Cheering Them.  New farmers' protests have erupted across the Netherlands, despite police warnings not to break the law, following the first demonstration against the government's plan to curb nitrogen emissions on June 22.  Farmers have been protesting the government's plans to reduce the size of the agricultural sectors to comply with European conservation laws.  Farmers are furious as the words of the minister echo "some farmers will have to give up their businesses."  [Video clip]

Dutch farmers are fed up with totalitarianism rebranded as 'climate change'.  The "climate change" agenda is a global, existential threat to prosperity and freedom from tyranny.  Nowhere else is that more apparent right now than in the small European country of the Netherlands.  Under the tutelage of Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte became a "golden pin-up boy" for the Agenda 2030 cause. [...] In practice, the government's plans could mandate farmers to use less fertilizer and cull their livestock herds.  In response, farmers are resisting en masse — blocking supermarkets, distribution centers, and key infrastructure. [...] Global issues regarding the supply chain and food shortages have only worsened with the political turmoil and dissent, and supermarket shelves across the Netherlands are completely bare.

Netherlands Police Open Fire at Farmers Protesting Globalist 'Climate Change' Restrictions.  Police in the Netherlands opened fire at farmers protesting against the government's radical new "climate change" policies.  The shots were fired when a tractor convoy tried to push past a police barricade, the local news reports say.  "The incident occurred late Tuesday evening on a freeway access near Heerenveen" in northern Holland, the Swiss newspaper Schweizer Bauer reported.  "Farmers had blocked the road with tractors.  As they approached police and their vehicles, the officers resorted to their firearms and hit at least one of the tractors," the daily added, citing police sources.  No one was hurt in the incident, news reports confirm.

Netherlands: Farmers Brawl With Police After Gov Shuts Down 30% Of Farms Over Climate Change.  Dutch authorities on Wednesday [7/6/2022] said an official investigation has been opened into the events of a heated night of farmers' protests in the north of the Netherlands.  Farmers have been demonstrating against a government proposal to slash emissions of pollutants.  The protests turned into unrest as they blocked roads and supermarket distribution centers for several days.  Police say they fired warning shots late on Tuesday and arrested several people after protesting farmers started driving their tractors toward officers at a highway entry lane in Friesland.  [Video clip]

Dutch Secret Police Caught Pretending to Be Farmers, Flee to Nearby Police Van as Farmers Chase.  The government in the Netherlands is taking a playbook directly from Canada.  Keep in mind that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte are two top-tier government influencers of the World Economic Forum, Davos crowd.  Trudeau and Rutte have a close and personal relationship, so it doesn't come as a surprise to see the Dutch government trying to stop farmer protests following the same approach as the Canadian government toward the trucker protests.  In a short video resurfacing today, the farmers caught Dutch police units disguising themselves as farmers and infiltrating the protest.  According to independent journalists who were recording the events, the plain clothes units were agitating for violence, a tactic to initiate a heavy-handed government response.  When the Dutch people realized they were police the undercover 'Agent Provocateurs' pulled batons to protect themselves and desperately retreated to a nearby police van.

Woke employee who refused to work while 'mourning' Roe v. Wade fired.  A woke Universal Music Group worker claims he was fired for "speaking up" about abortion rights — after he admitted he refused to work because he was in "mourning" over the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.  Michael Lopez, a production coordinator at Universal Music Enterprises, blasted the company as "anti-gay" for terminating a "queer brown person" during Pride Month for "speaking up in defense of abortion rights," according to a lengthy note on LinkedIn that went viral last week.  "Last Friday, like countless other folks, I was devastated by the news of the supreme court's [sic] attack on abortion rights," Lopez wrote.  "Paired with the flood of anti-queer and anti-trans legislation, it's been hard to process how company's [sic] expect us to be productive while our rights are being stripped away."

Finally! A whiny woke employee got fired for whiny wokeness.  Michael Lopez worked for a huge subdivision of an even bigger multinational entertainment corporation, the place that most of us imagine as a hotbed of woke virtue signaling.  Certainly, Lopez thought that when he took a snowflake's stand about the Dobbs decision, only to find his employer slapping him down like a mosquito on the wall.  It's just one person but it's another small sign that the corporate world's love affair with its bullying woke employees is finally ending. [...] Lopez works for an entertainment company that is presumptively going to lean left, because they all do, and his place of work is in Santa Monica, California, one of the hardest left cities in a hard-left county, in a hard-left state.  This should be a perfect paradise for woke views and snowflake behavior.  And yet, as Lopez explains, when his exquisite woke sensitivities made it impossible for him to work after the Dobbs decision, his employer was not at all sympathetic but, instead, fired him.

The Establishment Is Running Out of Cannon Fodder for Its Woke Military.  [Scroll down]  You do have an obligation to serve your country in some way, the military being the highest and best way for those who are able.  But you do not have an obligation to do so if your life is going to be squandered by a leadership whose strategies are a disaster, whose priorities are not the defense of this country but some sort of bizarre pan-global progressive ideology, and who will use you as a guinea pig in freakish and morally bankrupt social experiments, all while failing to fulfill even the most basic obligations of the leaders to the led.  Our military today is failing to meet its recruiting goals because it has failed to earn the trust of normal Americans who would otherwise be inclined to raise their hands.

Joe Biden Blames Russia for Upcoming Global Food Shortage.  I hope people can see the natural arc of this self-fulfilling prophecy now.  This also is why you should make sure you have potassium iodide tablets in your prep kit.  During a NATO press conference in Madrid, today Joe Biden specifically attributed the upcoming global food shortage to Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Biden was emphatic when responding to a question about oil costs, western nation energy development and the pending food shortage.

U.S. and Canada Tell G7 That Climate Change Policy is More Important Than Feeding People.  Say what you will about Boris Johnson, but he does proffer pragmatic solutions to problems.  With a pending global food shortage only looking worse by the day British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has proposed to use biofuel farmland to grow food that can be consumed by people.  German Chancellor Olaf Schulz is also supporting the plan.  However, Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau have denounced the effort to expand food production in the U.S. and Canada and blocked the framework from G7 policy.

Dutch farmers protest climate regulations on livestock amid looming global food crisis.  Furious Dutch farmers brought cows to The Hague and threatened to slaughter the animals on Tuesday in protest of the Netherlands' $26 billion climate plan that could reduce the livestock population by 30%.  The Netherlands, one of Europe's top greenhouse gas emitters, is planning on halving its nitrogen output by 2030, Bloomberg reported.  The government plan would shutter some farms, as much of the nitrogen is blamed on manure and fertilizer from cattle.  [Tweet]  Hundreds of farmers protested with two cows.  "If the nitrogen measures are adopted, one of these two ladies will not go home, but will receive a one-way ticket to the slaughterhouse," farmer Koos Cromwijk said in front of Parliament, according to Dutch outlet ANP.

US Emergency Oil Reserves Tumble To Record Low 27 Days Worth Of Supply.  As we detailed earlier in the week, the latest weekly release has pushed the SPR below the 500 million barrels mark for the first time since 1986.  [Chart]  And as the chart above shows, the plummeting SPR is not having the impact on prices that President Biden hoped (which explains why he is blaming everyone and everything else for the rise in gas prices — as it becomes clear it's a refining capacity issue as much as anything else).

U.S. emergency oil reserve [has decreased] by 6.9 [million] barrels to [its] lowest since 1986.  U.S. crude inventory in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell by 6.9 million barrels in the week to June 24, according to data from the Department of Energy.  Stockpiles in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell to 497.9 million barrels, the lowest since April 1986, according to the data.  About 1 million barrels of sweet crude and 6 million barrels of sour crude were released in to the market.

'Americans made it clear in 1776 they don't want members of British Royal Family making decisions for them'
Republicans slam Meghan Markle for wading into politics.  Meghan Markle is facing backlash after she spoke out about the recent overturning of Roe v Wade in the US and hinted she would travel to Washington D.C. to demonstrate.  Republicans have slammed the Duchess of Sussex for attempting to 'insert drama' into American politics after she gave an interview to Vogue alongside Gloria Steinem and urged US citizens to vote in the November midterms.  Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) said: 'This is just another attempt from the ex-royals to insert their British drama in American politics.

U.S. Army Drops High School Diploma Requirement As It Struggles To Find New Recruits.  The United States Army has dropped its requirement that recruits must have a high school diploma or a G.E.D. degree in an apparent attempt to increase the number of troops.  On Thursday, the Army announced the changes.  Recruits must be 18 years old and eligible for a job in other areas of active duty and they also must score at least a 50 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) to test their academic ability, according to Military.com.  The military outlet also noted, "The Army and its sister services have scrambled this year, offering increasingly generous benefits and policy tweaks in an effort to improve recruiting numbers.  The Army has hit 40% of its recruiting goals this year, with the struggle to fill the ranks seemingly so grim the Defense Department reduced its planned total force size because prior recruiting goals were out of reach."

US Army Jettisons GED Requirement Amid an Ever-Woker Defense Department's Desperation.  Military.com reports that the U.S. Army is dropping its requirement for enlistees to possess either a high school diploma or GED certificate. [...] It seems to me there's a national contingent working against Americans joining the military.  As you know, any position is a potentially deadly job.  Yet a portion of the people appears intent upon spreading the word that our country is cancerous.  And "Die for a Planetary Disease" doesn't appear a superior sales pitch.  Oddly, the woke have infiltrated the Armed Forces.  At West Point, they're teaching Critical Race Theory. [...] And despite the woke message that America's not worth fighting for, wokesters are the ones the Defense Department evidently aims to attract.

Container Of Chlorine Gas Is Dropped At Jordanian Port, Causing Massive Deadly Cloud Which Kills 12 And Injures Over 250.  At least 12 people died and 251 were injured in a chlorine gas leak from a storage tank at Jordan's Aqaba port, officials and state media reported on Monday [6/27/2022].  The leak came after a tank filled with 25 tonnes of chlorine gas being exported to Djibouti fell while being transported, officials said.  A video posted on state television's Twitter page showed a storage tank falling from a winch and slamming into the deck of a ship, followed by yellow-colored gas rising into the air as people ran away.  [Video clip]

Prince Charles Took Bags Stuffed With Millions In Cash From Arab Sheikh:  Report.  Prince Charles took bags stuffed with millions in cash from a controversial Arab sheikh to fund his charity and private estate, according to a bombshell report by The Sunday Times.  The heir to the British throne took the money in suitcases, shopping bags, and a duffle bag between 2011 and 2015 from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar according to the report.  The money was reportedly handed over in secret meetings at Prince Charles' official London residence, Clarence House.  "Everyone felt very uncomfortable about the situation," a former adviser to Prince Charles told the newspaper.  "The only thing we could do was to count the money and make a mutual record of what we'd done.  And then call the bank."

Uganda Claims to Discover 31 Million Tons of Gold Ore.  The debate over gold and Bitcoin usually centers around the scarcity of the two assets.  Bitcoin has a capped supply of 21 million coins, while gold's supply is determined by the amount of minerals in the earth's core.  However, the argument on the scarcity of gold has been weakened after Uganda announced that it had discovered 31 million metric tons of gold waiting to be mined in the area.  A spokesperson from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in Uganda, Solomon Muyita, said that there was an estimated 320,158 metric tonnes of refined gold in the country after several surveys were conducted.  These reports from Uganda are aimed at attracting gold miners and investors in the crypto sector.

The Editor says...
I sure wish a random telemarketer would call me and give me a chance to get in on the ground floor of the new Uganda gold mine.

Pro-Abortion Activist Climbs 1,400-Foot Bridge To Get 'Closer To God'.  A pro-abortion protester who was arrested earlier this month and had his charges dropped after he chained himself to a fence outside the Supreme Court building took his antics to another level Friday following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade.  Guido Reichstadter climbed atop of the 1,445-foot Frederick Douglas Bridge in Washington, D.C., Thursday morning and has stayed on top of the bridge for at least seven hours.  The bridge has since [been] shut down as law enforcement officers gathered below him.

The Editor says...
The bridge did not shut itself down.  The bridge was shut down.  Words matter.  Use them correctly.

Sri Lankan prime minister says that the nation's economy has collapsed.  Sri Lanka's debt-laden economy has "collapsed" after months of shortages of food, fuel and electricity, the prime minister told lawmakers Wednesday in comments that underscored the country's dire situation as it seeks help from international lenders.  Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament the South Asian nation faces "a far more serious situation" than the shortages alone, and he warned of "a possible fall to rock bottom."  "Our economy has completely collapsed," he said.

Attorney General Intervenes After Bill Gates Buys A Massive Amount Of Farmland In North Dakota.  The office of the Attorney General of North Dakota sent a letter Tuesday asking Red River Trust, a group with ties to billionaire Bill Gates, to prove the company's use of the land does not violate the state's Corporate Farming Laws.  The trust had acquired six parcels of land in Pembina County.  "I've gotten a big earful on this from clear across the state, it's not even from that neighborhood," Agricultural Commissioner Doug Goehring, according to Valley News Live.  "Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this."  The letter stipulated that under North Dakota law, there are "certain limitations on the ability of trusts to own farmland or ranchland."

Operation Fly Formula flops as White House intervention fails to fill store shelves.  A month after President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to import emergency supplies of infant formula, store shelves are still half empty and brands shipped on U.S. military planes from other countries are not yet helping many families struggling to find critical specialty brands.  The U.S. government began importing infant formula from Switzerland, the United Kingdom and elsewhere one month ago.  It launched Operation Fly Formula to address a shortage that was triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, a major formula recall and a decision by the FDA to shutter one of the nation's top formula-producing plants for several months citing health violations.  Despite government intervention, many families with infants are still desperately searching for their next formula can.  They have had to rely on social media groups to learn when store shelves are restocked or to buy from people who are selling or trading a can or two.

Bank of America Slashes U.S. Growth Forecasts for 2022 and 2023: 'Weak or Worse'.  Bank of America economists slashed their forecasts for U.S. growth for this year and next to reflect ongoing inflation, Fed tightening, lockdowns in China, and the Russia-Ukraine war.  In a report Friday, the bank's economists said they now expect the economy to grow 2.3 percent this year and 1.4 percent next year, down from the forecast of four percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2023 that the bank issued in its year-ahead report in November.

Walmart pulls MyPillow products from stores.  America's largest retailer has canceled Mike Lindell, to the tune of $10 million.  Walmart confirmed Thursday that it had pulled from its stores MyPillow products, a day after Mr. Lindell said his bedware was being pulled.  "While we are no longer carrying them in stores, MyPillow products continue to be available on Walmart.com," a company spokesperson told The Hill.

A Permanent Shortage of Everything.  First it was baby formula, now there's a tampon shortage.  Tampon prices are up 10% due to the rising price of oil affecting the cost of plastic and higher cotton prices due to mask manufacturing and the war in Ukraine.  A whole lot of fertilizer comes out of Ukraine and Russia.  So does neon which is used to make semiconductor chips.  The chip shortage is shutting down car plants.  This is the thoroughly interconnected world celebrated in prose by journalists like Thomas Friedman who marveled at how Big Data and globalization brought everything together.

This is why money laundering is important:
Sheriff warns against picking up folded dollars because they might contain fentanyl.  Authorities in Tennessee are warning people against picking up folded dollar bills found on the ground because they might contain fentanyl.  According to the Perry County Sheriff's Office, a folded dollar bill was found on the floor in a gas station on two separate occasions.  Each time, a white powder was found inside that tested positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl.  "This is very dangerous, folks!  Please share and educate your children to not pick up the money," a post on the sheriff's office's Facebook page says.

Stock market's fall has wiped out $3 trillion in retirement savings this year.  The U.S. stock market rout that has put U.S. equities in a bear market isn't just reducing the net worth of billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.  It's also taking a toll on Americans' retirement savings, wiping out trillions of dollars in value.  The selloff has erased nearly $3 trillion from U.S. retirement accounts, according to Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.  By her calculations, 401(k) plan participants have lost about $1.4 trillion from their accounts since the end of 2021.  People with IRAs — most of which are 401(k) rollovers — have lost $2 trillion this year.

Police Shoot and Kill Gunman at Texas Summer Camp Who Fired into Locked Classroom with Kids Inside.  Police in Duncanville, Texas responded rapidly to 911 calls of an armed man and shots fired at the Duncanville Fieldhouse summer camp Monday morning, shooting and killing the man in an exchange of gunfire in the gymnasium.  No children, staff or police were injured even though the gunman is reported to have fired at least one shot into a locked classroom that he tried and failed to gain entry.  About 150 children are reported to be attending the camp.

House Republicans Introduce Bill That Would Kill The No-Fly Zones Over Disneyland, Disney World.  Republican Texas Rep. Troy Nehls introduced legislation Monday [6/13/2022] that would direct the Secretary of Transportation to rescind the two no-fly zones over Disneyland and Disney World.  The Daily Caller first obtained the legislation titled the Airlines Independent of Restrictions Act (AIR) Act, which calls on Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg to remove the Notices to Airmen (NOTAM's) over Disneyland and Disney World.  The bill has five cosponsors.  In early May, Nehls also sent a letter to Buttigieg, with his office telling the Caller that Disney is "the only theme park that benefits from the restriction for the commercial gains of eliminating banner ads and disruptive aircrafts from their parks."  In 2003, Congress passed acts that created flight restrictions in the airspace over Disney resorts in Florida and California.

Foreign Investments in U.S. Farmlands Skyrocket, Raising National Security Concerns.  eporters from a non-profit investigative journalism organization have discovered that, over the last ten years, foreign investments in American farmlands have tripled.  Just The News reports that the group Investigate Midwest came to this conclusion by analyzing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This trend can present a number of national security threats, according to Farm Action co-founder Joe Maxwell.  "The real question is, who do the people of the United States want to be their farmer?" Maxwell asked.  "Do they want Saudi Arabia, Canada, China, other countries to be their farmer?  Do they want Bayer or Cargill or other large corporations to be their farmer?"

Caterpillar to move headquarters to Texas from Illinois, another blow to the Chicago area.  The move is "in the best strategic interest of the company," Chief Executive Jim Umpleby said in a statement.  The heavy-machinery maker has had a presence in Texas since the 1960s, it said.  Even with the move, Illinois has the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees anywhere in the world, the company said.  The headquarters was historically in downstate Peoria, Ill., before a move to the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, in 2017.  Caterpillar said it will begin the relocation this year, without proving [sic] further details.

The Editor says...
The Caterpillar site in Irving is in a great location:  Just a few miles from DFW Airport, at a big highway intersection that's sure to be really nice if the construction ever stops, and it's often downwind from the Frito Factory on Loop 12.

As We Always Suspected:  Law Enforcement Admits They Have Informants Inside Patriot Front Group.  On Saturday 31 members of the Patriot Front group, an alleged white supremacist group, were arrested in Idaho on the way to a protest.  They were traveling to a gay pride event with shields in the back of a Uhaul. [...] Following the arrests today a local police officer admitted that they knew about the planned protests because the Patriot Front was infiltrated by law enforcement.  [Tweet]  For the record, has law enforcement ever arrested BLM or Antifa radicals before one of their deadly and violent planned operations?  Since the Patriot front group first appeared, The Gateway Pundit always suspected they had links to the feds.  We were convinced they were infiltrated by the federal agents.

Police Officer Finally Admits That Patriot Front Was Infiltrated By 'Several' Law Enforcement Members And That They Were Working With The Feds.  Authorities arrested 31 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front near an Idaho Pride event Saturday [6/11/2022] after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear.  The men were standing inside the truck wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and beige hats with white balaclavas covering their faces when Coeur d'Alene police stopped the U-Haul and began arresting them on the side of the road.  "They came to riot downtown," Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White said at a news conference.  All 31 were charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, White said.  The men were going through the booking process Saturday afternoon and are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, he said.

Taxpayer-funded research projects didn't check for scientists taking money from China:  IG.  Federal internal investigators have uncovered alarming failures by universities to require scientists doing taxpayer-funded research to disclose when they also pocket money from China and other foreign countries.  The Health and Human Services Department inspector general said the failure to enforce disclosure rules exposes critical biomedical research to theft by China.  Joanna Bisgaier, deputy regional inspector general who worked on the report, said the widespread disregard for government rules was unanticipated and she did not know if it was attributable to grantees' ignorance, recklessness or malice.

Confirmed: USDA Pressured States to Discard Thousands of Cans of Baby Formula.  As an infant formula shortage rages across America, it was recently revealed that in the last seven months, one state alone destroyed 16,549 containers of formula while blindly following federal guidelines that the feds now say were just advice.  When Georgia's policy hit the news, a wave of finger-pointing erupted between the state and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, followed by a change in policy.  At issue is a USDA policy that when unopened, unexpired containers of formula given out through the Women, Infants & Children program are returned, they are to be destroyed.  The grounds for the policy is that poor storage could mean what's inside might not be appropriate to give to a baby.

FBI arrests GOP Michigan gubernatorial frontrunner for participating in the insurrection.  A curtain-raiser for tonight's January 6 committee hearing, reminding us why Liz Cheney can't just "move on."  She can't move on because the party won't move on from trying to subvert elections.  If anything, with 2020 truthers on the ballot in swing states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan, the threat is only building.  The next time Trump tries to overturn an election, it won't be via a mob beating cops with flagpoles.  It'll be done "legally," courtesy of authoritarians elected at the state level.  Ryan Kelley is aiming to fill that role in Michigan.  He's leading the race for the Republican nomination for governor there although his "frontrunner" status comes with an asterisk.  It's based on one poll, in which he notched a measly 19 percent.  Why is the field so unsettled, you may ask?  It's because five Republican candidates, including former Detroit police chief James Craig and businessman Perry Johnson, were disqualified after it turned out that too many of the signatures on their petitions to enter the race were fraudulent.  That left the primary in chaos, with Kelley the main beneficiary for the moment.

Why was Abbott Labs Shut Down?  Alexa Beichler, a mother of three boys under five in Leesburg, VA, is among the many "faces" of the national infant formula shortage.  Two of her boys have classic phenylketonuria (PKU), in which they cannot process an amino acid found in protein.  This means they require — for life — the very formula Abbott Labs was making in Sturgis, MI, the plant the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shut down leading to the current crisis.  According to Beichler, the Biden administration's "Operation Fly Formula" did not have the right kind of formula for her sons' needs.  Fox reported:  "Beichler spoke to Virginia Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-10th District) about the problem but wasn't given a solution."  "If she can't get any answers, and I can't get any answers, then who has the answers?"  Well, the answers to how this started are within the FDA and its inconsistency in infant formula inspections.

This week, HIV is okay.  Next week, Monkeypox!
Pentagon May Allow HIV-Positive Recruits, After Mass Firing of Unvaccinated.  On Wednesday, he Department of Defense (DOD) announced recently that it had updated its guidelines regarding the recruitment of potentially HIV-positive individuals, now opening the door to letting people with the deadly disease serve in the military.  As reported by the Daily Caller, the DOD said that any members who test positive for the virus may continue to serve so long as they do not display any clear symptoms, according to a department memo that was recently made public.  "Individuals who have been identified as HIV-positive, are asymptomatic, and who have a clinically confirmed undetectable viral load... will have no restrictions applied to their deployability or to their ability to commission while a service member solely on the basis of their HIV-positive status," the memo reads in part.  "Nor will such individuals be discharged or separated solely on the basis of their HIV-positive status."

West Virginia Notifies Six Banks They May Be Breaking State's Fossil Fuel Anti-Boycott Law.  Six banks have been warned by the West Virginia State Treasury that they may be in violation of a new law preventing the state from doing business with financial institutions boycotting energy companies.  The office told The Epoch Times it had sent out letters on June 10, but did not share the banks' names on the record.  Enacted in March 2022, S. 262 directs the state to notify financial institutions that they are slated for placement on the restricted financial institution list 45 days before the document is published.  Those institutions must respond within 30 days of receiving those notification letters to avoid winding up on the list.  In June 2021, Texas passed a similar law barring state agencies from investing in funds boycotting energy companies.

All cancer patients test free of disease after going through 'compelling' new immunotherapy treatment.  The results of a drug trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 18 rectal cancer patients are now completely free of the disease.  The handful of patients were part of a study conducted at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in Manhattan and resulted in a success rate of 100 percent.  Each patient was under the age of 50.  "I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer," Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr, the author of the paper, told The New York Times.

Every single patient in a recent study was cured of cancer after trying a new drug.  Modern medicine has cured a great many things that have (literally) plagued humanity for countless centuries.  Yet cancer has been among the more stubborn medical holdouts, with most forms of it resisting cures to varying degrees.  So this news here is, well, kind of a big deal.

Buying Out the American Dream.  In the first quarter of 2021, one in every seven home purchases was made by an institutional investor (asset managers, pension funds, foreign sovereign wealth funds).  Among other things, this prices perspective middle-class homeowners out of the marketplace.  HousingWire reported that investor purchases of single-family homes in 2021 rose 4.8% year over year in the first quarter, while investors maintained the largest market share in the multifamily sector by buying 25.8% of multifamily properties that sold.  Investors acquired the largest share of lower-priced homes (20.8%), compared to 12.5% of high-priced homes and 11.3% of mid-priced homes.  These investors typically pay in cash and often 50% above the asking price, while devouring entire neighborhoods by transforming them from middle-class homes into rental properties.

Biden announces FIFTH baby formula flight:  White House reveals latest shipment will come from Germany.  President Joe Biden on Monday [6/6/2022] announced a fifth flight from Operation Fly Formula, which will bring infant formula from Germany to the United States.  The flight will transport Nestlé infant formulas from Cologne, Germany, to Fort Worth, Texas, arriving stateside on June 9.  The delivery will include 110,000 pounds of Nestlé NAN SupremePro Stage 1 infant formula, approximately 1.6 million 8-ounce bottles.

Electric rates in Texas have surged over 70% as summer kicks in.  There's no escaping rising oil prices.  They've driven up the cost of gasoline, and the higher expense registers every time people fill up the tank.  The price of natural gas has increased even more than crude oil, but many consumers may not have noticed.  They will soon enough — in higher electric bills.  How much higher?  Over 70% higher than a year ago for residential customers in Texas' competitive market, according to the latest rate plans offered on the state's Power to Choose website.  This month, the average residential rate listed on the site was 18.48 cents per kilowatt hour.  That's up from 10.5 cents in June 2021, according to data provided by the Association of Electric Companies of Texas.  It also appears to be the highest average rate since Texas deregulated electricity over two decades ago.

Jets are scrambled after light aircraft veers into airspace over president's Delaware beach home.  Joe Biden was evacuated to a fire station and two military jets were scrambled after a light aircraft veered into airspace over the president's Delaware beach house.  The 79-year-old and his wife Jill were rushed from the home to the secure location in Rehoboth following the breach on Saturday afternoon.  The plane was immediately escorted from the restricted airspace.  Preliminary investigation revealed the small private plane entered the restricted airspace 'by mistake' and there was 'no threat to the President or his family,' a Secret Service spokesperson confirmed.

The Editor says...
[#1] This sounds like an incident contrived (by the White House or the press) to make the president look like a victim.  If somebody was going to attack the president, the three-letter intelligence agencies would have known all about it beforehand ... right?  [#2] The government wants to put a remote "kill switch" in every new car.  Why not airplanes?  Why hasn't the FAA implemented geo-fencing around sensitive areas?  At least then the president's guards would know if they were under attack or if the plane was just harmlessly out of bounds.

The day after this non-event, the press is still bubbling about it.
Biden spotted at Delaware beach after security scare.  Shortly after the president and first lady Jill Biden were taken to a safe house after a private plane violated the air space around the home they own in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Saturday, he was spotted at a nearby beach in shorts.  The photo of the president, wearing a ball cap and carrying a couple of tote bags through the sand around 3 p.m., was obtained by Fox News.  A couple of hours earlier, the president was rushed to a fire station by the Secret Service after the plane was detected.

Pizza Hut restaurant chain sparks outrage and national boycott.  Pizza Hut is facing calls for a boycott after it promoted a children's book that featured a little boy who dresses in drag.  The pizza chain has been running a children's reading scheme called Book It since 1984 where kids are awarded certificates from their school for completing books, which can be cashed in for a free pizza.  Dozens of books are added to the list on a regular basis, but its latest addition has sparked fury.

Feds to probe FDA's inspection of baby formula lab that was forced to close.  The federal government will review whether the Food and Drug Administration properly inspected the Abbott Laboratories baby formula plant in Michigan whose closure over unsanitary conditions caused a nationwide shortage that left the Biden administration unprepared.  The Department of Health and Human Services inspector general's office will conduct the review that is expected to conclude sometime next year, the agency said in a statement Thursday.  "We will review FDA's actions leading up to the infant formula recall at the Abbott facility in February 2022 to determine whether FDA followed applicable policies and procedures to:  (1) conduct inspections of the manufacturing facility and (2) oversee Abbott's initiation of the infant formula recall," HHS said.

DeSantis praises Israel's decision to move airline headquarters from NYC to the free state of Florida.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is thrilled over Israel deciding to relocate El Al Airlines' headquarters from the leftist Big Apple to sunny South Florida in a big win for business, jobs, and tourism in his state.  "Israel's decision to move El Al airlines from New York City to South Florida is the latest example of Florida's leadership in business expansion and international travel," the Republican governor tweeted.  "We are proud to be the hub for international tourism."

Congressman: Baby formula stocked at border for migrants 'like a Costco'.  On a trip to visit the United States-Mexico border this week, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) said he saw well-stocked warehouses with a variety of supplies including baby formula.  The facility for unaccompanied minors and families in Donna, Texas is stocked high "like a Costco" with baby formula, Carter said in a Thursday interview with Fox News.  While the border patrol facilities for migrants are well-stocked, Texas is one of the states worst-affected by the baby formula shortage, according to data from the market research group IRI.  The congressman said he and his colleagues were specifically on the lookout for formula at the border facilities.

America's Dependence On China For Medicine Gives The CCP Massive Leverage.  In their 2018 book, "China Rx:  Exposing the Risks of America's Dependence on China for Medicine," Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Prasad Singh painted a profoundly ominous picture of a world that had changed over the preceding 25 years.  No longer did the United States, Europe and Japan supply 90% of "the key ingredients for the world's medicines and vitamins."  Instead, "China is the largest global supplier of the active ingredients and chemical building blocks needed to make many prescription drugs, over-the-counter products, and vitamins," they wrote.

[The] Baby formula shortage [is] not a problem in Mexico, parents say.  Baby formula can be easily found south of the U.S. despite the shortage, parents in a Mexican border town told Fox News.  "Well, right now, when I got the formula, I've seen two, three people getting formula from the other side," Jorge, of Tijuana, said.  "They have it everywhere at the pharmacies, any store."  As the United States deals with a baby formula shortage due to a recall and pandemic-related supply chain issues, some Americans told Fox News they're purchasing baby formula from Mexico.

Bush Dynasty Rejected by Republican Voters in Nearly All 254 Texas Counties.  Attorney General primary candidate George P. Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and the nephew of former President George W. Bush (R), was rejected by Republican voters in all but five of Texas's 254 counties.  On Tuesday, 68 percent of Republicans voted to re-elect Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has been a fierce opponent of illegal immigration and the monopolistic business practices of giant tech corporations. [...] The only counties Bush won were Loving County, where fewer than 10 residents voted; Sterling County, where about 50 residents voted; Kenedy County, where about 6 residents voted; Starr County, where about 200 residents voted; and Travis County — home to the left-wing city of Austin.

The Editor says...
Loving County has fewer residents than any other Texas county.  Kenedy County isn't far behind.

Salvation Army withdraws guide that asks white supporters to apologize for their race.  The Salvation Army has withdrawn its controversial "Let's Talk About ... Racism" guide following criticism and donor backlash over the text that asked white supporters of the charity group to deliver "sincere" apologies for their race and the past sins of the Church.  As a result of some of the guide's more extreme positions becoming public, donors and supporters across the country have been rescinding their support of the organization.  In a statement titled "The Salvation Army's Response to False Claims on the Topic of Racism," the 156-year-old organization denies that the purpose of the guide or subsequent discussions revolving around the guide were meant to tell anyone "how to think."  However, the group has also opted to withdraw the guide for "appropriate review."  The group is perhaps best known for collecting coins and paper money in red kettles outside of stores during the Christmas holiday season with a member ringing a bell.

World's 50 richest people have lost half a trillion dollars this year.  The 50 wealthiest people in the world have lost more than half a trillion dollars this year due to the tanking stock market, according to the latest figures compiled by Bloomberg Billionaires Index.  The top 50 richest, which includes Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault, have lost a combined $563 billion in net worth through May 22, according to Bloomberg.  Musk, the world's richest man who has temporarily put on hold his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, has lost $69.1 billion — the most of any mogul on the list.  He now has a net worth of $201 billion.  Bezos, the second richest man, stepped down as CEO of Amazon last year to focus on his space travel company Blue Origin.  He has seen his net worth fall by $61.1 billion.  His wealth is now valued at $131 billion.

First shipment of formula arrives from Germany and it's not going where you might think.  The first shipment of baby formula arrived by military plane in Indianapolis on Sunday from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. [...] The formula is hypoallergenic, which is essential for babies and toddlers with milk allergies.  As I mentioned Saturday, it must be additionally stressful for parents of babies who are allergic to milk because they require special formula.  In the Biden formula crisis, all formula is difficult to find, including for babies with special dietary needs.  The 132 pallets of Nestle Health Science Alfamino Infant and Alfamino Junior formula are enough specialty infant formula for more than half a million baby bottles.  It's about a week's supply.  Not only is it about a week's supply, it will not be on regular retail store shelves.  It's going straight to pharmacies and health care facilities including hospitals, doctors' offices, and clinics.

Plane with 70,000 pounds of baby formula finally lands in US: Huge relief flight touches down in Indiana.  More than 70,000 pounds of baby formula arrived in the United States on Sunday via military aircraft, President Joe Biden announced, as his top economics adviser pledged stores could see replenished supplies 'as early as this week.'  The shipment from the US military's Ramstein Air Base in Germany is the first in Biden's Operation Fly Formula program, aimed at ramping up international imports of baby formula to raise US supply.  It's one of several measures the president unveiled to mitigate the increasingly dire baby formula shortage that's plaguing Americans nationwide — which has already led to multiple reports of hospitalized children.

Gov. DeSantis announces largest budget surplus in Florida history.  Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference at the Retro Fitness gym in West Palm Beach on May 20, 2022 to announce the largest budget surplus in the state's history.  The state has access to $20 billion USD for the 2022 fiscal year.  He also announced that Florida is registering almost 45 percent of the market share of overseas traveling, the highest rate in the country and the highest ever recorded, beating out New York which previously had the highest numbers.  DeSantis went on to announce the jobs report for April, with the unemployment rate in the state being 3 percent, which has been lower than the national average for 17 consecutive months.

Enthusiasm gap:
Republicans Cast 150K More Votes than Democrats in North Carolina Primaries.  Republican voters turned out in droves to participate in the North Carolina primaries and surpassed Democrat participation — even though there are more registered Democrat voters in the state.  Analysis of voter data by the Republican National Committee (RNC) after Tuesday's elections revealed Republican voters cast roughly 150,000 more votes than Democrats 758,637 to 612,645.  GOP turnout was "86 percent higher than 2018 and nearing 2020 levels," RNC Deputy National Press Secretary William O'Grady told Breitbart News.

Biden Administration Invoke Defense Production Act, HHS Will Now Control Means of Production for Baby Formula.  Do you know what it's technically called when "government takes control of the means of production?"  Yeah, that.  This afternoon [5/18/2022] Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) giving Health and Human Services (HHS) the legal authority to control the supplies needed for the creation of baby formula (how it is made), and the authority to determine distribution equity (who gets it).

Biden's baby formula shortage.  We don't have a food shortage problem," then-candidate Joe Biden said just months after the COVID pandemic began in May 2020.  "We have a leadership problem."  Now that he is president, however, Biden is singing a different tune.  Asked if he should have taken steps to address the nation's baby formula shortages sooner, Biden replied, "If we had been better mind readers, I guess we could have."  But the Biden administration never had to read minds.  It had been informed of problems at a Michigan baby formula plant eight months ago, and in fact, the Food and Drug Administration issued a recall of formula from that same plant three months ago.  Yet Biden never spoke of or acted to address the formula shortage until last Friday.  And yes, there is plenty he could have done.

Biden invokes the Defense Production Act to speed up baby formula manufacturing and orders Pentagon planes to fly in shipments from overseas.  President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act on Wednesday evening to boost baby formula production and issued a directive for planes to bring in supplies from overseas, after growing pressure from Congress.  In addition to invoking the Cold War-era law to compel suppliers to direct resources to infant formula manufacturers before any other customer, Biden announced 'Operation Fly Formula,' which will direct Defense Department and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) resources to getting planes loaded with formula that meets FDA safety standards from other countries to bring it to American parents.  The Defense Department will use its contracts with commercial airlines to transport the formula back to the U.S.  Earlier Wednesday [5/18/2022] a bipartisan group in the House is brought forth a resolution imploring Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act.

The Editor says...
Great idea, Joe!  Nothing like an airlift to get the news media all excited.  We can always get some more baby formula from your friends in China or Russia.  Getting it from Mexico would be too easy.  Removing the FDA bottleneck would also be too easy.

Mexico's Shelves are Stocked with Baby Formula amid U.S. Shortage.  As the Biden Administration is slow to respond to a severe shortage of baby formula in the United States, stores throughout Mexico are fully stocked especially with the high-demand Enfamil brand.  Breitbart Texas dispatched local reporters to document the availability of baby formula in various Mexican cities, including several along the U.S. border.

Flight Data Reveals Cause of Mystery Boeing 737 Crash That Killed 132: Report.  A plane crash that led China Eastern Airlines to ground its fleet of Boeing 737-800 jets for a month could have been the result of an intentional effort to crash the jet, according to a new report.  The Wall Street Journal reported that a preliminary assessment of the March 21 crash, developed by American officials, indicated someone in the cockpit intentionally crashed the plane.  All 132 people aboard the plane were killed in the crash.  "The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit," a source said, according to the Journal.  The assessment was based on data from a black box recovered at the crash site.

The Editor says...
Was the pilot shouting Allahu Ackbar as the plane flew straight down?  If so, that will never be reported.

New Black Box Data Of China Eastern Jet Points To Intentional Nosedive.  Boeing shares are higher after WSJ reports the China Eastern 737-800 jet that crashed in southern China in March was intentional.  People familiar with the matter said the plane was cruising at a high altitude when it unexpectedly spiraled into a nosedive and slammed into the side of a mountain.  They said black box data recovered from the crash suggest someone in the cockpit inputted data that made the plane dive.  "The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit," said the person familiar with American officials' examination of the black box.

The Editor says...
The so-called Black Box, in this day and age, should contain no moving parts and should provide HD video from various angles in the cockpit and detailed pictures of the control panel.

This should have been done at least a month ago:
Abbott reaches agreement with FDA to reopen baby formula plant to ease nationwide shortage.  Abbott reached an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration on Monday to reopen the company's manufacturing plant in Michigan to help ease a nationwide shortage of baby formula, after the facility was closed due to bacterial contamination.  FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said Abbott, under the conditions of the agreement, will correct insanitary conditions that led to the contamination and plant closure.  "The public should rest assured that the agency will do everything possible to continue ensuring that infant and other specialty formulas produced by the company meet the FDA's safety and quality standards," Califf said in a statement.

Baby formula maker won't accept Dems' blame for shortages, says no evidence plant sickened infants.  Democrats, battered with low approval ratings from voters over high inflation and soaring gasoline prices, are deflecting blame for the latest crisis:  a massive baby formula shortage.  Party leaders are blaming Abbott Nutrition for scarce baby formula after the Food and Drug Administration shuttered its Sturgis, Michigan, plant citing safety and quality issues.  Abbott officials deny their formula is responsible for four infant illnesses that caused two deaths and said they are ready to reopen the plant.

Satoshi-Era Bitcoin Wallet Awakens with BTC in It Worth 62x in USD.  Whale Alert cryptocurrency tracker has detected a transaction from a wallet that has been inactive since 2013.  The address contains 1,000 Bitcoins, whose price has soared more than 62x over the past 8.5 years when the wallet was inactive.  The year 2013 was a time that many people remember talking to the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto live on Internet chats, and BTC traded at roughly $468.60.  [Tweet]  From $468.60 worth of Bitcoin back in 2013, this amount of BTC now costs $30,395,186.  The owner has activated the wallet and sold the Bitcoin, turning himself into a millionaire and a cryptocurrency whale.  In the comment thread, some have assumed that this might be a crypto wallet that belongs to the FBI.

Texas Power Grid Operator Urges Customers To Conserve Electricity After Six Plants Go Offline.  Texas' electricity grid operator asked customers Friday evening to conserve power this weekend after half a dozen generation plants were knocked offline amid another round of unseasonably hot weather.  "On Friday afternoon [5/13/2022], six power generation facilities tripped offline, resulting in the loss of approximately 2,900 MW of electricity," The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) wrote.

Texas Power Grid Warns Of Record Demand Amid Back-To-Back Triple-Digit Heatwaves.  An early summer heatwave pattern continues to boil parts of the Central and Southern Plains.  This means parts of Texas will continue to roast with temperatures forecasted to reach triple digits next week.  The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state's power grid operator, is already warning of record energy demand next week as customers crank up the AC.

The Editor says...
[#1] Summer doesn't start for another full month.  [#2] The answer to record-breaking demand is increased generating capacity.

Electric grid operators warn of potential summer blackouts.  While some major cities are already seeing their lights go off due to electricity use overload, grid operators and energy advocates gave a warning to states closing their coal-fired power plants even quicker than they can build new ones.  "Any plans to remove nuclear plants or coal power plants or natural gas plants that are slated to be closed, that has to be completely suspended," Power the Future executive director Daniel Turner told FOX Business' Jeff Flock Tuesday.  Eighty coal-fired power plants are slated to close across 14 states in the next six years, Flock mentioned in his report, which poses a threat as some blackouts have already begun and coal and nuclear power still source 41% of the country's electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Sen. Josh Hawley Introduces Bill to Strip Disney of Copyright Privileges:  No More Special Favors for Woke Corporations.  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is introducing a bill that would strip the Walt Disney Co. of its special copyright privileges, imperiling the company's control over valuable intellectual property that could include Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.  The Copyright Clause Restoration Act would limit new copyright protections to 56 years and make the change retroactive for major corporations like Disney that have been granted unusually long copyright monopolies.

DeSantis notches legal win in battle over law revoking Disney's special tax district.  A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' law dissolving Disney World's Reedy Creek Improvement District, rejecting the claims of a Miami lawyer running for U.S. Senate as a Democrat.  In the complaint, three residents of Orange and Osceola counties claimed that S.B. 4-C, the law that eliminates Disney's ability to operate an independent governmental entity around its Orlando-area theme parks, unconstitutionally threatens residents with higher taxes, abridges free speech rights, and violates a contractual obligation, the Orlando Sentinel reported.  William Sanchez, a Miami lawyer and Democratic Senate candidate, filed the lawsuit last week.

Russia cuts electricity to Finland:  Moscow-run state energy company says it will stop supplying Helsinki tomorrow.  Russia will suspend electricity supplies to Finland this weekend, a supplier said on Friday as tensions rise over Helsinki's NATO bid following the conflict in Ukraine.  'We are forced to suspend the electricity import starting from May 14,' said RAO Nordic, a subsidiary of Russian state energy holding Inter RAO that sells its electricity on the Nordic market.  It blamed the suspension on not having received payment for electricity sold in May and said as a consequence it was no longer able to pay for more electricity from Russia.

WH press secretary Jen Psaki's last briefing [was] chaotic.  White House press secretary Jen Psaki's final briefing with reporters went off the rails Friday after one reporter repeatedly shouted a question about fair access in the room.  As Psaki began to take questions — after fighting back tears as she thanked members of the administration and the press corps — Simon Ateba, the chief White House correspondent for Today News Africa, was heard yelling from the back of the press briefing room.  "Why don't you take questions from across the room?" Ateba asked as Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller attempted to get things started with a query about the ongoing baby formula shortage.

Fauci, Biden, Psaki Sued in Major Big Tech Collusion Lawsuit!  Things continue to get worse for the apparatchiks of the ruling regime:  now, in addition to losing the abortion battle and much of the mask battle in the courts at the same time that Elon Musk is taking a hammer to the censorship regime by buying Twitter, Fauci and Biden just got rocked by a massive lawsuit.  That lawsuit, filed last Thursday by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, names Biden, Psaki, Dr. Fauci, and Nina Jankowicz (the Disinformation Board woman) as defendants and accuses them of colluding with Big Tech to crush certain messages on platforms like Facebook and YouTube under the guise of fighting "misinformation".

British Judges Rule Use of Term 'Bald' Can be Sexual Harassment.  A panel of three judges in the UK have ruled that the term "bald" constituted sexual harassment during an unfair dismissal case.  Workers in the UK will now have to be careful about the banter they partake in with their fellow employees, with a panel of judges ruling that the use of the term "bald" was sexual harassment while deliberating an unfair dismissal case.  The three ruling members of the panel — who acknowledged their own follically challenged craniums during the ruling — concluded that the term was an insult disproportionally levelled at men, and as such constituted sexual harassment.

The formula shortage is finally bringing attention to the FDA's labeling games that have angered many moms for years.  Months after distressed moms have been vocally upset and concerned about the baby formula shortage, the media is finally starting to ask, how could this happen?  The short answer is lockdown supply chains and the shutdown of one of the country's largest formula plants in Michigan over an alleged bacterial outbreak.  The long answer is that, unlike the problem of sky-rocketing lumber prices or your West Elm furniture stuck on cargo ships, this crisis is intertwined with an already highly regulated industry and a bureaucratic agency that has been the enemy of postpartum moms well before the pandemic.

Why is biggest baby formula plant in US still shut down after three months?  The biggest baby formula supplier in the U.S. has denied its Michigan plant is responsible for the deaths of two children despite the FDA closing it down.  The plant was shutdown nearly three months ago after a bacterial infection caused the deaths and other serious illnesses.  In mid-February Abbott Laboratories issued a nationwide baby formula recall and ceased operations at its plant in Sturgis, Michigan amid reports of babies contracting bacterial infections from its products.

Lawmaker Says Migrants Are Getting 'Pallets' Of Baby Formula Amid Nationwide Shortage.  Migrants are receiving ample supplies of baby formula, according to Republican Florida Rep. Kat Cammack, while Americans are experiencing severe formula shortages.  Photos allegedly taken by a Border Patrol agent at the Ursula Processing Center in McAllen, Texas showed fully stocked shelves of baby formula supposedly given to migrants, according to a Wednesday Twitter post by Cammack.  The photos come as Americans across the country are seeing empty shelves where stores used to have baby formula as a result of the supply chain crisis and product recalls.

GOP rep says illegal migrants sent 'pallets' of hard-to-find baby formula.  Pallets of baby formula are being sent to holding facilities at the border amid a shortage that has seen many parents unable to find it at their local stores, according to a GOP representative.  "They are sending pallets, pallets of baby formula to the border," Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., said in a video posted to Facebook Wednesday.  "Meanwhile, in our own district at home, we cannot find baby formula."  Cammack posted pictures to social media of empty formula shelves in Florida next to the pallets of food being sent to the border, saying in the video that a concerned border patrol agent sent her the image.

Frontline perspectives on the CT contrast shortage: 5 notable quotes.  U.S. healthcare is now a solid week into the CT contrast shortage of '22, and common themes are emerging in adaptations at local hospitals and imaging centers.  One is the wisdom of making up-or-down contrast and scanning decisions one patient at a time rather than as a blanket short-term policy.  Another is the commonsense call to reserve inventory for patients most in need while avoiding use of the term rationing.  A third might be the fingers-crossed expectation that the shortage will not drag on to where it becomes a crisis.

US Navy chief quietly takes woke books off the reading list.  Several books on the U.S. Navy's Professional Reading Program that provoked outrage last year were absent in an updated reading list released Friday [5/6/2022].  Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Gilday's updated list includes 12 books in the genres of fiction, non-fiction, military, strategy, management, and technology.  Missing from the list were the titles Ibram X. Kendi's "How to Be an Antiracist," Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow" and Jason Pierceson's "Sexual Minorities and Politics" — all of which were included on the Navy's 2021 reading list.

Doctors say cancer patient needs treatment.  Insurance called it unnecessary.  Cancer patients say their lives are locked in limbo after Aetna, a major healthcare insurance company, is accused of wrongfully denying coverage claims for "life changing" treatment.  "You can't even imagine how you're going to handle something like that," Claire Thevenot shook her head.  "It's just devastating."  Thevenot considers herself a fighter.  As a nurse and patient care advocate, most days feel as if she's going to war for others.  But today, she's fighting for herself.

Repairman who revealed Hunter Biden laptop sues Schiff, CNN, Politico and The Daily Beast.  The Delaware computer repairman who blew the whistle on Hunter Biden's laptop — filed a multi-million-dollar defamation suit Tuesday [5/3/2022] against Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, CNN, The Daily Beast and Politico, saying they falsely accused him of peddling Russian disinformation.  The former shop owner, John Paul Mac Isaac, decided to fight back after losing his business and being harassed for 18 months by Big Tech, the media and Delaware locals in President Biden's home state.  "After fighting to reveal the truth, all I want now is for the rest of the country to know that there was a collective and orchestrated effort by social and mainstream media to block a real story with real consequences for the nation," the 45-year-old Mac Isaac told The [New York] Post.

DeSantis Spox Calls Out Disney Owning an Island in the Bahamas:  No Same-Sex Marriage, No Gender Bending.  Christina Pushaw, Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R-FL) spokeswoman, hammered Disney on Monday, saying the politically woke company "owns an island in the Bahamas" where there's "no same-sex marriage or civil unions under the law" exists and "people are not allowed to change gender."  "LGBT rights in the Bahamas:  No legal protections from discrimination or harassment.  No same-sex marriage or civil unions under the law, which states a Bahamian marriage is composed of a man & woman.  People are not allowed to change gender," Pushaw tweeted on Monday.

Freer rattlesnake handler dies from bite at Rattlesnake Roundup.  A rattlesnake handler has died after he was bitten at the Rattlesnake Roundup in Freer.  Freer Police Chief Hector Doria confirmed to 3News that Eugene De Leon Sr. was bitten in the shoulder around 1 p.m. Saturday.  He was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Corpus Christi but died Saturday night at approximately 9 p.m.  One of the organizers of the Rattlesnake Roundup said that De Leon was performing and handling rattlesnakes in front of a crowd at the time he was bitten.

China and Russia's 'Space War': Where Is The US?  Space-based threats from China and Russia have grown exponentially in recent years, according to a new report on the issue by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), published April 12.  "Evidence of both nations' intent to undercut the United States and allied leadership in the space domain can be seen in the growth of combined in-orbit assets of China and Russia, which grew approximately 70% in just two years," noted Kevin Ryder, DIA senior analyst for space and counterspace.  "This recent and continuing expansion follows a more than 200% increase between 2015 and 2018."  "Space is a warfighting domain now," said Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall in April.

NY Court Sides With Republicans in Massive Blow to Dems' Gerrymander.  New York's highest court sided with Republicans on Wednesday [4/27/2022] in a decision that invalidated Democrats' redistricting map after finding it was gerrymandered in a "partisan" manner to give advantages to Democrat candidates.  The new district map was created and passed by the Democrat-controlled state legislature after an independent redistricting commission deadlocked and was unable to reach an agreement on how to draw districts following the 2020 Census.  After the commission failed to reach an agreement on new congressional lines, "[t]he legislature responded by creating and enacting maps in a nontransparent manner controlled exclusively by the dominant political party," the New York appeals court concluded.

Elon Musk wins shareholder lawsuit over Tesla's $2.6 billion SolarCity acquisition.  A Delaware court ruled in favor of defendant Elon Musk on Wednesday in a shareholder lawsuit over Tesla's $2.6 billion acquisition of SolarCity.  Tesla shareholders alleged the company's acquisition of the solar installer amounted to a bailout, pushed through by Musk who sat on both company boards at the time.  The shareholders also alleged that Musk controlled the board of Tesla, even though he appeared to recuse himself from some deal negotiations concerning SolarCity.  Had he lost, Musk could have had to pay upwards of $2 billion.  The matter could be appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court.

Did the Intelligence Community Just Take Credit for an Event That Never Happened?  [Scroll down]  I contend that had two giant airplanes, full of Russian paratroopers, been shot down in Kiev's suburbs; we would have been inundated with images of the crash site.  Yet as far as I can tell, the only US outlet that picked up the story was the Washington Examiner.  Not even the sources whispering in [Ken] Delanian's ear mentioned it at the time.  Open-source intelligence fans are working overtime to document equipment losses in this war, but when you look at the list of equipment verified as destroyed, only one Russian cargo plane, an An-26, is on the list.  The An-26 is a twin-engine turboprop and not easy to confuse with a mammoth Il-76.

Russia cuts off gas to Poland and Bulgaria.  Poland and Bulgaria announced Tuesday that Russia is cutting off their gas supplies after Russian President Vladimir Putin said "unfriendly" countries are required to pay for gas in rubles.  Russia's majority state-owned energy firm Gazprom sent a letter to Poland state-owned energy company PGNiG saying that gas supplies will be completely suspended by Wednesday.  PGNiG also said its subsidiary GAZ-SYSTEM is affected by the decision.

Gazprom denies stoppage of gas supplies to Poland.  Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Tuesday that natural gas deliveries to Poland via the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline have not been halted.  The statement comes in response to media reports of a stoppage of supplies to the country.  The announcement was made by Gazprom's official representative, Sergey Kupriyanov, who also told reporters: "today, Poland is obliged to pay for gas supplies in accordance with the new payment procedure."

6 Russian Oligarchs Commit Suicide in Mysterious Outbreak of Epstein Syndrome.  Very few parts of Russian society have drawn more interest than the so-called "oligarchs."  These are incredibly wealthy men with political connections to Putin's inner circle because, in the totalitarian kleptocracy that is Russia under Vladimir Putin, if you don't have political ties to Putin's inner circle, wealth doesn't bring you power; it brings you a one-way trip to a Siberian labor camp. [...] But being a politically connected billionaire is not all superyachts and scantily clad "models."  It is [very] stressful, if not downright dangerous.  Since January, at least six Russian oligarchs have committed suicide.

Disney Corp Has Lost $46 Billion in Value Since Declaring Support for LGBTQ Studies in K-3 Education.  A stunning loss in company value is being reported by The Washington Examiner for the Disney Corporation.  On March 29th, they were valued at over $140.00 per share.  By April 22nd they had dropped to $120 per share. [...] 68% of the respondents would be less likely to do business with the Disney Corporation as a result of the company position on K-3 students participating in gender/sexuality discussions in Elementary Schools.  Considering the primary audience for Disney products would be families with children, it certainly looks like the results of the company politics will be financially painful for the corporation.  Disney has come out of the closet, not only as a corporation intent on the advancement of sexual identity, but also with a corporate mission to influence the sexualization of our children.

This Woke Promotion Could Cost Uber Millions.  Uber's decision to waive delivery fees from black-owned restaurants during the George Floyd riots could cost the company $91 million.  A New York appeals court ruled this week that the ride-share giant must pay the costs to the American Arbitration Association (AAA), which is handling 31,000 claims against the race-based promotion, which users say violated civil rights law.  Uber's terms of use provide that disputes with the company will be settled in arbitration administered by the AAA.  The conservative litigation boutique Consovoy McCarthy PLLC under that provision filed demands against the company on behalf of thousands of customers.

Exxon bans gay pride, BLM flags from flying over corporate headquarters.  Exxon Mobil is moving its corporate headquarters from Irving, Texas, to Houston as part of a business reorganization that the company said will be completed by 2023.  What is making headlines, though, is the updated company guidance on its decision to ban any flag flying outside the corporate headquarters other than the official corporate flag.  Why was this decision being announced?  The corporation is sending a message that it intends to remain neutral and not succumb to politically correct virtue-signaling.

People's Convoy Protests for 2nd Day in Sacramento.  Over a dozen members of The People's Convoy gathered outside California Gov. Gavin Newsom's mansion in Fair Oaks, less than 20 miles northeast of the state Capitol, at about 12:30 p.m. on April 20, to protest vaccine mandates and Assembly Bill (AB) 2223.  About six California Highway Patrol officers told protesters to "ease off the bullhorn" and stop honking their horns.  Though the supporters stopped honking their horns after police arrived, one of the protestors continued to speak loudly over the bullhorn.  The day before, more than 100 ralliers from The People's Convoy joined over a thousand others, who were protesting AB 2223, at the steps of the state Capitol building in Sacramento.

Truth Social Migrates to Rumble Cloud, Trump Platform Preparing to Onboard Millions.  Former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media platform — Truth Social — migrated to Rumble Cloud on April 22 as it attempts to onboard millions of internet users on the network.  Truth Social, created by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), "successfully" migrated its website and mobile applications to Rumble's cloud infrastructure, according to an April 22 news release.  This migration will ensure that the network can easily "scale significantly" on a "cancel-culture-free" cloud platform, the release said.  Truth Social is the first significant customer to onboard Rumble's cloud business service.  Devin Nunes, CEO of TMTG, said the migration was "a major stride toward rescuing the internet from the grip of the Big Tech tyrants."

The Editor says...
"Onboard" is neither a single unhyphenated word, nor is it a verb.  Please do not fabricate ad hoc words.  The words in the dictionary should be sufficient.

Florida Democrats Meltdown On House Floor As Republicans Pass New Congressional Map.  Florida Democrats reportedly erupted Thursday on the House floor as they were powerless to stop the Republican-led body from passing a new congressional map that is expected to yield favorable results for the GOP.  There are currently 16 Republicans and 11 Democrats representing Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives and the new map, which also adds an additional district, increases Republicans' dominance in the state to what will likely amount to a 20-8 margin over the Democrats.

Bidenflation comes for your burger.  The price of a Big Mac has risen 7% in a year.  According to the National Restaurant Association, that is the biggest price jump in price since 1981. Overall fast food prices have jumped 7.2% in the last year.  Food prices, in general, are up across the board.  That Happy Meal your child asks for will cost you more if it already doesn't, as Bidenflation comes for your burgers and fries.  Like everything else, labor and fuel costs are driving up the price of food. [...] Austin has the lowest price in the United States for a Big Mac coming in at $3.75.  Minimum wage there is $7.25.  However, in Dallas, which has the same minimum wage, a Big Mac costs $5.69.  On the other end of the scale, Seattle has the most expensive Big Mac.  It will cost you $6.39 where the minimum wage is $17.27.

The Editor says...
The first time I had a Big Mac, the price was 48 cents.

Florida Governor DeSantis Signs Bill Stripping Disney of Autonomous Legal Status.  Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation Friday [4/22/2022] that strips Disney of its 50-year-old "independent special district" status in retaliation for criticizing Florida's Parental Rights in Education law.  The law dissolves the Reedy Creek Improvement District, an autonomous area created in 1967 to accommodate the massive Disney World complex near Orlando.  The independent status grants Disney the privilege of creating its own regulations, building codes, and other municipal services within the zone.  The arrangement has also shielded Disney from significant tax burden.  After DeSantis fast-tracked the initiative to a special session on Tuesday, the state Senate voted 23-16 and the state House voted 68-38 in favor of the bill.  The parental rights measure keeps gender identity and sexual orientation instruction out of K-3 elementary school classrooms and enjoys majority support among Floridians and Americans generally regardless of political party.

Ron DeSantis Scores Major Win Over the Disney Groomers as Florida's Legislature Abolishes Disney's Special Tax Avoidance Scam.  On Wednesday, the Florida Senate passed a bill to abolish the "Reedy Creed Improvement District."  This "improvement district" was created to benefit the Disney corporation in 1967.  Today, the Florida House of Representatives passed the bill and sent it to Governor Ron DeSantis for signature. [...] This is a battle that didn't need to happen, but Governor DeSantis did the right thing by winning big once it did.

Gov. DeSantis Is Right To Attack Disney.  Republicans Everywhere Should Follow His Lead.  News broke Wednesday [4/20/2022] the Florida Senate had passed a bill to dismantle Walt Disney World's half-century-old "independent special district" status, an arrangement whereby Disney has been allowed, since 1968, essentially to govern itself.  Gov. Ron DeSantis says Disney's self-governing status should be subject to review, to ensure that it is still "appropriately serving the public interest."  Good.  Disney is reaping its just reward for inserting itself into the political debate about Florida's parental rights bill, which Disney lost in spectacular fashion.  Republican governors and lawmakers across the country should be taking notes.  This is how you deal with big corporations that try to throw around their weight and force woke policies on voters and families.  You punish them, not just because they deserve it, but also, as Voltaire famously put it, pour encourager les autres.

Florida votes to strip Disney of privileged tax and self governing status.  Florida lawmakers have voted to strip Disney of its special status as a self-governing area as the war between Governor Ron DeSantis and the company rumbled on.  The Republican-led Senate decided to end the Reedy Creek Improvement District, meaning the firm will no longer be able operate as a self-contained government.  They backed the measure by 23-16 and it will go to the state House before being passed to the governor[,] with it potentially coming into effect on June 1, 2023.

Ex-school official sues Virginia board over anti-racism training.  A former assistant principal is suing a Virginia school board, claiming that she was forced out of her job for a "slip of the tongue" during a mandatory "anti-racism" training based on Critical Race Theory.  Emily Mais, who was the assistant principal at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School, accused the school district in a lawsuit filed Thursday of pushing her out in fall 2021 after she mistakenly used the words "colored people" as she railed against the training session.  Though Mais apologized for the "slip of the tongue, "a teacher's aide, who is black, verbally attacked her in front of all training attendees, the lawsuit filed in Albemarle County claims.

DeSantis Announces Legislature Will Consider Ending Disney's 'Special Tax and Governing Jurisdiction' Status.  In this episode of "The Battle Between the Woke Mouse and the Awesome Florida Governor," the governor kicks it up a notch or two against the mouse, although it remains unclear if the mouse himself (I assume "he" is still a "he") is indeed woke, or is being held against his will a by a super-evil overlord.  As RedState reported on April 1, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) floated the idea of changing Florida law to revoke Disney's preferred tax status in the state.  He meant that.  DeSantis announced on Tuesday [4/19/2022] that the state legislature will consider a proposal to eliminate Disney's special tax and governing jurisdiction in the governor's latest battle, as reported by Breitbart, after the megacorporation announced its opposition to the Parental Rights in Education Bill he signed into law in March.

DeSantis Announces Massive Escalation in Fight with Disney.  Disney's legislature is holding a special session to deal with a few topics, namely the redistricting issue, and it looks like Governor DeSantis is gonna take full advantage of that to score an immediate and major victory over the woke Disney corporation, [...] Disney was given fair warning.  It knew that DeSantis and Floridians were mad about its far-left culture-war stance, knew that a revocation of its special privileges could be coming, and should have understood that DeSantis was going to take major action.

DeSantis calls on legislature to target Disney's self governing special status: 'Termination'.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Tuesday [4/19/2022] that he is calling on the state legislature to consider legislation in a special session to dismantle special protections for Disney operating in Florida following the company's opposition to a controversial parental rights bill.  "I am announcing today that we are expanding the call of what they are going to be considering," DeSantis said during a press conference at The Villages in Florida.  "Yes, they will be considering the congressional map but they also will be considering termination of all special districts that were enacted in Florida prior to 1968 and that includes the Reedy Creek Improvement District."

Disney made itself an arm of the Democratic Party on a losing issue.  At Politico, Derek Robertson has asserted that the GOP's fight with Disney is proof that the culture has passed the party by.  Whether he's being dishonest or is simply that out of touch, the world Robertson is imagining is nowhere near reality.  "Disney has always been an explicitly morally instructive company," Robertson informs us, acting baffled that the GOP would "demonize one of America's most beloved and trusted corporations."  Never mind that this "morally instructive" and "beloved and trusted" corporation thanked Chinese officials involved in genocide in Xinjiang, or that a Trafalgar poll showed that Disney pushing sexual ideas in children's entertainment is very unpopular.

The Editor says...
Yes, in the 21st century, Disney has been "morally instructive" in exactly the wrong way.

McKinsey Accused of 'Serious' Conflict of Interest in Opioid Consulting.  A Congressional report alleges that consulting firm McKinsey engaged in a "serious conflict of interest" by working for the U.S. government on issues relating to the opioid epidemic while, at the same time, advising drugmakers, including on projects meant to persuade regulators about the safety of opioid products.  The U.S. House Oversight Committee alleged in its April 13 report that at least 22 McKinsey consultants, including senior partners, worked for both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and opioid manufacturers, at times simultaneously.  "Today's report shows that at the same time the FDA was relying on McKinsey's advice to ensure drug safety and protect American lives, the firm was also being paid by the very companies fueling the deadly opioid epidemic to help them avoid tougher regulation of these dangerous drugs," Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), chair of the committee, said in a statement.

HHS Secretary Refuses To Answer Whether The University Of Pittsburgh's Experiments On Babies Violated The Law.  President Joe Biden's Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra sidestepped a question about the University of Pittsburgh while defending fetal tissue research during a congressional hearing last week.  Rep. Chris Jacobs, R-N.Y., had mentioned allegations that the university may have illegally altered abortions or obtained tissue from live fetuses.  "If the tissue being used for this research was derived from babies who were born alive and then killed by organ or tissue harvesting, would that be a violation of law?" Jacobs asked.  Becerra gave a more general response that didn't directly address allegations at Pitt.  "There are absolutely standards that have been set for the use of fetal tissue.  There are laws in place to make sure we're protecting the practice of securing that fetal tissue," he answered.  "And I think all of us understand, are very mindful of the importance of making sure we are doing this the right way."

DuckDuckGo Search Engine CEO Announces Changes to Internet Search Algorithms to Promote Approved Content.  DuckDuckGo used to be the preferred search engine for those who wanted privacy on-line and unfiltered, i.e. organic, search engine responses.  Unfortunately, CEO Gabriel Weinberg is now stating he will change the algorithm to remove independent information and media outlets and will replace them with only approved MSM results.

Secret Service agents outraged by White House spin over First Dog bites.  Secret Service agents were outraged last year by the White House's attempt to downplay bite injuries caused by then-first dog Major — even trying to get President Biden to personally pay for a damaged coat, newly released documents show.  Secret Service leaders also sought to keep attack details out of official paperwork — at one point rejecting an agent's "excessively detailed" account to avoid upsetting the first family — after Major bit agents on eight consecutive days.  The records, released in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by Judicial Watch, show that attacks occurred both earlier and later than previously known.  They also show internal discord at the Secret Service, which has been embroiled since last week in a bizarre infiltration scandal that involves at least four agents.

Judge Declines Jail for Two Men Who Impersonated DC Federal Agents.  U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey (Obama appointee in 2015) declined to hold the two men in jail who are accused of impersonating federal agents in Washington DC. "There's been no showing that national security information has been compromised," Harvey said in his decision.  If the DOJ does not appeal the decision, both men, Arian Taherzadeh, (40) and Haider Ali (35), who are also in the United States with expired visas, will be allowed bond.

Inflation rises to 11.2% in producer index, highest on record.  Producer prices increased a scorching 11.2% for the year ending in March, according to a report Wednesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest on record.  The inflation rate in Wednesday's producer price index report was up 1.4 percentage points from the previous month and is the highest in the gauge's 11-year history.  Wednesday's [4/13/2022] news signals more inflationary pain to come for households.  The producer price index gauges the wholesale prices of goods, which are eventually passed down to consumers.  The news came just a day after a report for the month of March found consumer prices increased by 8.5% — the fastest annual rate in more than four decades.  The high rate of inflation has wounded President Joe Biden politically and undercut support for his spending proposals.

Something More Than Just Con Men.  This article is part of our continuing coverage of the arrest of Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Sher Ali — the two individuals posing as DHS agents who appear to have compromised several members of Secret Service protective details.  Most of the press coverage to date seems to have written the two off as grifters with no real nefarious agenda.  While the investigation is ongoing, the information that continues to flow in suggests the case may be much more serious than that.  [Tweet]  "This investigation is less than two weeks old," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein said at Friday's detention hearing for Taherzadeh and Sher Ali.  "And every day the facts get worse and worse... The defendants were not merely playing dress-up with firearms and ammunition, body armor, tactical gear, surveillance equipment, they were engaged in conduct that represented a serious threat to the community and compromised the operations of federal law enforcement, and created a potential national security threat."

Canada Bans Foreign Home Buyers for Two Years.  In Chapter 1, sub-section 1.4 of the 2022 Canadian budget, there is a rather remarkable new rule that bans foreign ownership and investment in housing for a period of two years.  [Text omitted for brevity.]  Two points about this issue.  First, can you imagine the media outcry if a conservative prime minister would ever make such a proposal?  Quite a leftist change from the previous mantra "diversity is our strength"?  Second, considering the issue of foreign investment that creates housing, there is a likelihood this could backfire.  The new position of Canada will certainly put more upward pressure on the U.S. housing market.  Every action tends to have an equal and opposite reaction.

Missouri Supreme Court sides with John Solomon in Sunshine Law case against St. Louis prosecutor.  The Missouri Supreme Court ordered on Friday that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner comply with a public records request from Just the News Editor-in-Chief John Solomon regarding the prosecution of former Gov. Eric Greitens.  Solomon filed a public records request in July 2019 under Missouri's Sunshine Law for about two and a half years' worth of communications between Gardner's office and the Missouri Workforce Housing Association, state Representatives Stacy Newman and Jay Barnes, along with several other groups and individuals.  Gardner is one of the first big-city district attorneys bankrolled by liberal megadonor Soros.  The public records request sought documents related to Gardner's fizzled 2018 prosecution of Greitens, who resigned from the governorship less than two years into his term.

Right-wing Marine Le Pen closes in on Macron in French election.  As French voters head to the polls this Sunday in the first of what is expected to be a two-round presidential election, polls suggest far-right leader Marine Le Pen is zeroing in on incumbent President Emmanuel Macron.  Le Pen, who has worked to soften her image since the 2017 election and appeal to France's moderate base, has seen a surge in support in recent weeks with one poll showing the two in a dead heat for the presidency in a potential runoff with Le Pen receiving 49% of the vote compared to Macron's 51%, according to a YouGov and Datapraxis poll published Friday [4/8/2022].

Disney's Business Model is Turning Kids Into Dysfunctional Adults.  "Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children," Walt Disney once said.  Walt's unique strategy of building an entertainment empire for kids once made Disney a trusted source of family entertainment.  That didn't last long after Walt's death as Disney started releasing R-rated movies and adult television programming under the Touchstone label.  A decade later, Disney bought Harvey Weinstein's Miramax.  During the 90s, while Disney's more family friendly brand was releasing animated cartoons, Miramax featured Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, and the Scream sequels.  During this time Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment and assaults.  Some of this was taking place even as Disney's "family friendly" brand released The Hunchback of Notre Dame with its depiction of a lecherous Catholic villain praying before a cross while ranting about his lusts.  This was what Disney had become.  In the new century the barrier between the two schizoid faces of Disney has come down.

There is an explanation for Disney's war on children.  Very often, when companies go woke, it turns out that the wokeness is a cover for changing market forces.  That is, they're not alienating traditional demographics; they're reflecting that their money is coming from new demographics.  When it comes to Hollywood and the NBA, for example, the big bucks are coming from China, not America.  And when it comes to Disney, the main profit center isn't children; it's young adults who, Peter Pan-like, refuse to grow up.  The brilliant Daniel Greenfield [...] as always, has done the research, and, in the case of Disney, he points to the fact that Disney's most fanatic consumers are in the over 18 demographic:  ["]Disney isn't for kids anymore.  Its movie business is dominated by Marvel blockbusters.  Half of Disney+ subscribers, its big bet on the home streaming future, are adults with no children.["] [...] And Disney is rapidly adapting with theme parks and resorts that emphasize its Marvel and Star Wars properties more than classic fare.  Its Galactic Starcruiser hotel, aimed at Star Wars fans, costs $4,809 for two adults.

Nearly 60% of NYC Voters Say Their Family Would Be Better Off Somewhere Else.  Almost 60% of New York City registered voters agree with the idea that their family would have a better future if they left the city permanently, according to a new poll published Wednesday.  The survey from political consultants Fontas Advisors and polling firm Core Decision Analytics adds to a growing body of evidence that New Yorkers are preoccupied with rising crime and public safety, and want something done about it if they're to stay here.  Asked to agree or disagree with the statement "My family would have a better future if we left NYC permanently," some 25% said they strongly agree and another 34% said they somewhat agree.  By demographics, 65% or more all of respondents under age 49 said they agreed to some extent with the sentiment.  Just 49% of white respondents concurred, but more than 60% of all Black, Hispanic and Asian voters in the poll agreed.

Alabama Passes Bill Banning Sex-Change Treatments for Kids, Jailing Participating Doctors.  The Alabama Legislature passed a bill Thursday [4/7/2022] criminalizing sex-change treatments for children, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.  If signed by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, the bill would treat the castration of children and other sex-change treatments as Class C felonies.  Such felonies carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison for medical practitioners, Politico reported.  The legislation would ban medical treatments done for the purpose of changing a child's appearance or affirming his or her gender identity, including drugs that halt healthy puberty; cross-sex hormones; surgical sterilizations such as castration, vasectomies, and hysterectomies; cosmetic genital reconstruction surgeries; and removal of healthy body parts.

Fake Homeland agent with 'links to Pakistani intelligence' [...] has flown back and forth to Iran multiple times.  One of the men allegedly posing as a Homeland Security agent has shared images to his Instagram posing with actor Bradley Cooper and comedian Seth Meyers.  The account, which is private but was accessed by DailyMail.com, shows Haider Sher-Ali, 35, in three images with Cooper — two selfies and one full body image where the two appeared to be preparing to board a private jet.  Ali posted one image with Meyers — a selfie in what could be Washington, D.C., which is where Ali has resided for at least the last two years.

Secret Services agents assigned to Biden and Kamala's residence are 'under investigation'.  A motion for detention of the two men who were arrested Wednesday for impersonating federal agents includes a slew of damning evidence, including images showing several different passports, visas and IDs.  The prosecutors are requesting Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Sher-Ali, 35, be detained due to a slew of evidence found in a raid of their units in a luxury apartment building in southeast Washington, D.C.  'They are not law enforcement agents, and they are not involved in sanctioned covert activities,' the motion for detention filed Friday claims.  'Neither Defendant is even employed by the United States government.'  'But their impersonation scheme was sufficiently realistic to convince other government employees, including law enforcement agents, of their false identities,' the memorandum added.

Two fake Homeland agents — one with ties to Pakistani intelligence — spent 18 months 'infiltrating Jill Biden's Secret Service detail'.  The two men arrested in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday who attempted to cozy up to Secret Service agents could face conspiracy charges after spending their year-and-a-half living in a luxury apartment building allegedly posing as federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security.  Just a mile from the Capitol and three miles from the White House, Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Sher-Ali, 36, were conducting an operation where they posed as agents with Homeland Security Investigations — tricking a luxury DC apartment building and its high profile residents as well as appearing to convince Metro Police Department that they were working for the government.

Jill Biden's Secret Service detail [was] infiltrated by two fake Homeland Security agents.  A member of Jill Biden's Secret Service detail was compromised by two fake agents who showered members of the security services with lavish gifts, it is claimed.  Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36, were taken into custody as more than a dozen FBI agents charged into a luxury apartment building in Southeast Washington on Wednesday evening [4/6/2022].  Photos posted to social media Wednesday night showed FBI crews moving boxes out of their luxury apartment and even bringing in a big box truck to the scene.

Reporters call for White House to 'simply ignore' Supreme Court decisions.  Some reporters are calling on President Biden to ignore Supreme Court decisions that they believe are politically motivated.  On Wednesday, the Supreme Court temporarily reinstated a Trump-era that limits the power of the states to block energy projects that can potentially pollute rivers, streams and other waterways.  In a split 5-4 decision, the justices overturned a lower court judge's order to throw out the rule until the Biden administration can implement a new rule which is expected in spring 2023.

Kenosha Elects Republican Executive After Decades of Democrats.  The county of Kenosha, Wisconsin, elected a Republican executive on Tuesday after decades of electing Democrats.  "Samantha Kerkman defeated Rebecca Matoska-Mentink in Tuesday's Spring Election to become the next Kenosha County executive," announced Kenosha News.  "In unofficial results, Kerkman, of Salem Lakes, received 14,693 votes, or 51.32% of the vote.  Matoska-Mentink, of Pleasant Prairie, received 13,886, or 48.5% of the vote."  The 47-year-old Kerkman will be the first woman and fifth county executive in Kenosha County.  She will replace current County Executive Jim Kreuser, who has held the office since 2008.

Fred Upton Quits — Four Down, Six to Go.  President Trump campaigned in Michigan last weekend, in part to remove the DeceptiCons.  Today, Michigan representative Fred Upton, one of the ten republicans who voted to impeach President Trump, announced he will not seek reelection.

Rep. Fred Upton announces retirement: 'This is it for me'.  Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan announced Tuesday [4/5/2022] that he is not seeking reelection at the end of this term, signaling the end of a career after more than three decades in the House.  After representing the western Michigan district since 1987, Mr. Upton faced a tough primary race this year thanks to a combination of redistricting and his vote to impeach former President Donald Trump, who is out for revenge.  "Even the best stories have a last chapter:  This is it for me," Mr. Upton said.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Urges Parents to Reject Disney: 'Cut Off the Disney Channel.  Cancel Your Park Trip or Your Cruise'.  Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) is urging parents to reject Disney over its embrace of radical sexual and gender politics, saying families should send Disney executives a message by refusing give the company their money.  In a re-election campaign e-mail sent this week, which was also posted to the campaign's official site, Lt. Gov. Patrick even told Texans to sell their Disney stock.  "Until they change their corporate philosophy, stop spending money with them," he said.

Cover Up?  DA Chisholm Stopped Milwaukee Police Search Warrant in Allen Addison Case.  Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm refused a request to sign off on a Milwaukee Police search warrant to search the north-side house where Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson's brother, Allen Addison, was holed up during a two-hour standoff last week, Wisconsin Right Now has learned.  As a result, the house where the Acting Mayor's felon brother defied police for hours while wanted on a felony warrant, was not searched for additional occupants (even though it was believed other people were inside), and it was not searched for evidence.  "None of that is normal," an upset law enforcement source told Wisconsin Right Now.  "The warrant never made it past the DA's office for approval, which is odd because the residence could obviously contain further evidence of the crime he was wanted for.  It's contrary to every other felony investigation."  Wisconsin Right Now went to the Milwaukee County courthouse and confirmed there was no search warrant returned in the Addison arrest.

Slice of NYC pizza now costs $3.14 — surpassing the cost of a Subway ride at $2.75 for the first time ever.  A slice of pizza in the Big Apple now costs more than a ride on the city's subway system.  The price of a slice is now more than $3 in all five boroughs for the first time, according to Bloomberg — upending the very New York metric known as the 'pizza principle,' which says that a cheese slice will always cost the same as a subway swipe.  The average cost of regular slice of pizza is now $3.14, well above the $2.75 fare for a ride on the subway.  In Brooklyn, the average slice costs $3.06 while the price is even higher in Manhattan at $3.26.

The Editor says...
From what I've heard here in Dallas County, the pizza in New York City is quite good, and $3.14 per slice doesn't sound unreasonable at all.  Provided there's some place to sit and eat it without being robbed or shot.

Biden admin agencies refuse to answer, 'What is a woman?'.  A handful of Biden administration federal agencies were unable to define the meaning of the word "woman" — in some cases, even in relation to their own uses of terms such as "women's health" — when asked by Fox News Digital.  The Biden administration's Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons were all contacted by Fox News Digital requesting a definition of "woman."  None of the agencies provided their definition or criteria for an individual to be categorized as a "woman," despite each boasting entire initiatives aimed at helping women[,] and DOJ declined to comment.  Fox News Digital also reached out to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to request the organization's definition of "woman" in relation to terms such as "women's rights" and "women's healthcare." [...] When asked for the definition, the NIH directed Fox News Digital to its website section on "sex and gender."

Marxists Are Killing Each Other to Control America's Cocaine Market.  "Socialism, this is the path to save the planet, I don't have the least doubt.  Capitalism is the road to hell," Venezuela's Hugo Chavez told the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference.  Rhetoric like that won the socialist dictator the admiration of socialists from Barack Obama to Noam Chomsky.  But the dirty little secret of the socialist revolution in Venezuela was that it was a front for a massive drug smuggling operation.  Chavez and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, gutted Venezuela's rich oil resources and turned the country into a socialist drug cartel.

Brilliant deduction, Holmes.
Biden's big-spending policies helped fuel inflation, says Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.  Washington's multitrillion-dollar spending habit has driven inflation across the U.S. higher than in most other Western democracies, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.  A report released on Wednesday by the bank said the U.S. inflation rate spiked higher than other countries in March 2021, shortly after Congress passed President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.  "Fiscal support measures designed to counteract the severity of the pandemic's economic effect may have contributed to this divergence by raising inflation about 3 percentage points by the end of 2021," analysts wrote.

Finnish Court Rebukes State Prosecution of Christians for Saying God Made Men and Women Different.  Prayers from around the world were answered joyfully today when a Finnish court ruled unanimously in favor of two Christians the government prosecuted for publicly stating the Bible's teachings about sex.  "If this kind of questioning of free speech is possible in a country like Finland, which has a reputation regarding free speech internationally, the same is possible anywhere," said Member of Parliament Paivi Rasanen during a livestreamed press conference this morning U.S. time.  Rasanen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola were acquitted of all four "hate crimes" charges against them for speaking the Bible's teachings that sex is rightly reserved for lifelong marriage between one man and one woman.  The three-judge court not only cleared the two Christians but ordered the prosecution to pay their legal costs, ruling that in a free country courts have no place deciding permissible religious views.  "I am grateful for having had this chance to stand up for freedom of speech, which is an essential right in a democratic country," Rasanen said.  "This has been my honor. ... I hope that this ruling will prevent others from having to go through the same ordeal."

Finnish MP, Lutheran bishop acquitted of 'hate speech' after promoting Biblical morality.  Freedom of speech has been protected in Finland by a court that dismissed all charges against a member of Finnish parliament and a Lutheran bishop for expressing Christian beliefs about sexuality.  According to a press release from ADF International, prosecutors failed in their case against Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola.  The court ruled unanimously concluded that "it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts."

Now Russian TV host calls for 'regime change' in US after Biden demanded Putin be removed from power.  A Russian state TV host called on the U.S. to remove President Joe Biden and reinstate former President Donald Trump days after Biden made his own call for a regime change aimed at Vladimir Putin in an off-scripted remark.  On Tuesday, The TV host of Russia's 60 Minutes show, Evgeny Popov, urged America to quickly replace Biden with Trump, whom he called a 'partner' to the Russian state.  'It's time for us, our people, to call on the people of the United States to change the regime in the U.S. early, and to again help our partner, Trump, to become president,' Popov said.

State Department map shows pretty much every country is too dangerous for you to visit.  The U.S. State Department is not yet prohibiting American citizens from going overseas, but its advice regarding international travel generally discourages visits to foreign countries and makes absurd categorizations regarding which countries are least safe to visit.  In preparation for the next leg of a solo motorcycle trip around the world, I pulled up a State Department map that categorizes where overseas travel is most "problematic." [...] I hoped the map would highlight the countries that I should most carefully research before entering, but what I discovered is that the State Department's attitude regarding foreign travel is that it really shouldn't be done.  Virtually nowhere is safe, it seems, if it is not within our national borders.

The Editor says...
[#1] Looking at the State Department's map, you could easily get the idea, due to the lily-white color given to the U.S. and the threatening red colors given to other countries, that the United States is a perfectly safe place to visit; indeed, the only safe place in the world.  Of course that's not entirely true.  But if the State Department were to publish another map, showing all the dangerous cities and states — and specific neighborhoods — within the U.S., the accusations of racism would follow within a few milliseconds.  [#2] According to the color codes in the map in question, it's more dangerous to go to Canada than to Mexico.  How many of you believe that?

Woke army introduces new easier combat fitness test to be more inclusive for women.  As the world braces for a potential WWIII, the U.S. Army is lowering its fitness standards to be 'more inclusive'.  The Army is changing several of its fitness test exercises — including the dreaded leg tucks — in favor of planks because about half of all female soldiers were unable to complete the exercise.  The new Army Combat Fitness Test, ACFT, which is comprised of six exercises, also slashes the number of push-ups from 30 to 10, reduces the power throw distance by two-thirds and gives more time to finish the two-mile run.

Florida Supreme Court Ruling Suggests All Textbooks Being Used in One Florida School District Are Illegal.  On March 18, the Florida Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal filed by the Collier County School Board over a lower court ruling stating the school board violated the state's Sunshine Laws during its textbook selection process in the 2016-2017 school year.  Attorneys for the parents' rights organization that filed the initial lawsuit assert that the same illegal process was used for the adoption of books for the 2021-2022 school year and have filed motions to have every textbook removed, or to have the court "order the school district to immediately start the textbook adoption process all over again."  As explained on the website for Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, "Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine law provides a right of access to governmental proceedings at both the state and local levels," and "virtually all state and local collegial public bodies are covered by the open meetings requirements."

Home Depot hammered for shaming employees for their 'white privilege'.  A Canadian branch of Home Depot sparked outrage after it posted a notice to employees about the benefits of "white privilege" and included a checklist for those who are "white, male, Christian, cisgender, able-bodied, and heterosexual."  The notice, which is titled "Leading Practices — Unpacking privilege," was posted in an employee lounge at a Home Depot in Calgary, Alberta.  A spokeswoman from Home Depot's US headquarters confirmed to The [New York] Post that the white privilege notice was material from its Canadian division.  She said it hadn't been approved by the company's diversity and inclusion department.  The flyer had a Home Depot logo at the top.  The Canadian staffers who were apparently given the learning material were encouraged to acknowledge "societal privileges that benefit white people beyond what is commonly experienced by people of colour under the same social, political, and economic circumstances."

Home Depot Calls Out Christians, White Privilege.  Home Depot wants to fix white people and Christians.  The home improvement chain released a worksheet about white privilege.  It was posted in the break room of a Canadian Home Depot.  If you're confident that the police exist to protect you, well, you have white privilege.  [Tweet]  Home Depot also called out class privilege for you folks who went to college.  Cisgender privilege for you folks who know your pronouns and if you get off for Christmas Day — Home Depot says you have Christian privilege.  "If you can use public bathrooms without stares, fear or anxiety, you have cisgender privilege," Home Depot said.

Fox Business anchor has disturbing theory of why full details on Biden-Xi call haven't been released.  There continue to be questions about the reluctance of the White House to release the full details of the high-stakes telephone call between President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart last Friday and the answer could be very troubling if a theory put forth by a Fox Business anchor has any truth to it.  On Monday, the panel on "Outnumbered' engaged in a spirited discussion over the establishment media's running cover for the nation's 46th president which has become even more apparent after the New York Times confirmation that the incriminating emails on the laptop abandoned by Hunter Biden were indeed authentic after a bombshell report by the New York Post was censored in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election, a story that could have swung the contest to then-President Donald J. Trump.  During the discussion co-host Emily Compagno said, "I think that, again, the fleeting memory of mainstream media means that they think we won't remember that many of these big tech platforms are under concurrent investigations right now by different agencies of the federal government, including criminal," referring to the ongoing probes into the tech giants.

Planning To Use Oil Crisis, the Global Climate Change Agenda Is Triggered.  The Ukraine-Russia conflict creates the opportunity for the Build Back Better initiatives to get triggered.  None of this is happening organically.  All of this is opportunism based on a series of dominos purposefully triggered.  Three government solutions to rising oil prices surface simultaneously in an effort to exploit the crisis they created.  Keep in mind, this economic roadmap was strategically outlined in the World Economic Forum "Build Back Better" initiative, and that was built upon the economic 'climate change' opportunity that COVID-19 created.  The U.S. version of BBB was called the Green New Deal.  First, Biden proposes to trigger a useful "Climate Change Emergency".  Second, the International Energy Agency proposes a "Ten Point Plan" to change energy use in the modern society.  Third, comes AOC and Bernie Sanders with the "Executive Action Agenda".

International Energy Agency Calls for Urgent Restrictions on Domestic Oil Supplies.  Give up your car and start walking.  That's an order.  The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Friday directed global governments to urgently cut oil supply to domestic consumers and encourage compliance with its call for lowered consumption.  The IEA 10-point plan to drive "changes in the behaviour of consumers" and reduce gas demand at the pump includes reducing speed limits, working from home three days a week, more electric cars, car-free Sundays, more cycle lanes, cheaper public transport and greater use of long-distance trains over planes.

Turns out Americans are bad at estimating demographic groups.  If you live in the United States and I asked you what percentage of your fellow Americans are left-handed, without hitting a search engine to check, what would your guess be?  What percentage are gay, lesbian, or bisexual?  We could play this game with any number of different demographic groups. [...] When it comes to the questions of sexual identity and race, the gross misinterpretations of the numbers are almost certainly driven by the media.  It may not have always been this way, but in the current era, both news and entertainment focus an incredible amount of time and energy in covering topics related to minorities, both in terms of race and sexual identity.

Saudi Arabia is thinking about abandoning the dollar.  The American dollar is currently the world's reserve currency, meaning it is the primary means of handling transactions between nations that have differing currencies.  To qualify as a reserve currency, it must be stable and readily available, and it can be considered a safe-haven currency.  In some ways, a reserve currency can become a self-fulfilling prophecy because its very status enhances its value.  For Americans, that status helps prop up America's enormous debt load.  That's why it was very disturbing to learn that Saudi Arabia, disgusted with the current management in Washington, D.C., is looking to start pricing its oil sales to China in yuan, not dollars.  The fact is that the Saudis do not trust Biden's America.

The Editor says...
I can't say that I blame the Saudis.  Half the people legally residing in America don't trust Biden, either.

Plea Deal in the Offing for 9/11 Terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Four Defendants.  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) has been in U.S. custody since March 1, 2003, when he was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan during a joint CIA-Pakistani intelligence operation.  Along with four other high-ranking al-Qaeda leaders identified as planners for the 9/11 terrorist attack, KSM has languished at the prison camp in Guantanamo, Cuba since 2006 after spending several years being interrogated by the CIA and FBI.

Ron DeSantis:  Biden [is] Going to Dictators for Gas Imports.  President Joe Biden angles himself as being tough toward President Vladimir Putin because the Russian leader is a "dictator," yet he turns to other dictators for gas imports as he "kneecaps" domestic energy, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said during a roundtable discussion in Doral, Florida, on Friday [3/11/2022].  "We have a number of Venezuelan Americans, who, like many Americans and, I know, a lot of Floridians, are very angered by the Biden administration's recent attempt to legitimize the brutal Maduro regime in Venezuela," DeSantis said during the Venezuelan community discussion, amid reports of Biden's administration seeking to increase oil imports from the dictator's country.

Feds announce charges against American who ran a Russian 'propaganda center'.  Federal prosecutors unsealed charges Tuesday against a woman who ran what they called a "Russian propaganda center" in New York, trying to inject Moscow's viewpoint into American politics.  Elena Branson is charged with acting as an unregistered agent for a foreign power, as well as visa fraud and lying to the FBI.  The Justice Department said she left the U.S. for Russia in 2020, and remains at large.  Prosecutors said her organization, Russian Center New York, was funded by the Russian government and took direction from high-ranking officials in Moscow.  Given those connections, she was supposed to have registered as a foreign lobbyist, the government says.

Amazon referred to DOJ for potential criminal obstruction of Congress.  A House Committee is urging the Department of Justice to investigate Amazon over what lawmakers contend is potentially criminal obstruction of Congress.  In a letter sent Wednesday [3/9/2022] and addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland, a bipartisan group of lawmakers alleged that Amazon repeatedly misled the House Judiciary Committee throughout a 16-month probe into the competitive practices of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook.

Republicans Are Successfully Blocking Biden Nominees, And His SCOTUS Pick Could Be Next.  The Senate currently finds itself in the unusual situation of a tie — evenly split between 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans.  As a procedural matter, a Senate tie requires some interesting maneuvering.  A power-sharing agreement must be passed to hammer out how the majority-minority dynamics will play out.  Also, in theory, the vice president must be on notice to break any tie votes that occur — something that would be happening a lot more if so many Republicans weren't happily voting for so many of Joe Biden's nominees.  But a tied Senate also creates opportunities.  As I've written previously, the Senate's Rule 26 comes into play in a tied Senate in a way that would hardly matter otherwise.  The rule requires that a "majority of the committee" be "physically present" to report a matter (either a bill or a nomination) out of committee.  This is true regardless of what an individual committee's rules say about minority members being present.

The People's Convoy Makes Its Mark Despite Media Blackout.  More than a thousand big-rig trucks, pick-ups, SUVs, passenger cars, and motorcycles circled the 64-mile Capital Beltway on Monday to demonstrate their opposition to vaccine mandates and the government's pandemic policies.  There were no traffic jams.  The convoy was orderly, almost precision-like in its discipline.  The protesters gave the right of way to other vehicles using the highway, staying in the right-hand lane for the entire circuit.  It was peaceful.  Despite the expectations of the media and many in government that the convoy would become violent, the protesters have, so far, shown no inclination to cause disruptions to Washington traffic or take part in violent demonstrations in the city itself.

Ottawa Court Reverses Order from Pro-Trudeau Judge: 'Freedom Convoy' Organizer Gets Legal Victory.  Freedom Convoy fundraiser and organizer Tamara Lich received some good news in her legal battle against the Canadian government.  "A judge orders Freedom Convoy fundraiser and organizer Tamara Lich should be released on bail, overturning previous judge's decision to keep her in custody," Andrew Lawton reported.  "Tamara Lich has been released on bail with a list of strict conditions, including an order that she leave Ottawa within 24 hours and return home under the watchful supervision of a surety," the Ottawa Citizen reported.

Trudeau Attacks Putin for Tyranny Mere Days after Cracking Down on Truckers.  Trudeau recently claimed, then quickly surrendered, "emergency powers," using Enabling Acts-like powers to crack down on the truckers peacefully protesting his regime in Ottawa.  Using those powers, Trudeau sent in the police to beat back and disperse the peaceful crowds of truckers and their allies, worked with banks to freeze the assets of dissenters, and ruthlessly persecuted those who dared to disagree.  In short, he acted like a tyrant.  Refusing to listen to the protesters or let them peacefully exercise their rights, he cracked down on them with a vengeance, acting as any tinpot dictator would.  Well, guess what he's doing now:  attacking Putin for being an "authoritarian."

Convoy protest organizer Tamara Lich released from jail.  A judge has ruled one of the main organizers of the so-called Freedom Convoy can be released from jail, on the condition she leave Ottawa, reversing a decision made last month.  Tamara Lich, 49, was behind a now-halted GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $10 million to support the protest in Ottawa, which became a weeks-long occupation.  She was arrested Feb. 17 and charged with counselling to commit mischief shortly before the major push by police to clear out the remaining protesters who occupied downtown Ottawa streets.

Capitol Police issue emergency declaration as rolling 'People's Convoy' protest circles DC.  Even though People's Convoy organizers reportedly have no plans for the truck armada to enter Washington, D.C., proper, the U.S. Capitol Police has declared an emergency situation of some kind.  "'The Capitol Police Board has issued an emergency declaration to ensure that the US Capitol police are able to operate and respond as necessary,' [House Sergeant at Arms William] Walker said in a letter to all members of Congress and staff," CNN reported.  "Walker advised members and staff to consider telework options and the use of public transportation to avoid traffic delays."  Congress will also reimburse lawmakers or any staffers "for short-term lodging expenses" who have to check in to a hotel presumably because heavy vehicle volume prevents them from getting home, Walker noted.

Google, Apple cut off access to ordinary Russians, meaning they can do the same to Americans at any time.  In another ominous sign that the big tech behemoths have way too much power and control over the lives of ordinary people, Apple and Google have now cut off Russians from their payment platforms, which is already causing mayhem in their country.  As noted by Irish journalist Jason Corcoran in a tweeted image, commuters at Moscow's Metro Station had difficulty paying for their ride after they discovered the platforms no longer functioned.  "Apple Pay and Google Pay no longer work on Moscow's metro system, leading to long queues as people fumble about for cash," tweeted Corcoran.

U.S. People's Convoy Fundraiser is Run by Woman Who Pleaded Guilty to Fraud.  The people's convoy of truckers has spilled across the border from Canada into America, but a major fundraiser's reported history of fraud may be undermining the movement's righteous goals.  The American Foundation for Civil Liberties and Freedoms (AFCLF) is fundraising on behalf of the truckers' convoy and has raised over $1.5 million for the cause.  The AFCLF executive director Pamela Milacek has a history of pleading guilty of fraud in the state of Texas.  Milacek pleaded guilty to taking an individual's Social Security number, name and driver's license number in order to apply for a credit card with PayPal.  She also pleaded guilty to withdrawing $15,000 without the consent of a victim in Collin County, Texas back in Sept. 2020.

White House Quietly Calls On US Oil Companies to Increase Production.  In a move that likely angered his environment-conscious base, the White House has issued a muted request for U.S. oil companies to increase crude oil production in the wake of high crude oil and gasoline prices.  Though words are different than deeds — and President Joe Biden's deeds have been decisively anti-fossil fuel expansion — a White House official told U.S. oil companies on Tuesday [3/1/2022] that they could increase production if they want. [...] U.S. oil companies have long held that while the Administration hasn't directly restricted U.S. output, the energy policies flowing out of the White House have put a damper not only on the attitude involving crude oil production but has made it far more difficult for oil companies to ramp up.

As Russia Wages War, US Army Trains Officers on Gender Identity.  While Russia wages a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Army is putting its soldiers through training on gender pronouns and coaching officers on when to offer soldiers gender transition surgery, according to an official military presentation on the subject obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.  The mandatory presentation, "Policy on the Military Service of Transgender Persons and Persons with Gender Dysphoria," was given to officers earlier this month along with instructions for them to train their subordinates on the material.  Portions of the presentation were provided to the Free Beacon by a whistleblower who was ordered to undergo the training as a high-ranking officer in the Army Special Forces.

Ron DeSantis Denies Request for Florida National Guard to Assist at Biden's SOTU Address.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday announced that he has denied a request for the state's National Guard to deploy to the nation's capital for President Biden's Tuesday State of the Union address, ensuring that the Florida National Guard will not be sent to Washington, DC.  The Biden administration last week requested assistance from state National Guards ahead of Tuesday's speech.  The request coincides with hundreds of National Guard members being activated in the D.C. area ahead of the address to assist with traffic and security.  Florida's National Guard, however, will not participate.

Death By Robots:  Increased Automation Is Elevating Mortality Rates.  Death by robots might seem like an unusual cause of death, but as robots replace people on factory floors, there has been a rise of suicides and drug overdoses — especially in people between 45 to 54.  A new study found a link between automation of U.S. manufacturing and an increased mortality rate among working-class adults.  Automation is partially responsible for a decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs.  Prior research has estimated a loss of 420,000 to 750,000 jobs during the 1990s and 2000s, most of which were manufacturing jobs.

US Freedom Convoy Trucker Left Stranded After Penske Corporation Turns Off Power Remotely to His Rental Truck.  Texas Trucker Jeff Sandberg was left stranded this week after Penske Corporation turned off the power remotely to his truck.  Sandberg was heading to Washington DC with the Freedom Convoy truckers.  Penske shut down his vehicle on the road and later released a statement on how the company does not support the freedom protests.

U.S. blasts Putin's nuclear order as 'unacceptable' and says war crimes tribunal isn't off the table.  The United States on Sunday [2/27/2022] condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's order to put his nuclear forces on high alert as dangerous and 'unacceptable.'  The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield also said nothing was 'off the table' when asked about the possibility of Putin being tried in international court as a war criminal.  In issuing his order to prepare Russia's nuclear weapons for increased readiness for launch, Putin cited 'aggressive statements' from NATO allies and widespread sanctions imposed by Western nations.

'Immediate emergency situation is over': PM Trudeau revokes Emergencies Act.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government will end the use of the Emergencies Act after it was invoked just over a week ago in response to the ongoing trucker convoy blockades and protests.  Trudeau made the announcement on Wednesday alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Justice Minister David Lametti, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair.  "Today, after careful consideration, we're ready to confirm that the situation is no longer an emergency.  Therefore, the federal government will be ending the use of the Emergencies Act," the prime minister said.  Trudeau added while the "immediate emergency situation is over" the issue itself "won't go away."

Facing Financial Peril and a Pending Senate Rebuke, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Revokes Emergency War Measures Act.  In the bigger picture, the Canadian banking and financial system was hit hard by the deployment of the Emergency Act which highlighted the ability of the government to arbitrarily freeze and seize money, assets and financial investment capital without any due process.  There are also strong rumors in the financial sector, that in addition to Canadians removing money from the banking system, previous investment funds from Hong Kong had been moved — and, making matters even worse, digital currency exchanges were no longer offering secure services in Canada.  Simultaneous to the mounting domestic and international backlash against the financial system, the Canadian Senate was likely to rebuke the government of Justin Trudeau and not support the invocation of the Emergency War Measures Act against Canadian citizens.

Trudeau Reversal Motive Surfaces — Canadian Banking Association Was Approved by World Economic Forum To Lead the Digital ID Creation.  A promotional video from the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) helps to neatly connect all the dots about why the Canadian government made such a quick reversal in their bank asset seizures in the last 24 hours.  And yes, as we suspected, it was almost certainly contact from the World Economic Forum to Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland that triggered the change in position.  When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced they would use the Emergency Act declaration to target the financial support systems, banks and accounts of the people who were protesting against COVID mandates, they not only undermined the integrity of the Canadian banking system — but they also inadvertently stuck a wrench into the plans of the World Economic Forum and the collaborative use of the Canadian Bankers Association to create a digital id.

Facing Financial Peril and a Pending Senate Rebuke, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Revokes Emergency War Measures Act.  In the bigger picture, the Canadian banking and financial system was hit hard by the deployment of the Emergency Act which highlighted the ability of the government to arbitrarily freeze and seize money, assets and financial investment capital without any due process.  There are also strong rumors in the financial sector, that in addition to Canadians removing money from the banking system, previous investment funds from Hong Kong had been moved — and, making matters even worse, digital currency exchanges were no longer offering secure services in Canada.  Simultaneous to the mounting domestic and international backlash against the financial system, the Canadian Senate was likely to rebuke the government of Justin Trudeau and not support the invocation of the Emergency War Measures Act against Canadian citizens.

U.S. Capitol Police close D.C. streets ahead of the "People's Convoy", fencing goes back up at Capitol.  American truckers and their supporters are organizing and heading to Washington, D.C. to protest COVID-19 mandates.  The People's Convoy is patterned after Canada's Freedom Convoy.  Truckers will leave California tomorrow and arrive in Washington on Saturday, March 5.  D.C. law enforcement is preparing for their arrival.  The People's Convoy announced plans to launch a "peaceful and unified transcontinental movement" in Southern California.  Organizers say their intention is to have a "law-abiding convoy" with truckers, blue-collar workers and supporters participating in it.  According to the news release, they expect supporters from all walks of life.

Biden SOTU will have a "formal response" from ... The Squad.  Suddenly, the normally vapid State of the Union event looks more promising.  Joe Biden's complete sell-out to the progressive Left since his inauguration notwithstanding, Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) will deliver a "formal response" to the speech from her party's own president, Politico reports: [...] But just how much of a "response" will this be?  The opposition party gets a formal response slot from media outlets in order to rebut presidential claims in the SOTU speech and offer their own agenda.  This is clearly not a "formal response" in that same vein, but instead a separate media event tied to the SOTU spectacle for better visibility.  Even so, the need for an informal "formal response" seems notable in at least a couple of different ways.  First off, Tlaib's not planning to respond to Biden as much as she's planning to attack moderate Democrats for not capitulating to Biden.

Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich denied bail by judge who ran as a Liberal candidate.  Freedom Convoy leader and organizer Tamara Lich was denied bail by an Ottawa judge this morning.  According to Marieke Walsh of The Globe and Mail and David Akin of Global News, Lich wanted to be released on $5,000.  Lich was denied bail because, in part, judge Julie Bourgeois believed that there was a risk that she would continue criminal actions.  Bourgeois was a Liberal candidate for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell in 2011.  "There is a substantial risk you will continue these actions and will not abide by an order," the judge told Lich.  "Your recent history in our city ... satisfies me that you're detention is necessary for the safety and protection of the public."

Organizers of USA Trucker Convoy Release Route Across Country to Washington DC — Organizers Release Official Statement.  Multiple American trucker convoys are gearing up for a massive protest in Washington DC in opposition to tyranical COVID mandates.  The Gateway Pundit reported that the organizers claim to have 1,000 truckers ready to participate "right out the gate," but that it will likely grow as it moves from California to DC.  After announcing that the protest would not rely on big tech companies for fundraising, The People's Convoy reports over $214,447 in donations as of February 21.

Lithium-ion batteries are fueling the fire on a burning cargo ship full of Porsches.  The cargo ship Felicity Ace is aflame from bow to stern with a lithium-ion battery fire that can't be put out with water alone.  The fire has been burning since Wednesday (Feb. 16), as the ship drifts in the Atlantic about 200 miles southwest of Portugal's Azores Islands.  Its 22-person crew abandoned ship and was rescued on Thursday.  The ship left Germany on Feb. 10 and headed for the US with about 4,000 Porsches, Bentleys and other luxury cars aboard, and some of those were electric vehicles.  It's not clear if the batteries contributed to the fire starting in the first place — a greasy rag in a lubricant-slicked engine room or a fuel leak are the usual suspects in ship fires — but the batteries are keeping the flames going now.  A forensic investigation will take months to determine the cause.

Pentagon is considering sending the National Guard to DC ahead of US Freedom Convoy protest.  The Pentagon could commission the National Guard to help manage thousands of big rigs expected to descend upon the nation's capital this week in protest of government mandates.  Following the path of a Canadian convoy of anti-vaccine long haulers who congested Ottawa's streets for weeks this month, a group of fed-up American truckers from throughout the country are setting out Wednesday to launch their own mass protest in Washington, D.C., and plan to congest popular thoroughfares — including the Capitol Beltway.  The Pentagon has been asked to help manage the protests by deploying the National Guard, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.

Royal charity spent 98% of its cash raised in one year on paying just 10 staff, probe reveals.  A Royal charity that has partnered with Prince Harry's life coaching firm paid its staff 98 percent of the money it raised in a year, the Daily Mail can reveal.  The Queen's Commonwealth Trust (QCT) brought in £796,106 from donors but paid out £787,314 in staff costs to its ten employees in the 12 months [ending] March 2021.  Over half of the cash went to its five most senior executives who earned £420,000 between them, Charity Commission accounts show.

The Editor says...
If you think this is the only charitable organization that exists to fund only itself, you should think again.

Canadian Parliament Shuts Down Legit Question About Trudeau Being A Klaus Schwab Plant Even Though Schwab Said This In Public.  Canadian Parliament shuts down a question from a member about Klaus Schwab.  A clip is circulating the internet where Klaus Schwab acknowledges the World Economic Forum has penetrated the Canadian Cabinet.  Unfortunately, a question about the details of these allegations was not allowed to be asked.  Too bad Klaus Schwab openly discussed his WEC infiltrating several governments including Canada with Trudeau being the trojan horse.  Schwab spoke of this in 2017 at the Young Global Leaders summit.  [Video clip]

US Trucker Convoy to 'Shut Down' Traffic on Major Roads Outside Washington:  Organizer.  One of the U.S. trucker convoys planning to leave this week plans to shut down traffic on the Capital Beltway outside Washington.  "We're going to have a shutdown," Bob Bolus, the organizer, told The Epoch Times.  "We'll shut it down."  The Beltway encircles Washington, running through portions of Maryland and Virginia, and passes through a small part of the nation's capital.  Bolus plans to lead a convoy from Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he owns a tow truck company, starting Feb. 23.  After a stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the convoy is estimated to arrive in Washington in the afternoon that day.  Bolus, who said the convoy will be peaceful, declined to answer directly if truckers plan to halt traffic purposely, although he did say lanes would be kept open for emergency responders.

Justin Trudeau Eulogized Fidel Castro.  "It is with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cuba's longest serving President.  Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century.  A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation," said Justin Trudeau in 2016.  "I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away.  It was also a real honour to meet his three sons and his brother President Raúl Castro during my recent visit to Cuba.  On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and many, many supporters of Mr. Castro.  We join the people of Cuba today in mourning the loss of this remarkable leader."

Is Firefox OK?  At the end of 2008, Firefox was flying high.  Twenty percent of the 1.5 billion people online were using Mozilla's browser to navigate the web.  In Indonesia, Macedonia, and Slovenia, more than half of everyone going online was using Firefox.  "Our market share in the regions above has been growing like crazy," Ken Kovash, Mozilla's president at the time, wrote in a blog post.  Almost 15 years later, things aren't so rosy.  Across all devices, the browser has slid to less than 4 percent of the market — on mobile it's a measly half a percent.

Pennsylvania sent more electricity to neighboring states than any other state in 2020.  Nearly 78 million megawatthours (MWh) of electricity generated in Pennsylvania was delivered to neighboring states in 2020, more than from any other state, according to our State Electricity Profiles.  More than 230 million MWh of electricity was generated in Pennsylvania during 2020, exceeding electricity generation in all states except for Texas and Florida.  Electricity retail sales in Pennsylvania totaled 140 million MWh in 2020, and after direct use and transmission losses, the remaining electricity was sent to other states.  Natural gas accounted for about 52% of all the electricity generated from both utility- and small-scale facilities in Pennsylvania in 2020, up from 15% in 2010.  Natural gas surpassed nuclear in 2019 as the state's largest source of generation.  Nuclear energy accounted for 33% of the electricity generation in Pennsylvania in 2020.

Hidden In Plain Sight:  The Key To The Kennedy Assassination Is On Public Display In The National Archives.  [Scroll down]  The Secret Service had the Presidential limousine shipped from Dallas to the White House garage the night of the assassination.  Then they sent it to the Ford Factory at River Rouge in Detroit, where it was built, for refitting.  When a senior manager there, George S. Whitaker, came to work two days after the assassination, he was ordered to immediately report to the glass plant lab.  He was let in through locked doors and found two of his men had already removed the limousine windshield. [...] In an interview a few months later he added:  "The hole was about 4 or 6 inches to the right of the rear view mirror [as viewed from the front].  The impact had come from the front of the windshield.  If you have spent 40 years in the glass [illegible] you know which way the impact was from." [...] Whitaker is far from the only witness who saw a bullet hole in the windshield.  Several members of the Dallas Police, a nurse, and several doctors (and others) at Parkland Hospital noticed it when it was still parked outside while doctors were trying to save Kennedy.  One motorcycle patrolman was quite specific:  "There was a hole in the left front windshield ... It was a hole, you could put a pencil through it ... you could take a regular standard writing pencil ... and stick [it] through there."

Judge to toss Sarah Palin's defamation suit against the New York Times.  A Manhattan judge on Monday said he will toss out Sarah Palin's libel lawsuit against the New York Times over an editorial that falsely linked her to a mass shooting — but he didn't exactly side with the Gray Lady.  Manhattan federal court Judge Jed Rakoff said that even though the Times' 2017 piece, headlined "America's Lethal Politics," was the product of "unfortunate editorializing," Palin's lawyers failed to provide evidence that the paper and former editorial page editor James Bennet acted with actual malice.  "I'm not altogether happy to have to make this decision on behalf of the defendant," Rakoff said as jurors continued deliberating the case.

Federal Judge Blocks Key Biden Climate Change Executive Order.  A federal judge on Feb. 12 blocked a key climate initiative that was signed by President Joe Biden on his first day in office last year.  U.S. District Judge James Cain blocked the president's January 2021 executive order that would factor in an alleged "social cost" for emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide when policymakers create rules.  "The Court agrees that the public interest and balance of equities weigh heavily in favor of granting a preliminary injunction," Cain wrote in an order as he issued a temporary injunction.  Cain, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, sided with states in their lawsuit against the federal government and agreed that "the harms to their States and their citizens' economic well-being more than suffice to establish standing and the possibility of irreparable harm."

Mark Cuban's online pharmacy is offering near-wholesale prices on commonly prescribed medicines.  Billionaire Mark Cuban aims to disrupt the pharmaceutical industry with a new digital venture offering more affordable generic drugs to patients across the country.  In January, the Dallas Mavericks owner launched the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company.  This online pharmacy sells 100 different prescriptions for various diseases and disorders, including cancer, depression, and high cholesterol.  The company says it has "cut out the middlemen" and negotiates directly with drugmakers to keep prices low.  The unorthodox model results in savings worth anywhere from a few dollars to thousands on each prescription.

DHS deploys 500 workers in case of Super Bowl vaccine protest convoy.  The Department of Homeland Security has sent 500 extra employees to southern California ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl to help local cops prevent possible game-day disruptions by truckers similar to ones in Canada protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates.  White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday that DHS was working with the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles Police Department, and state and local authorities to help counter any protests.  She said the 500 DHS workers were already "providing extensive air and maritime security resources."  "The Department of Homeland Security is surging additional staff to its incident command post," she said.

Canadian Mayor Says Gov. Whitmer Offered Heavy Equipment To Move Trucks Off Bridge Blocked By 'Freedom Convoy'.  Mayor of Windsor, Ontario, Drew Dilkens, said in a press conference Thursday that Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer offered to help remove protestors blocking the Ambassador Bridge for the past several days.  The bridge is a key border between the U.S. and Canada currently occupied by convoy truckers in protest of Canada's COVID-19 mandates.  The protest, called the Freedom Convoy, began in Ottawa and has since gone international.  "The State of Michigan and the governors' office directly have offered to send over heavy equipment to help remove vehicles, to provide security, they've offered to do whatever is required to help end this blockade as well," Dilkens said in the press conference.

Biden Rejects Army Investigative Report Detailing Chaotic Afghanistan Withdrawal.  President Joe Biden rejects an Army investigative report detailing the many issues that occurred during the Afghanistan withdrawal, he told NBC News Thursday [2/10/2022].  The 2,000-page report was obtained by The Washington Post through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) earlier this week.  It's the latest insight into just how unprepared the Biden administration appeared to be with regard to the Afghanistan withdrawal, and its findings were based on the sworn testimony of multiple commanders.  NBC News' Lester Holt highlighted the report during his interview with Biden, noting that multiple military officers said "the administration ignored the handwriting on the wall" regarding the fall of Kabul and the evacuation process.  Biden denied that any fraction of the report rang true to him.  "No, no," the president insisted.  "That's not what I was told."

Canadian truckers take their protest to Ottawa airport for 'parade'.  Protesters from the Canadian trucker convoy took their message to the capital city's busiest airport Thursday morning, slowly circling the airport's arrivals and departures lanes and honking their horns.  About 70 trucks were making the rounds "in an attempt to disrupt operations," the Ottawa International Airport Authority said in a statement.  Pat King, one of the convoy's key organizers, claimed on Facebook, "We're having a parade."  He added that they had been circling the airport for about two hours and didn't have plans to stop.

Everything about Biden is worse than we're being told.
Turns Out, Biden's Awful Afghan Exit Was Actually Much Worse Than We Knew.  Most everyone knows Joe Biden's troop withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer was an unmitigated disaster of historic — and deadly — proportions.  Not the decision to remove the last 2,500 U.S. troops after 20 years of war.  That was inevitable and actually made two years ago by Donald Trump.  But there was continuous mismanagement of the withdrawal ordered by a 79-year-old who distrusts the military and can't remember the name of his Defense Secretary.  Biden had vowed a "safe and orderly" exit.  Now comes a devastating 2,000-page after-action report by the Army with new, previously unpublished details about the withdrawal and evacuation's shocking behind-the-scenes chaos and abysmal preparation by the State Department and Biden White House.  It shows that weeks before the Taliban victory, diplomats and White House officials resisted military advice that the situation was deteriorating rapidly and evacuation planning was necessary.  At the White House, the president and his posse of younger aides were so focused on the perceived political prize of finally getting all U.S. troops out that they ignored strategic advice from generals on how to do that safely.

New Yorkers and lawmakers howl over utility hikes; Con Ed says they're not to blame.  City and state lawmakers are amped up over a sudden rate spike that many New Yorkers are now seeing on their Con Ed energy bills — charges that could make it impossible for some to afford rent and their utilities.  Brandy Bora, a corporate executive who rents a loft in Greenpoint, said her family's Con Ed bill shot up from $300 in December to $850 last month — an increase, which, if sustained, will mean they'll eventually be forced to move. [...] Con Ed spokesman Jamie McShane [...] countered that Con Ed cannot control the practices of the companies they purchase gas from.  "Con Edison does not generate electricity, nor can we manage the financial practices of the private power generators or the suppliers of the natural gas," he said.  "Con Edison is seeking the ability to generate renewable energy in New York State for our customers, which would shift our dependence away from natural gas and this volatility."

The Editor says...
If Con Ed is completely dependent on natural gas, perhaps that means they shouldn't abhor coal and nuclear power.  Perhaps that also means that windmills and solar panels are useless in New York in the winter.  When the weather is brutally cold, nobody cares about saving the Earth from carbon dioxide emissions.

Eric Lander resigns after review finds he mistreated staff.  President Joe Biden's top science adviser Eric Lander resigned Monday night [2/7/2022] after apologizing for mistreating his staff.  An internal review by the White House found 'credible evidence' that Lander, the Office of Science and Technology Policy chief, bullied subordinates and treated his staff in a way that contradicts the administration's workplace policy.  'The President accepted Dr. Eric Lander's resignation letter this evening with gratitude for his work at OSTP on the pandemic, the Cancer Moonshot, climate change, and other key priorities,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday night in a statement. 'He knows that Dr. Lander will continue to make important contributions to the scientific community in the years ahead.'

Report: Biden's top science adviser resigns.  President Biden's top science adviser resigned Monday night [2/7/2022] after an internal White House investigation found that he violated workplace policy by bullying and demeaning staffers.  The White House said Eric Lander resigned, a move that came as Mr. Biden was being criticized for not living up to a pledge to fire any appointee who showed disrespect to colleagues.  In his resignation letter to the president, Mr. Lander said he was "devastated that I caused hurt to past and present colleagues by the way in which I have spoken to them."

The Editor says...
What did Mr. Lander do that Kamala Harris hasn't done?

Editor's note:
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