Distinction Matter - Subscribed Feeds

  1. Site: Mises Institute
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Frank Shostak
    The mainstream economic belief is that a growing economy needs a growing money supply to ensure “price stability.” Austrian economists, however, believe that there is no “optimum” money supply, which means government should not engage in monetary expansion.
  2. Site: southern orders
    1 week 2 days ago

     


    MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV

    TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE SEMINAR
    “EVANGELIZING WITH THE FAMILIES OF TODAY AND TOMORROW:
    ECCLESIOLOGICAL AND PASTORAL CHALLENGES”,
    ORGANIZED BY THE DICASTERY FOR LAITY, FAMILY AND LIFE

    [2-3 June 2025]

    __________________________________

     (MY ASTUTE COMMENTARY IN RED!)

    Dear brothers and sisters,

    I am pleased that on the eve of the celebration of the Jubilee for Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly a group of experts has gathered at the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life to reflect on the theme, “Evangelizing with the Families of Today and Tomorrow: Ecclesiological and Pastoral Challenges”.

    This theme clearly expresses the Church’s maternal concern for Christian families throughout the world as living members of the Mystical Body of Christ and the primary nucleus of the Church, to whom the Lord entrusts the transmission of faith and the Gospel, especially to the new generations.

    The profound thirst for the infinite present in the heart of every human being means that parents have the duty to make their children aware of the fatherhood of God.  In the words of Saint Augustine: “As we have the source of life in you, O Lord, in your light we shall see light” (Confessions, XIII, 16).

    Ours is a time marked by a growing search for spirituality, particularly evident in young people, who are longing for authentic relationships and guides in life.  Hence, it is important that the Christian community be farsighted in discerning the challenges of today’s world and in nurturing the desire for faith present in the heart of every man and woman. (AND NOT TO CRUSH THE YOUNG WHO ARE FINDING THIS IN THE OLDER LITURGIES OF THE CHURCH!)

    This effort requires that special attention be paid to those families who, for various reasons, are spiritually most distant from us: those who do not feel involved, claim they are uninterested or feel excluded from the usual activities, yet would still like to be part of a community in which they can grow and journey together with others.  How many people today simply do not hear the invitation to encounter God?

    Sadly, in the face of this need, an increasingly widespread “privatization” of faith often prevents these brothers and sisters from knowing the richness and gifts of the Church, a place of grace, fraternity, and love.

    As a result, despite their healthy and holy desires, while they sincerely seek ways to climb the exciting upward paths to life and abundant joy, many end up relying on false footholds that are unable to support the weight of their deepest needs and cause them to slip back down, away from God, shipwrecked on a sea of worldly concerns.

    Among them are fathers and mothers, children, young people and adolescents, who find themselves at times alienated by illusory lifestyles that leave no room for faith, and whose spread is facilitated by the wrong use of potentially good means – such as social media – yet prove harmful when used to convey misleading messages. (THE PREVIOUS PONTIFICATE SEEM TO WANT TO DANCE WITH PRECISELY THAT WHICH ALIENATES AND IS HARMFUL, ESPECIALLY MISLEADING MESSAGES WHICH THE PREVIOUS PONTIFF WAS WLL KNOWN FOR DOING!)

    What drives the Church in her pastoral and missionary outreach is precisely the desire to go out as a “fisher” of humanity, in order to save it from the waters of evil and death through an encounter with Christ.

    Perhaps many young people today who choose cohabitation instead of Christian marriage in reality need someone to show them in a concrete and clear way, especially by the example of their lives, what the gift of sacramental grace is and what strength derives from it.  Someone to help them understand “the beauty and grandeur of the vocation to love and the service of life” that God gives to married couples (SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Familiaris Consortio, 1). (YES POPE LEO! YES! BUT WHEN A POPE ALLOWS PRIESTS TO BLESS ILLICT UNIONS, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?)

    Similarly, many parents, in raising their children in the faith, feel the need for communities that can support them in creating the right conditions for their children to encounter Jesus, “places where the communion of love, which finds its ultimate source in God, takes place” (FRANCIS, General Audience, 9 September 2015).

    Faith is primarily a response to God’s love, and the greatest mistake we can make as Christians is, in the words of Saint Augustine, “to claim that Christ’s grace consists in his example and not in the gift of his person” (Contra Iulianum opus imperfectum, II, 146).  How often, even in the not too distant past, have we forgotten this truth and presented Christian life mostly as a set of rules to be kept, replacing the marvelous experience of encountering Jesus – God who gives himself to us – with a moralistic, burdensome and unappealing religion that, in some ways, is impossible to live in concrete daily life.

    In this situation, it is the responsibility of the Bishops, as successors of the apostles and shepherds of Christ’s flock, to be the first to cast their nets into the sea and become “fishers of families.”  Yet the laity are also called to participate in this mission, and to become, alongside ordained ministers, “fishers” of couples, young people, children, women and men of all ages and circumstances, so that all may encounter the one Saviour.  Through Baptism, each one of us has been made a priest, king, and prophet for our brothers and sisters, and a “living stone” (cf. 1 Pet 2:4) for the building up of God’s house “in fraternal communion, in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity” (LEO XIV, Homily, 18 May 2025).

    I ask you, then, to join in the work of the whole Church in seeking out those families who no longer come to us, in learning how to walk with them and to help them embrace the faith and become in turn “fishers” of other families.

    Do not be discouraged by the difficult situations you face.  It is true that families today have many problems, but “the Gospel of the family also nourishes seeds that are still waiting to grow, and serves as the basis for caring for those plants that are wilting and must not be neglected” (FRANCIS, Amoris Laetitia, 76).

    What great need there is to promote an encounter with God, whose tender love values and loves the story of every person!  It is not a matter of giving hasty answers to difficult questions, but of drawing close to people, listening to them, and trying to understand together with them how to face their difficulties.  And this requires a readiness to be open, when necessary, to new ways of seeing things and different ways of acting, for each generation is different and has its own challenges, dreams and questions.  Yet amid all these changes, Jesus Christ remains “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8).  Consequently, if we want to help families experience joyful paths of communion and be seeds of faith for one another, we must first cultivate and renew our own identity as believers. (YES, THE PREVIOUS PONTIFF ERODED CATHOLIC IDENTITY BY REOPENING ISSUES SETTLED BY THE PREVIOUS TWO PONTIFICATES! CATHOLIC IDENTITY NEEDS TO BE RECOVERED AND IT ISN’T THE SPIRIT OF VATICAN II, BUT THE TRUTH OF THE REAL PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST HANDED DOWN THROUGH THE CENTURIES THROUGH MAGISTERIUM AND LITURGY!)

    Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for what you do!  May the Holy Spirit guide you in discerning criteria and methods that support and promote the Church’s efforts to minister to families.  Let us help families to listen courageously to Christ’s proposal and the Church’s words of encouragement!  I will remember you in my prayers, and I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.

    From the Vatican, 28 May 2025

    Leo PP. XIV


  3. Site: AsiaNews.it
    1 week 2 days ago
    A student who took her own life at Wayamba National College of Education has sparked student protests and prompted the Ministry of Education to launch an investigation. For Father Gamunu Dias, National Director of Catholic Education, no one can be indifferent. This should never happen again while young people and future teachers must be protected.
  4. Site: Mises Institute
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Ryan McMaken
    The pope must defend the family from the state‘s attacks while promoting peace and asserting independence from state power.
  5. Site: Real Investment Advice
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: RIA Team

    Some bearish bond investors in Japan and the US appear to believe that a paradigm shift is underway in the sovereign bond markets. To wit, consider the following statement from Jim Bianco on Thoughtful Money:  “If these deficits are really going […]

    The post Bond Market Paradigm Shift? appeared first on RIA.

  6. Site: Real Investment Advice
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Lance Roberts

    Buying stocks is always hard. Particularly during corrections. Or, near market peaks. Or, when stocks are falling. And when they are rising. Oh, buying stocks is also tricky when valuations are high. And when they are low. You get the […]

    The post Buying Stocks Is Always Hard appeared first on RIA.

  7. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 week 2 days ago
    Pope Francis died in an elevator, Leo XIV elected twice?: The BackstoryThe Santa Marta Version. With each death of a Pope, the backstories multiply: silences, cryptic hints, suggestions in purple. It is said of Holy Spirits descending to inspire conclaves, of cardinals gathered in prayer, while the Breath - as always - arrives from where no one expected it. But in the Vatican corridors, between Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  8. Site: Crisis Magazine
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Adam Lucas

    Papal conclaves are a big deal. The one that elected Pope Leo XIV was only my third, as it was for everyone just shy of 50 years old. And, barring tragedy for either Pope Leo or myself, I only have maybe two or three more. A papal conclave is the kind of major event a person only experiences a handful of times in their life. Such experiences take on a special significance in part because of the…

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  9. Site: Crisis Magazine
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: John M. Grondelski

    The Catholic writer Walker Percy used the term “technophilia” to describe a Western—very American—faith in the power of “science.” It finds expression in slogans like “follow the science” and the conviction that “science” is the guiding light to lead humanity up from superstition and obscurantism to progress and happiness. South African bishop Denis Hurley (considered in today’s terms a Vatican…

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  10. Site: OnePeterFive
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: St. John Chrysostom

    From the Roman office. ℣. Grant, Lord, a blessing. Benediction. May God the Father Omnipotent, be to us merciful and clement. ℟. Amen. Reading 4 From the Sermons of St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople. On the Ascension, tom 3 Then Christ went up into heaven, He offered unto the Father the First-fruits of our nature, and the Father marvelled at the offering…

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  11. Site: Mises Institute
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Lord Acton
    "The only influence capable of resisting the feudal hierarchy was the ecclesiastical hierarchy; and they came into collision, when the process of feudalism threatened the independence of the Church..."
  12. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Will Russia's Military Build-Up Along The Finnish Border Likely Be The New Normal?

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

    This is a predictable response to Finland’s unnecessary and highly provocative decision to join NATO...

    The New York Times (NYT) recently published an article about how “Russia Beefs Up Bases Near Finland’s Border”, which relied on satellite imagery to reach that conclusion. Russia’s northern military build-up is portrayed as ominous in their piece, with speculation abounding about its post-Ukraine plans among those who they interviewed. To their credit, the NYT’s authors did reference Russia’s perceptions about NATO expansion, but they didn’t take them to their logical conclusion with regard to Finland.

    No mention is made about how unnecessary its decision to join NATO was. Prior to that, Finland was already a so-called “shadow member” of NATO in the sense of having closely integrated with the bloc and practically obtained interoperability with its forces after years of joint training. Nevertheless, it didn’t have Article 5 mutual defense guarantees, but they objectively weren’t needed since there was never any credible scenario where Russia would launch an unprovoked attack or all-out invasion of Finland.

    Shortly after the special operation began over three years ago, Finland’s liberal-globalist elite fearmongered that their country might be next after Ukraine, which was the false pretext upon which they reversed their decades-long stance towards formal NATO membership. Far from joining out of sincere concerns for their security, they did so solely to expand NATO’s border with Russia, which could then be presented as a symbolic Western victory no matter the outcome of this ongoing proxy war.

    Here are three background briefings about this to bring unaware readers up to speed:

    * 8 February 2024: “Finland Is Opening Up NATO’s Arctic Containment Front Against Russia

    * 25 May 2024: “A New Iron Curtain Is Being Built From The Arctic To Central Europe

    * 1 October 2024: “Don’t Forget About How NATO’s Northeastern Flank Can Stir Up A Lot Of Trouble For Russia

    They’ll now be summarized and placed in the larger geostrategic context of the New Cold War.

    In short, Finland’s NATO membership enables the bloc to divert a portion of Russia’s forces from other fronts like the Ukrainian one while also expanding the West’s capabilities to project force into Russia, thus making it a highly strategic but also extremely dangerous move. The new Iron Curtain that’s descending upon the region upon linking together Finland’s newly strengthened border defenses, the “Baltic Defence Line”, and Poland’s “East Shield” will guarantee that post-Ukrainian tensions persist.

    Even in the scenario of the nascent Russian-US “New Détente” evolving into a full-fledged strategic partnership built upon resource cooperation like joint Arctic projects of the sort that Moscow has proposed, NATO’s European members could still unilaterally threaten Russia via these means. In other words, the same strategy that the prior US administration sought to employ against Russia could be used by its nominal allies to provoke a crisis for complicating the new one’s ties with Russia, which is ironic.

    That said, the likelihood of this being attempted – let alone succeeding – would be greatly reduced if the aforesaid “New Détente” enters into force since the US might simply refuse to extend Article 5 mutual defense guarantees to any of its “rogue allies” that stir up trouble along this front, thus deterring them. That said, the possibility always remains that a future US administration isn’t so friendly towards Russia or “decouples” from it on whatever pretext, so Russia can’t ever let its guard down from here on out.

    Tyler Durden Mon, 06/02/2025 - 03:30
  13. Site: Mises Institute
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Lipton Matthews
    While artificial intelligence is often discussed in terms of automation or productivity, its potential as a creative and intellectual partner is just beginning to be recognized.
  14. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    These Are The World's Biggest Shadow Economies

    The world’s $12.5 trillion informal economy covers nearly every corner of the world, seeing the highest concentration in emerging economies.

    Yet in absolute terms, China, the U.S. and India are home to the largest black markets—covering everything from street vendors to illegal activities that evade governmental oversight. Overall, this generates lower tax revenue and poorer working conditions given the absence of worker protections, leaving millions exposed to poor working conditions.

    This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows the largest shadow economies in the world, based on data from the EY Global Shadow Economy Report 2025.

    Measuring the Informal Economy

    While measuring the size of show economy activity is challenging, Ernst & Young used more than 70 variables to analyze unobserved economic activities in a country.

    Primarily, a currency demand approach was used to examine cash use patterns across 131 jurisdictions covering 97.2% of world GDP. This is largely due to the informal economy driving significant demand for cash, especially high-denomination bills.

    China’s Informal Economy is the World’s Largest

    Since 2004, workers employed in China’s informal economy have nearly doubled, reaching approximately 200 million.

    Driving this trend are jobs are found in the labor-intensive services sector, such as drivers, nannies, and roadside repairmen. As a result, China’s income tax revenue accounts for about 6% of GDP—far lower than the 24% OECD average.

    Ranking in second is the U.S. shadow economy, valued at $1.4 trillion. Overall, states with lower real GDP and higher regulatory burdens tend to have more active underground economies.

    Meanwhile, Brazil leads in Latin America, with a shadow economy valued at $448 billion. In Europe, Germany is home to the largest at $308 billion, equal to 6.8% of GDP.

    To learn more about this topic from a country-based perspective, check out this graphic on the size of the shadow economy by country.

    Tyler Durden Mon, 06/02/2025 - 02:45
  15. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    British Voters Lash Out

    Authored by Jake Scott via The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE),

    In the United Kingdom, a mini political earthquake has thrown everything up into the air.

    At the beginning of May, several local councils held elections for the county, allowing voters a say in how their local services are managed—bin collection, potholes being filled in, local development plans, etc.

    These elections are not, therefore, the most decisive electoral events of the calendar. But politically, they can be used to send a message, and that is certainly what happened this time.

    Often seen as a chance for voters to express their discontent, local elections can be taken as a test of the current government’s performance, and this is one they definitively failed. Reform UK, the populist-right party led by Nigel Farage, won 677 wards out of 1,632, and took control of ten county councils, including County Durham, a Labour stronghold for 100 years.

    Because of their political relevance, but limited national impact, local elections that go against the government can often be hand-waved as protest votes, expressing general discontent with the status quo. On this occasion, doing so would be a serious mistake, for two reasons.

    First, the Labour Party, as the current government, did not expect to do well due to the country’s broad dissatisfaction with the economy, high levels of immigration, and climbing costs of living. But it was the Conservatives who suffered the most, having previously held more councils before the elections, and the electorate still has not “forgiven them” since they were voted out in the national elections of July 2024. Indeed, they were the real losers of this round, losing about the same number of wards as Reform gained.

    Second, the victories of Reform in the locals, especially in the Midlands and the North East, track with consistent regional patterns that suggest this is truly not a flash in the pan. As I have been pointing out for a while now, Reform’s core areas of support seem to be in the Midlands, North East, and East Anglia, though they are also now breaking through in Kent. Indeed, Reform also won the byelection in Runcorn by six votes, coming from a standing start to take a Labour stronghold.

    Meanwhile, YouGov’s first poll after the locals put Reform in the lead on 29 percent, a full 7 percent points ahead of Labour in second place. A national bump after a successful performance in the local elections is to be expected, but this is a serious shift, if it materializes. It may be the case that people who support Reform, but won’t say so publicly out of fear of being judged for it—the “Shy Reformers”—are now emboldened by the success of the party, and no longer shy about supporting them. A similar phenomenon occurred in 2015, when the Conservatives won a majority despite the polls suggesting otherwise.

    Reform’s support comes largely from its opposition to mass migration, with leader Farage declaring in April that a Reform government would create a “Minister for Deportations” in the Home Office—which is about the only real concrete policy that the party has put forward. But in this proposal, and in response to the local victories, we can discern Reform’s economic agenda, and it’s one not far from President Trump’s.

    In relation to the “Deportations Minister,” Farage stated that “we will need to recruit new people, as the evidence at the moment suggests those who work in the Home Office would willfully obstruct policy if we won the next general election.”

    Such comments are reminiscent of Trump’s rhetoric regarding the Deep State, the fear that an obstructive civil service will sabotage any real measures being implemented. Often disregarded as a “conspiracy theory,” there is nevertheless a perception that the “will of the people” is obstructed by independent and unelected officials with their own agendas, contrary to the electorally victorious.

    Coming from Farage, it indicates a distrust of the established civil service, and a desire either to strip it back, or to dislodge and replace any servants who are not “on-side.” This would suggest a preference for a minimalist state, but one that is still active in key policy areas.

    Such a stance seems to be confirmed by Chairman Zia Yusuf’s statements following the local elections on what Reform plans to do in each council. Talking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Yusuf said that Reform “will cut waste” principally by sending “teams in, taskforces; we will be opening up applications soon.” In a move reminiscent of DOGE’s strategy, of sending small teams into each agency and demanding audits, Reform is clearly hoping to bring public spending under control. Meanwhile, Dame Andrea Jenkyns—formerly of the Conservative Party, and now Reform Mayor for Lincolnshire—has set the goal of cutting departments by 10 percent.

    Economically then, Reform’s government strategy seems attractive, and this may well bear fruit at the national level, but the obstacle at the local level is remarkably simple: it doesn’t have that much autonomy.

    As I say above, councils are not that significant, but where their spending is directed is pretty tightly controlled. For example, as much as 60 percent of local councils’ budgets are dedicated to social carea statutory obligation determined by the central government in Westminster, so other services must be the first to be cut. And since these are the issues that residents notice daily—road maintenance, bin collection, bus services, etc.—it can be electorally difficult to cut those without losing support.

    Reform’s strategy might, therefore, be a necessary one, but the capacity to implement it at the local level is likely to be a struggle, and one that they may not succeed in.

    Tyler Durden Mon, 06/02/2025 - 02:00
  16. Site: The Unz Review
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Alastair Crooke
    Should China succeed, the U.S. would lose its ‘magic weapon’ of monetary dominance. So spoke the French historian and philosopher Emmanuel Todd in his April Moscow lecture, From Russia With Love. This American awareness of defeat, however, contrasts markedly with the Europeans’ surprising lack of awareness – rather it is denial – at their defeat:...
  17. Site: The Unz Review
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Ron Unz
    World War II was certainly the most colossal military conflict in human history and it became the shaping event of our modern world, with its consequences and influence still extremely important nearly eighty years after the guns fell silent. Major wars are naturally accompanied by a great deal of governmental media propaganda, and this was...
  18. Site: AntiWar.com
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Ted Snider
    When U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term in office, he promised to be “a peacemaker and a unifier.” With wars and conflicts raging around the world, the one he seemed least likely to resolve was the dangerous standoff with Iran over its civilian nuclear program. Yet, four months later, with all the wars … Continue reading "Could a Deal With Iran Really Be on the Horizon?"
  19. Site: The Unz Review
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Jonathan Cook
    Tory leader says the quiet part out loud, admitting that both Israel and Ukraine are fighting for the West If you have spent the past 20 months wondering why British leaders on both sides of the aisle have barely criticised Israel, even as it slaughtered and starved Gaza’s population of more than two million people,...
  20. Site: The Unz Review
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Ron Paul
    Japanese company Nippon Steel’s plan to purchase US Steel was bound to provoke a strong reaction from left- and right-wing economic nationalists. After all, US Steel was once the world’s largest company, and it was the first company to be valued at over a billion dollars. US Steel was thus a symbol of America’s economic...
  21. Site: The Unz Review
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Paul Craig Roberts
    The Ever-Widening War With Putin focused on useless “peace talks,” Ukraine (or Washington or NATO) attacked four Russian Air Force bases and destroyed a number of strategic Russian bombers. The BBC reports: “In an operation said to have taken 18 months to prepare, scores of small drones were smuggled into Russia, stored in special compartments...
  22. Site: The Unz Review
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Gregory Hood
    One of the joys of being white is that you are always to blame for conflicts, even if you do not think you are involved. Israelis held a barbecue seemingly to mock those in Gaza. A black woman said that this proved whites are genetically more prone to evil. It received over 324,000 likes.
  23. Site: The Unz Review
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Rolo Slavskiy
    Most of you have already heard the news because it has been dominating headlines for the last 24 hours. The footage has been released in a timely manner to back up Kiev’s claims and to prevent the Kremlin from dousing the flames (literally and metaphorically) in the aftermath of the attack. We are still speculating...
  24. Site: AntiWar.com
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Rabah Filali
    In the final days of Ramadan, and just days before Eid al-Fitr, Sudan’s de facto president and army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, knelt in prayer beside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Al-Burhan had arrived in the kingdom only two days before the Sudanese civil war entered its … Continue reading "Riyadh and Khartoum Heading Toward a Deal That Will Anger Cairo"
  25. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    What Is American Conservatism?

    Authored by Roger Kimball via The Epoch Times,

    “To be deceived about the truth of things and so to harbor untruth in the soul is a thing no one would consent to.”

    — Plato, The Republic

    Let me start with the genus. What is conservatism? The answer? It is cheerful allegiance to the truth. This is especially true of conservatism’s American variant. Conservatism in America has some distinctive features, traceable mostly to two things: the Founders’ vision of limited government supporting individual liberty and the historical accidents of newness, on the one hand, and geographical amplitude and separateness on the other.

    Although it may sometimes seem that conservatives are constitutionally averse to cheerfulness, writing works with titles such as LeviathanThe Decline of the WestThe Waste Land, and Slouching Towards Gomorrah, by habit and disposition, I submit, conservatives tend, as a species, to be less gloomy than—than what? What shall we call those who occupy a position opposite that of conservatives? Not liberals, surely, since the people and policies that are called “liberal” are so often conspicuously illiberal, i.e., opposed to freedom and all its works.

    Indeed, when it comes to the word “liberal,” Russell Kirk came close to the truth when he observed that he was conservative because he was a liberal, that is, a partisan of ordered liberty and the habits and institutions that nurture it. (Is that another definition of conservatism?) In any event, whatever the opposite of conservatives should be called—perhaps John Fonte’s marvelous coinage “transnational progressives” is best, though the old standby “Leftists” will do—they tend to be gloomy, partly, I suspect, because of disappointed utopian ambitions.

    Conservatives also tend to enjoy a more active and enabling sense of humor than leftists. Has anyone ever accused Elizabeth Warren of having a sense of humor? How about Rachel Maddow? Or Jamie Raskin?

    The nineteenth-century English essayist Walter Bagehot once observed that “the essence of Toryism is enjoyment.” What he meant, I think, was summed up by the author of Genesis when that sage observed that “God made the world and saw that it was good.” Conservatives differ from progressives in many ways, but one important way is in the quantity of cheerfulness and humor they deploy. Not that their assessment of their fellows is more sanguine.

    On the contrary, conservatives tend to be cheerful because they do not regard imperfection as a moral affront. Being soberly realistic about mankind’s susceptibility to improvement, they are as suspicious of utopian schemes as they are appreciative of present blessings.

    Conservatives, that is to say, are realists. Like Plato, they recoil from the prospect of being fundamentally out of touch with reality.

    In a word, conservatives are not “woke.” They strive to call things by their proper names. Like Oscar Wilde’s Cecily Cardew, they call a spade a spade, just as they prefer to call “affirmative action” what it really is: “discrimination according to race or sex.” Ditto about taxation, which they describe, accurately, as “government-mandated income redistribution,” and “Islamophobia,” which is a piece of Orwellian Newspeak foisted upon an unsuspecting public by irresponsible “multiculturalists” colluding more or less openly with Islamofascists.

    At a time when culture and intellectual life are everywhere beholden to the imperatives of political correctness, even insisting on clear prose seems a daring provocation. Thus, one follower of the French deconstructionist Jacques Derrida declared that “unproblematic prose” and “clarity” were “the conceptual tools of conservatism.”

    Similarly, simply telling the truth about a whole host of controversial subjects is regarded as an unacceptable challenge to the reigning pieties of established opinion.

    Creeping multiculturalism intersects in poignant ways with a subject that is always at the center of concern for conservatism: change. Granted, change is a great fact of life.

    But an equally great fact is continuity, and it may well be that one adapts more successfully to certain realities by resisting them than by capitulating to them. “When it is not necessary to change,” Lord Falkland said some centuries ago, “it is necessary not to change.”

    I recognize that “change,” like its conceptual cousin “innovation,” is one of the primary watchwords of the modern age. But the great conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. was on to something important when he wrote, in the inaugural issue of National Review in November 1955, that a large part of the magazine’s mission was to “stand athwart history, yelling Stop.”

    It’s rare that you hear someone quote that famous line without a smile—the smile meaning “he wasn’t really against change, innovation, etc., etc.” But I believe Buckley was in earnest. It was one of the things that made National Review, in its first decades at least, unzeitgemässe, “untimely” in the highest sense of the word.

    Back then, National Review, as Buckley wrote, “is out of place, in the sense that the United Nations and the League of Women Voters and The New York Times and Henry Steele Commager are in place.”

    The late Australian philosopher David Stove saw deeply into this aspect of the metabolism of conservatism. In an essay called “Why You Should Be a Conservative,” he rehearses the familiar scenario:

    A primitive society is being devastated by a disease, so you bring modern medicine to bear, and wipe out the disease, only to find that by doing so you have brought on a population explosion. You introduce contraception to control population, and find that you have dismantled a whole culture. At home you legislate to relieve the distress of unmarried mothers, and find you have given a cash incentive to the production of illegitimate children. You guarantee a minimum wage, and find that you have extinguished, not only specific industries, but industry itself as a personal trait. . . .

    This is the oldest and the best argument for conservatism: the argument from the fact that our actions almost always have unforeseen and unwelcome consequences. It is an argument from so great and so mournful a fund of experience, that nothing can rationally outweigh it. Yet somehow, at any rate in societies like ours, this argument never is given its due weight. When what is called a “reform” proves to be, yet again, a cure worse than the disease, the assumption is always that what is needed is still more, and still more drastic, ‘reform.’

    Progressives cannot wrap their minds (or, more to the point, their hearts) around this irony: that “reform” so regularly exacerbates either the evil it was meant to cure or another evil it had hardly glimpsed.

    The Victorian poet and essayist Matthew Arnold was no enemy of reform. But he understood that what he described as “the melancholy, long, withdrawing roar” of faith had left culture dangerously exposed and unprotected. In cultures of the past, Arnold thought, the invigorating “remnant” of those willing and able to energize culture was often too small to succeed. As societies grew, so did the forces of anarchy that threatened them—but then so did that enabling remnant.

    Arnold believed modern societies possessed within themselves a “saving remnant” large and vital enough to become “an actual power” that could stem the tide of anarchy. As I look around at our present discontents, I hope more than ever that he was right.

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 23:20
  26. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 2 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Palantir's Deepening Government Ties Spark Fears Of Centralized Surveillance

    On Friday the NY Times published a report highlighting the Trump administration's increasing use of software from data analysis firm Palantir, which has been deployed across at least four federal agencies for the stated purpose of increasing operational efficiency through data modernization.

    For now, each deployment of Palantir software is focused on department-specific services, but the fact that they're now embedded across multiple agencies - combined with Trump's March executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies - has raised concerns over whether the US government is laying the groundwork for what could become an interconnected and unified surveillance apparatus created by a company which has been in business with the government since 2008

    Screenshot via USASPENDING.gov

    On Wednesday we noted that Fannie Mae, the quasi-government financial firm overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), announced a partnership with Palantir to detect mortgage fraud using the firm's proprietary technology, which includes some elements of artificial intelligence. 

    According to the report, since Donald Trump took office Palantir has received over $113 million in government spending - which doesn't include a $795 million contract from the Department of Defense (DoD) awarded last week. According to the Times report (citing six alleged government officials and Palantir employees), the company is also in discussions with the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service (the latter of which contracted with Palantir during the Biden administration). 

    Former Employees Revolt

    Palantir was founded in 2003 by Alex Karp and Trump ally Peter Thiel, and specializes in finding patterns in data and streamlining it into easily presentable formats. While Thiel is clearly a conservative, Karp - a self-described "socialist" who voted for Hillary Clinton, bragged about stopping the "far right" in Europe. 

    CIA agent and head of Palantir Alex Karp says his company’s software “single-handedly” stopped the “far right” in Europe.

    Founded in 2003 with funding from the CIA’s In-Q-Tel program, Palantir’s only client before 2008 was the CIA. pic.twitter.com/Shq0uA5x16

    — Reed Cooley (@ReedCooley) May 31, 2025

    Via @ReedCooley

    And so it's of little surprise that employees would flip out and leave over Palantir's recent $30 million contract with ICE to build a platform to track migrant movements in real time. (Palantir notably designed software for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to identify and track Hamas targets).

    This month, 13 former employees signed a letter urging Palantir to stop its endeavors with Mr. Trump. Linda Xia, a signee who was a Palantir engineer until last year, said the problem was not with the company’s technology but with how the Trump administration intended to use it.

    Data that is collected for one reason should not be repurposed for other uses,” Ms. Xia said. “Combining all that data, even with the noblest of intentions, significantly increases the risk of misuse.”

    ...

    Ms. Xia said Palantir employees were increasingly worried about reputational damage to the company because of its work with the Trump administration. There is growing debate within the company about its federal contracts, she said.

    “Current employees are discussing the implications of their work and raising questions internally,” she said, adding that some employees have left after disagreements over the company’s work with the Trump administration.

    Last week, a Palantir strategist, Brianna Katherine Martin, posted on LinkedIn that she was departing the company because of its expanded work with ICE. -NY Times

    According to Xia's letter, "We no longer believe Palantir’s executives are upholding these values. By supporting Trump’s administration,Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative, and dangerous expansions of executive power, they have abandoned their responsibility and are in violation of Palantir’s Code of Conduct."

    "As Musk’s DOGE operation dismantles U.S. government institutions under the guise of exposing corruption, opposition remains silent. Companies are placating Trump’s administration, suppressing dissent, and aligning with his xenophobic, sexist, and oligarchic agenda.Government databases are already erasing references to transgender people and gender-affirming care.These injustices could be facilitated by the very software infrastructure we help build."

    Palantir Responds

    In response to the Times, Palantir pointed to a blog post on how the company handles data, which reads: "We act as a data processor, not a data controller." 

    "Our software and services are used under direction from the organisations that license our products: these organisations define what can and cannot be done with their data; they control the Palantir accounts in which analysis is conducted."

    What say you?

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 22:45
  27. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Will Russia's Retaliation To Ukraine's Strategic Drone Strikes Decisively End The Conflict?

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

    Ukraine carried out strategic drone strikes on Sunday against several bases all across Russia that are known to house elements of its nuclear triad. This came a day before the second round of the newly resumed Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul and less than a week after Trump warned Putin that “bad things..REALLY BAD” might soon happen to Russia. It therefore can’t be ruled out that he knew about this and might have even discreetly signaled his approval in order to “force Russia into peace”.

    Of course, it’s also possible that he was bluffing and the Biden-era CIA helped orchestrate this attack in advance without him ever finding out so that Ukraine could either sabotage peace talks if he won and pressured Zelensky into them or coerce maximum concessions from Russia, but his ominous words still look bad. Whatever the extent of Trump’s knowledge may or may not be, Putin might once again climb the escalation ladder by dropping more Oreshniks on Ukraine, which could risk a rupture in their ties.

    Seeing as how Trump is being left in the dark about the conflict by his closest advisors (not counting Witkoff) as proven by him misportraying Russia’s retaliatory strikes against Ukraine over the past week as unprovoked, he might react the same way to Russia’s inevitable retaliation.

    His ally Lindsay Graham already prepared legislation for imposing 500% tariffs on all Russian energy clients, which Trump might approve in response, and this could pair with ramping up armed aid to Ukraine in a major escalation.

    Everything therefore depends on the form of Russia’s retaliation; the US’ response; and – if they’re not canceled as a result – the outcome of tomorrow’s talks in Istanbul. If the first two phases of this scenario sequence don’t spiral out of control, then it’ll all depend on whether Ukraine makes concessions to Russia after its retaliation; Russia makes concessions to Ukraine after the US’ response to Russia’s retaliation; or their talks are once again inconclusive.

    The first is by far the best outcome for Russia.

    The second would suggest that Ukraine’s strategic drone strikes on Russia’s nuclear triad and the US’ response to its retaliation pressured Putin to compromise on his stated goals.

    These are Ukraine’s withdrawal from the entirety of the disputed regions, its demilitarization, denazification, and restoring its constitutional neutrality. Freezing the Line of Contact (LOC), even perhaps in exchange for some US sanctions relief and a resource-centric strategic partnership with it, could cede Russia’s strategic edge.

    Not only might Ukraine rearm and reposition ahead of reinitiating hostilities on comparatively better terms, but uniformed Western troops might also flood into Ukraine, where they could then function as tripwires for manipulating Trump into “escalating to de-escalate” if they’re attacked by Russia. As for the third possibility, inconclusive talks, Trump might soon lose patience with Russia and thus “escalate to de-escalate” anyhow. He could always just walk away, however, but his recent posts suggest that he won’t.

    Overall, Ukraine’s unprecedented provocation will escalate the conflict, but it’s unclear what will follow Russia’s inevitable retaliation. Russia will either coerce the concessions from Ukraine that Putin demands for peace; the US’ response to its retaliation will coerce concessions from Russia to Ukraine instead; or both will remain manageable and tomorrow’s talks will be inconclusive, thus likely only delaying the US’ seemingly inevitable escalated involvement. Tonight will therefore be fateful for the conflict’s future.

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 21:00
  28. Site: Public Discourse
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Jason Bedrick

    Editors’ Note: In recognition of the 100th anniversary of Pierce v. Society of Sisters, this article is the first in a three-part series on religious freedom. 

    “The child is not the mere creature of the State.” 

    With those words, issued a century ago, a unanimous Supreme Court recognized that “the fundamental liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose” prevents the government from attempts to “standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only.” Parental rights include the right to choose private education. 

    Few cases have more profoundly shaped the intersection of education, parental rights, and religious freedom than Pierce v. Society of Sisters. Deciding amid a wave of nativist sentiment and efforts to homogenize American culture through compulsory public education, the Court struck down a Ku Klux Klan–backed Oregon law mandating public school attendance for all children. In doing so, it affirmed the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children—a principle that has since become a cornerstone of constitutional law. 

    Nevertheless, Pierce left several critical questions unresolved. While the decision prohibits the state from banning private schools, it remains unclear whether the state may require private institutions to offer an education “substantially equivalent” to that provided in public schools. Similarly, although Pierce affirms the right of parents to opt out of public education altogether, it does not directly address whether parents whose children attend public schools may selectively exempt their children from specific classes or curricular content they find objectionable. 

    These questions are currently the subject of cases in New York and Maryland that have the potential to shape the debate over parental rights, religious liberty, and education for the century to come. 

    From Parental Duties to Legal Obligations 

    Understanding Pierce and its progeny requires first noting its context. The principle that parents have primary authority over the upbringing and education of their children has deep philosophical and legal roots. In his Second Treatise of Government, for example, John Locke argued that parental childrearing authority precedes, and is independent of, political authority. Influenced by Locke, Sir William Blackstone wrote of parents’ common-law duty to provide for the maintenance, protection, and education of their children. Blackstone, in turn, was one of the legal commentators most familiar to America’s Founders. 

    Parents’ obligation to direct their children’s education led to laws requiring the education of children, beginning with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1642. Five years later, in order to ensure that all children could read the Bible, the Colony began requiring communities above a certain size to make teachers of reading and writing available for all children and to establish grammar schools. Whatever the instructional setting, however, the primary authority to direct children’s education remained with their parents, and the household remained the most important agency for transmitting learning, skills, and moral values. 

    Again led by Massachusetts, by 1918, every state had enacted laws requiring parents to send their children to a public school or to a private or parochial school that met certain standards. This movement threatened to shift primary control over children’s education from their parents to the state. 

    Enter the Supreme Court. 

    In 1919, the Nebraska legislature enacted a criminal law requiring that instruction of all subjects, in private or public schools, be in English until children passed the eighth grade. A Lutheran teacher convicted of teaching reading in German challenged the law, arguing that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment. Ratified in 1868, the amendment prohibits states from depriving “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” 

    In Meyer v. Nebraska, the case that resulted, the Supreme Court held that “liberty” under the due process clause includes not only “freedom from bodily restraint” but also “those privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.” The Court held that the teacher’s right to teach “and the right of parents to engage him so to instruct their children . . . are within the liberty of the amendment.” The Court struck down the Nebraska law, declaring that it “materially . . . interfere[d] with . . . the power of parents to control the education of their own.” 

    Two years later, the Court would build on Meyer’s broad conception of liberty in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, further solidifying the constitutional protection of parental rights in education and pushing back against state efforts to monopolize schooling. 

    Pierce v. Society of Sisters 

    Oregon first enacted a compulsory school law in 1889. The law required parents to enroll children ages eight to fourteen in a public school or a private or parochial school that met certain standards. However, in 1922, Oregon voters passed a ballot initiative requiring that children attend public schools exclusively, banning attendance at parochial or secular private schools. The driving motivation behind the initiative was to outlaw Catholic schooling. 

    Two private schools, one Catholic and one secular, challenged the law as violating “the right of parents to choose schools where their children will receive appropriate mental and religious training” and “the right of schools and teachers . . . to engage in a useful business or profession.” As in Meyer, the Court did not question the state’s general authority to require attendance at “some school.” Requiring attendance only at a public school, however, would destroy private primary schools. Citing Meyer, the Court held that this “unreasonably interferes with the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control.” 

    This liberty, of course, is not in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment. Both Meyer and Pierce were examples of what is often called “substantive due process,” or giving substantive content to the “liberty” in the due process clause by recognizing unenumerated rights. 

    The legitimacy of courts’ finding unwritten substantive rights in a written Constitution intended to govern them has long been debated. While the Supreme Court has used this method to create novel rights with no historical, cultural, or legal roots, such as same-sex marriage or abortion, the Court in Meyer and Pierce tapped into the centuries-long tradition, noted above, of parental authority to direct the upbringing and education of their children. In fact, in the 2000 case Troxel v. Granville, the Court would describe this right as “perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.” 

    While this parental right is unenumerated, it is perhaps more appropriate to say that the Supreme Court recognized rather than invented or created it. One of the Court’s most potent statements in Pierce hearkened back to the common law: “The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” 

    Determining the Framers’ intentions can be difficult; as can identifying the content and ideal application of unwritten rights, even those with such deep roots. Pierce holds that the state cannot abolish private schools, but can it impose regulations that effectively compel private schools to so closely resemble public schools that they lose their distinctive character? This remains unclear. 

    Likewise, Pierce affirms that parents’ right to direct their children’s education includes opting out of public schools altogether. But if parents choose to enroll their children in a public school, do they forfeit their ability to opt out of particular educational programs or courses of instruction? Pending cases before the courts may soon clarify. 

    Private Schools and Substantial Equivalency: The New York Yeshiva Case 

    Orthodox Jewish schools, known as yeshivas, look very different from the standard public school. They tend to begin the school day earlier and end much later, and most of the day is spent studying religious texts: the Torah, halacha (Jewish law), and especially the Talmud, a vast compendium of rabbinic legal debates, biblical exegesis, and stories covering innumerable topics including ethics, theology, philosophy, history, torts, agriculture, commerce, ritual law, and more. Most yeshivas, particularly among the Modern Orthodox, also offer robust secular studies. But a subset of more traditional Haredi Orthodox Jews minimize secular studies in their schools. 

    Since 2018, the Haredi yeshivas have been under assault by New York State Education Department (NYSED) bureaucrats and their media allies, who allege that the yeshivas are failing to provide an education that is “substantially equivalent” to that of the public schools. The New York Times ran a series of articles highlighting the claims of Young Advocates for a Fair Education, a group of formerly Haredi graduates of yeshivas they claimed left them unprepared for higher education. They are pushing NYSED to enforce stricter educational standards for their former schools. 

    Others argue that the yeshivas prepare the children they serve to live as productive members of their community and the broader society. Dr. Moshe Krakowski of the Modern Orthodox-affiliated Yeshiva University, for example, spent years studying Haredi yeshivas and finds that their classroom activities, grappling with the meaning of primary sources written in multiple languages, “more closely resemble upper-level humanities coursework in a university than clerical training.” 

    Just as the Pierce case had implications far beyond the Catholic school at the center of the lawsuit, resolution of the yeshiva case will have broad ramifications for parental rights and religious liberty generally. To what extent can the government regulate private schools before it violates the right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children? Can the government require private schools to provide instruction “substantially equivalent” to public schools? 

    Enacted in 1894, New York’s substantial equivalence statute was born of the same anti-Catholic motivations as the 1922 Oregon compulsory education law at issue in Pierce. It also paralleled so-called “Blaine Amendments,” constitutional provisions adopted in New York and nearly forty other states prohibiting any public financial support for parochial schools. 

    At the time, public schools functioned as de facto non-denominational Protestant schools, where teachers led students in Protestant prayers and taught the Protestant version of the Bible. The Supreme Court would later condemn the “shameful pedigree” of the Blaine Amendments, observing that they were “born of bigotry” and “arose at a time of pervasive hostility to the Catholic Church and to Catholics in general.” 

    Even though Catholics and other religious minorities were forced to pay for the supposedly “nonsectarian” public schools via their taxes, the Blaine Amendments ensured that the Catholics’ own “sectarian” schools would receive no taxpayer assistance. But the Protestant majority went even further than denying public funds to parochial schools. They passed a law requiring that the education provided at private schools be “substantially equivalent” to that offered at public schools. However, as Catholics were keen to show that they were just as American as anyone else, with few exceptions, the law essentially remained unenforced for more than a century. 

    That changed in 2018, when New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced new “guidelines” that substantially reinterpreted the substantial equivalence statute. These revised guidelines require private schools to provide instruction in eleven specific subjects for a minimum of 17.5 hours per week. 

    To monitor adherence, NYSED would, along with local authorities, conduct inspections of private schools. Schools found to be noncompliant risked losing access to public support programs, including funding for textbooks, transportation, and school meals. In more severe cases, the commissioner could require parents to enroll their children in another school and declare truant any children who remained enrolled at a noncompliant school.

    Within a few months, New York was facing three separate lawsuits from organizations representing Jewish, Catholic, and independent schools challenging the new guidelines on constitutional, statutory, and procedural grounds. Citing Pierce, the lawsuit filed by a Haredi-aligned organization called Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools (PEARLS) argued that the statute violated the rights of parents to direct their children’s education and to choose an education that aligned with their beliefs. They cited First and Fourteenth Amendment violations, among other claims. These parents do not want an education that is “substantially equivalent” to what public schools offer: the education they desire for their children is substantially different. 

    In 2019, a trial court in Albany County nullified the new guidelines, finding that NYSED had failed to follow the proper procedure when issuing them, ; but the court did not address  the merits of the constitutional claims. NYSED soon began the process of issuing new guidelines following the proper procedures, including allowing public comment. Within a span of three months, the department received more than 140,000 public comments about the proposed guidelines, the vast majority of which were opposed. 

    The New York Board of Regents adopted the new guidelines, which closely resembled the previous attempt to revise the substantial equivalence guidelines, in September 2022. Soon after, New York Education Commissioner Betty Rosa declared that one yeshiva failed to meet the substantial equivalence guidelines and must develop an improvement plan or face closure. PEARLS and several yeshivas quickly filed suit. A year later, a trial court judge invalidated the statute’s enforcement mechanism, holding that the burden to ensure a child received a substantially equivalent education fell on the parents, not the schools. In other words, parents could meet the statute’s requirements using a variety of education options—tutoring, homeschooling, virtual learning, etc.—but no one education provider needed to meet all the statutory requirements. 

    However, the victory was short-lived. Last year, the New York Court of Appeals overturned the trial court judge’s decision, holding that a “child attending an institution for a full, lengthy school day period who is not receiving or obtaining a substantially equivalent education in the basics of arithmetic, English, science, and history . . . cannot adequately supplement this substandard curriculum in the few hours remaining in the week.” 

    Nevertheless, the lawsuits bought the yeshiva advocates sufficient time to push back politically. The New York legislature recently modified state law to allow more pathways for private schools to demonstrate substantial equivalence and to phase in the compliance mechanisms. But if the case returns to court, many questions remain. To what extent can the state override parental rights in the name of educational oversight? At what point does imposing secular education standards on religious schools violate the Free Exercise Clause by interfering with religious practice? And are Haredi Orthodox yeshivas being subjected to unequal treatment compared to other non-public or religious schools?  

    The last question could prove decisive for the yeshivas. NYSED only counts yeshiva classes taught in English toward their substantial equivalence requirements, while accepting multilingual instruction in public schools and other private schools. Courts are unlikely to permit this double standard, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decisions in two COVID-era cases. 

    In Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, the Court declared that the constitutional requirement of religious neutrality is met only if religious groups are treated as well as the most favored secular category under the law. In that case, New York State had closed churches and synagogues due to COVID, but allowed certain “essential” businesses to remain open. The Court temporarily enjoined the executive order, allowing the houses of worship to reopen. 

    In a subsequent case, Tandon v. Newsom, the Supreme Court clarified that “government regulations are not neutral and generally applicable, and therefore trigger strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause, whenever they treat any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise.” Therefore, if public schools and other private schools can meet state standards with classes taught in Spanish, Arabic, or other languages, then yeshiva classes that are taught in Yiddish, Hebrew, or Aramaic should also be deemed compliant. 

    Parental Opt-Out in Public Schools: Mahmoud v. Taylor 

    Parents clearly have the right to opt out of the public school system entirely, and that right might extend to private schools that offer a substantially different education. But if they choose to enroll their child in a public school, can they opt out of individual classes and lessons, or must they accept the whole package? This spring, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which should answer this question. 

    In October 2022, the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education announced a policy requiring the use of LGBTQ-inclusive storybooks as part of the English Language Arts curriculum for elementary school students. The content of the books, as well as materials provided to teachers for fostering discussion and answering questions, makes clear that the school board intended to challenge or “disrupt” students’ traditional views about gender and sexuality. The immediate firestorm of controversy came not only from parents on religious grounds, but also from teachers and even administrators who questioned this program’s efficacy and age-appropriateness. 

    In response, the school board agreed to notify parents when the storybooks would be used and, as it does in other contexts, allow them to opt their children out. The board’s “Guidelines for Respecting Religious Diversity” even state that schools should accommodate parents’ requests to opt their children out of instruction they believe “would impose a substantial burden on their religious beliefs.” Less than a year later, however, the school abruptly, and without explanation, rescinded this notice-and-opt-out policy, requiring all students as young as three years old to receive this instruction without exception. The board even advised teachers not to inform families when this controversial material would be used. 

    A group of parents from various religious traditions filed suit, arguing that this mandatory policy violated their right to exercise religion, which includes directing what their children learn about sexuality and gender. The lower courts held that requiring young children to participate in such instruction not only does not violate their parents’ right to exercise religion, but that it does not even impose a burden on that right at all. 

    This case does not raise the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children in the general way that Pierce did, but it does show how this unenumerated parental right can intersect with enumerated rights such as the free exercise of religion. The best outcome will be for the Supreme Court to hold that denying any notice or opt-out, especially after having allowed them before, infringes on the parents’ right to exercise religion. At least in these circumstances, that right involves directing the upbringing of their children regarding sensitive matters such as gender and sexuality. 

    In other words, the Supreme Court should not only reverse the lower court decisions by concluding that the school district’s policy places a substantial burden on their religious exercise, but also by explaining clearly that this exercise of religion is intrinsically linked to their responsibilities as parents. 

    Courts have held that, while the parental right recognized in Pierce includes deciding which school their child will attend, it may have less force regarding matters within schools such as curriculum development or administration. This does not mean, however, that policies or actions in those categories will not undermine, perhaps significantly, parental authority regarding their children. One way to mitigate this potential damage is to show how school policies, such as the promotion of gender ideology through social transition, do not fall within those categories of items traditionally left to schools’ discretion. 

    Mahmoud presents another possibility. A parent relying on the First Amendment right to freely exercise religion may have a more potent claim regarding the use of objectionable material on sensitive subjects than a parent asserting only a general Pierce-style parental right. The Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud, therefore, will be instructive regarding the breadth and substance of rights that parents can defend when it comes to their children’s upbringing and education, even within the educational context itself. 

    The Legacy and Future of Pierce 

    Many originalists and textualists remain critical of courts’ using the due process clause to establish any substantive rights and skeptical of the Supreme Court’s attempt to limit recognition of unenumerated rights to certain categories. Nonetheless, as explained, the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children has deeper roots than other unenumerated rights and, when combined with the right to exercise religion, can have a more concrete connection to the Constitution. 

    For a century, Pierce v. Society of Sisters has endured not merely as a bulwark against government overreach, but by establishing as a foundation for that resistance the primacy of parental authority regarding their families. This fundamental principle is older than America itself. By giving this right, already recognized in the common law and colonial statutes, constitutional status, the Supreme Court ensured that it would continue to influence debates over the limits of state authority in regulating private education and the extent of parental rights in public school settings. 

    Parents’ authority over their children’s education is being challenged as much today as it was by states like Oregon a century ago. Cases like the ones discussed here will continue to arise as government finds new ways to substitute its ideology for parental prerogatives. Especially where other rights, such as the free exercise of religion, are also involved, Pierce remains a solid basis on which parents can insist on their proper place in the family and society. 

    Image licensed via Adobe Stock.

  29. Site: LES FEMMES - THE TRUTH
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: noreply@blogger.com (Mary Ann Kreitzer)
  30. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 week 3 days ago
    Two nuns who experienced sexual and psychological violence by Father Marko Rupnik spoke to TV Slovenia. The artist, priest and former Jesuit, who is accused by several nuns of psychological and sexual abuse, will be tried in the Vatican court.Gloria Branciani was a medical student when she joined the Loyola community, in which women, like men among the Jesuits, followed the charism of St. Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  31. Site: non veni pacem
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Mark Docherty

    Trads, Sedes, Conservatives:

    Who’s Got it Right?

    President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan with Pope John Paul II.jpg

    Trads, Sedes, Conservatives:

    Who’s Got it Right?

    SSPX, Sedevacantists, Bene-Papists, EWTN-ists, FirstThings-ists…Hermeneutic of Continuity or Rupture? Latin Mass or Novus Ordo? Roman Catholic or Synodal Church?

    2025 marks 60 years since the close of Vatican II. We will explore the events of the last six decades in Church History and attempt to answer which group of Catholics “Got it Right.” Only $119 to enroll, or take with Snatched From Satan, and Atheism Eviscerated and get all three courses for $299, a near $60 savings!

    ENROLL

    Weekly Live Classes start Thursday June 12th, at 5pm PDT/8pm EDT and will run approximately 70-80 minutes. Q&A will follow for 10 minutes or more for those who can stay. I will suggest readings. No tests. No pressure. Content: Ages 13 and up. Recorded video link sent afterwards so you can watch on your own time! Join us this Easter Season. (Projected duration 7 weeks)

  32. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 week 3 days ago
    Scroll down for today'sSaint of the Day/ FeastReading of the MartyrologyDedication of the MonthDedication of the DayRosaryFive Wounds Rosary in LatinSeven Sorrows Rosary in EnglishLatin Monastic OfficeReading of the Rule of Saint BenedictCelebration of MassReading from the School of Jesus CrucifiedFeast of Saint Nicholas the PilgrimNicholas was born at Steiri in Boeotia, Greece, where his Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  33. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Two Bridges 'Blown Up', Trains Derailed, In Russian Regions Bordering Ukraine, Killing At Least 7

    A lot happened in the Russia-Ukraine war on Sunday, and as the dust settles from Ukraine's major drone attacks which struck airbases and destroyed strategic bombers deep inside Russian territory, details of other parallel, devastating alleged 'sabotage attacks' are emerging.

    Two bridges have collapsed in Russia’s western regions bordering Ukraine on Sunday morning, which derailed trains and left at least seven people dead, and dozens more injured

    A railway bridge collapsed Sunday in the Kursk region of Russia. Source: Acting Governor of Kursk Region/Reuters

    "It was not clear on Sunday morning whether the two incidents — which both involved trains — in neighboring Bryansk and Kursk were related, or what exactly caused the separate collapses," CNN reports.

    Railway authorities said of the Bryansk incident that "illegal interference" was the cause, with regional governor Alexander Bogomaz saying a bridge had been "blown up".

    CNN details that "The bridge came down in the region’s Vygonichi district, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Ukrainian border, crushing the moving train and injuring at least 66 people, including three children, Russian authorities reported."

    Russian state media is giving 'sabotage' as the reason for the train derailments

    Videos circulating in Telegram show a crushed train carriage with passengers being evacuated through shattered windows, and emergency services responding at the scene. The collapse also reportedly affected vehicles on the bridge, which fell onto the railway below.

    Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) reported that fire and rescue units are actively working at the site of the bridge collapse. “All necessary assistance is being provided to the victims. Additional MChS forces, emergency rescue equipment, and lighting towers for nighttime operations have been deployed to the area,” the ministry noted in an official statement. 

    Russian media sources published videos of bystanders of the scene of a major train derailment:

    New vid of CHAOTIC moments after Bryansk region bridge collapse

    People rush to help man trapped in railroad car

    Train left sprawled SIDEWAYS https://t.co/BdfL9IHfBq pic.twitter.com/x0WYsLlkFD

    — RT (@RT_com) June 1, 2025

    Apparently this wasn't the first effort to blow up train tracks, in a brazen act of targeting civilian transport infrastructure. RT writes that--

    "Just days earlier, a freight train in Russia’s Belgorod Region ran over an explosive device planted under the tracks, causing a powerful blast. According to the governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, the explosion damaged the railway’s contact network but caused no casualties."

    Several different scenes of twisted metal and train 'accidents' emerged Sunday.

    Reuters: Emergency responders the scene of a bridge collapse in Russia's Bryansk region on Sunday.

    CNN says there was even a third train incident, which occurred Saturday night:

    In a third incident on Saturday night, a Russian military freight train was blown up near the occupied city of Melitopol in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

    “As a result of the explosion, the train with fuel tanks and freight cars derailed on the railway track,” the intelligence service said.

    The freight train was moving towards Russian-occupied Crimea via a “key logistical artery” often used by Russian forces, the authority added.

    Mystery as Russia is rocked by 3 train crashes in one night after bridges collapse & tracks ‘blown up’ leaving 7 dead https://t.co/7Ud9UqusR4

    — Corby Zone (@MissionArtist) June 1, 2025

    The timing of these attacks suggests likely coordination with the huge drone swarm attacks on Sunday out of Ukraine.

    Kiev officials have already long described that they want to make life chaotic and dangerous inside Russia, in hopes that society could be destabilized which could in turn destabilize the government and Putin's rule.

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 16:20
  34. Site: Restore-DC-Catholicism
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: noreply@blogger.com (Restore-DC-Catholicism)
  35. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 week 3 days ago
    Catholic women from Bavaria fight for more rights and positionsCatholic women repeatedly have high expectations of the Pope and the bishops in Rome. Even though they are repeatedly disappointed. Nevertheless, they never stop working for their church. And fighting for change.The Catholic Church's reform project has been underway for three years. For the first time, women and non-ordained men also Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  36. Site: Fr. Z's Blog
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: frz@wdtprs.com (Fr. John Zuhlsdorf)
    Morning light and my old doorway. Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful. ? … Read More →
  37. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 week 3 days ago
    After a fiasco last year when an ardent synodalist was rejected by the Bishops (see background), German scouting now has a new leader.Maximilian Strozyk becomes the new Federal Curate of the DPSGMaximilian Strozyk, pastor at the Duisburg youth church Tabgha, has a new nationwide role: The priest of the Diocese of Essen, originally from Bochum and living in Mülheim, is now also involved at the Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  38. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Kremlin Prepared For All-Out Conflict With NATO: Institute For War

    The hawkish Washington DC-based think tank, The Institute for Study or War (ISW), had just prior to Ukraine's Sunday shock drone operation which reportedly took out some 40 military aircraft deep inside Russian territory issued a report saying President Vladimir Putin is prepared for war with NATO if things escalate to that point.

    A May 30 decree issued by Putin concerning the Russian defense industry base (DIB) would enable the government to legally take over military contractor firms if they do not abide by wartime martial law orders.

    "Putin is likely setting legal conditions to allow the Russian government to commandeer elements of Russia's economy and DIB should the Kremlin introduce full martial law in order to transition the country to a full wartime footing," ISW wrote on UnderstandingWar.Org.

    "ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin is preparing Russian society and economy for a protracted war in Ukraine, indicating that Russia is not interested in engaging in good faith negotiations to reach a diplomatic settlement to its war in Ukraine."

    Certainly Sunday just brought the world a big step closer to witnessing potential all-out war in Eastern Europe, given the Zelensky-ordered drone swarm attacks are already being called 'Russia's Pearl Harbor'.

    "The Kremlin is continuing efforts to prepare Russian society and the Russian defense industry base (DIB) for a protracted war with Ukraine and potential future war with NATO," ISW concluded. "Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on May 30 allowing the Russian government to revoke the rights of shareholders of defense industrial enterprises in the event that the enterprise fails to fulfill state defense orders during martial law."

    "The decree enables the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade to appoint a management company to act as the sole executive body of the enterprise in order to fulfill contractual obligations to the Russian government," the study says.

    And it applies to "civilian aviation and shipbuilding companies, military development and production companies, and government subcontractors."

    And just as useless for them. https://t.co/dIIsGnmBAm

    — Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) June 1, 2025

    Sunday's major attack on Russian airbases may only serve to accelerate a possible Kremlin move toward martial law and formal declaration of all-out war in Ukraine.

    Despite Kiev and Ukraine supporters praising the effectiveness of Sunday's operation, the reality is that instead of translating into strategic battlefield gains, this only pokes the bear in a major way. Unverified reports say that ballistic missiles at silos across Russia are being readied.

    We are likely to see Kiev soon get pummeled once again along with places like Odessa which have been for the most part sparred utter destruction thus far in the war.

    Ukraine just mounted an attack that marks a turning point in the history of warfare

    Hundreds of drones were pre-deployed and then struck 40+ aircraft 1000+ km inside of Russia

    >$1B in damage by <$1m of drones

    Critical infra is no longer safepic.twitter.com/qaPS3oKD1Y

    — Shaun Maguire (@shaunmmaguire) June 1, 2025

    Russia will likely ramp up attacks on 'command centers' throughout Ukraine, including those believed staffed by foreign advisers and officials. A big question for the Kremlin will be whether Western intelligence helped in Sunday's attacks, which saw several Russian long-range bombers destroyed. Another question that remains is: will Monday's peace talks in Istanbul still proceed at this point? There's little doubt that Putin is readying a massive, painful retaliatory attack on Ukraine.

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 15:10
  39. Site: Fr. Z's Blog
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: frz@wdtprs.com (Fr. John Zuhlsdorf)
    Today the Pope, Leo XIV (a pleasure to type that) gave a sermon for a Mass for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents and the Elderly. In this sermon he directly contradicted something that Francis inspired in others through the … Read More →
  40. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    "Everything Has Been Alarmist": Bessent Shuts Down CBS Over Inflation, Says US Will 'Never Default' On Debt

    For months, all we've heard from mainstream economic pundits is that Trump's tariff scheme would lead to absolute chaos; ports would be shut down, inflation would cripple the US economy, and markets would crater. The response was an April rollercoaster in stocks that ended the month higher, while the most recent inflation metrics had core PCE (personal consumption expenditures) coming in at its lowest level in years, while 'supercore' inflation (service-based inflation) dropped the most since COVID. So, just the opposite of what we were told would happen.

    On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent disintegrated the conventional wisdom, while raking CBS News' Margaret Brennan over the coals in response to the media's fake news hysteria. 

    The key excerpts from the interview:

    • BESSENT: "Thus far there have been no price increases - everything has been alarmist. The inflation numbers are actually dropping. We saw the first drop of inflation in four years. The inflation numbers last week, they were very pro-consumer."

    • BRENNAN: "But you listen to earnings calls just like we do. You know what Walmart is saying, what Best Buy is saying, and what Target is saying." 

    • BESSENT: "But Margaret, I also know what Home Depot and Amazon are saying. I know what the South China Morning Post wrote within the past 24 hours - that 65% of the tariffs will likely be eaten by the Chinese producers." 

    • BRENNAN: "The reality is there will either be less inventory, or things will be at higher prices, or both." 

    • BESSENT: "Margaret, when we were here in March, you said there was going to be big inflation. There hasn't been any inflation. Actually, the inflation numbers were the best in four years. So why don't we stop trying to say 'this could happen,' wait and see what does happen. 

    NEW: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent strikes down CBS News’ Margaret Brennan by reminding her about her own previous comments about inflation.

    Another rough weekend for Margaret.

    Brennan: “The reality is there will either be less inventory or things at higher prices or both.”… pic.twitter.com/eONA9xNqxT

    — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 1, 2025

    Bessent also pushed back on a warning by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who said that a crack in the bond market "is going to happen."

    "I’ve known Jamie a long time, and for his entire career he’s made predictions like this," said Bessent. "Fortunately none of them have come true. That’s why he’s a great banker. He tries to look around the corner."

    Brennan: Dimon predicted a debt market crisis,

    Bessent: For his entire career, he's made predictions like this, fortunately none of them have come true. That's why he's a banker, a great banker pic.twitter.com/Kk5q50jnZu

    — Acyn (@Acyn) June 1, 2025

    Bessent also insisted that the US "is never going to default," as the deadline for raising the debt ceiling yet again approaches.

    "That is never going to happen," he told Brennan, adding "We are on the warning track and we will never hit the wall."

    Bessent's comments come as the US Senate returns this week to take up President Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' which includes an increase in the debt limit before the so-called "X-date" when the Treasury runs out of cash and special accounting measures that would allow it to operate it within the debt ceiling and still meet federal obligations on time.

    "We don’t give out the ‘X date’ because we use that to move the bill forward," Bessent said (yet, he told lawmakers last month that the US was likely to exhaust its ability to borrow by August if the debt ceiling isn't raised or suspended by then.

    "The United States of America is never going to default. That is never going to happen," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says ahead of a summer deadline to increase or suspend the debt limit, telling @margbrennan, "we are on the warning track, and we will never hit the wall."… pic.twitter.com/ZKXPnd5FEQ

    — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 1, 2025

    Last week the Trump administration lashed out at Beijing for what they said was a violation of a US-Chinese tariff truce reached in May. Today, Bessent said he's confident that this "will be ironed out" in a call between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping "very soon." 

    According to White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, the call is expected to take place this week - telling ABC's This Week that Trump "is going to have a wonderful conversation about the trade negotiations this week with President Xi."

    “My expectation is that both sides have expressed a willingness to talk.”

    Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said it is possible that Pres. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak this week about the ongoing trade battle.https://t.co/URF3j1NkNa pic.twitter.com/wwwKkLdOjX

    — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 1, 2025

    On Friday, US Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer accused Beijing of failing to comply with several elements of the trade agreement brokered in Geneva, insisting that China continues to "slow down and choke off things like critical minerals and rare-earth magnets."

    Bessent addressed this on Sunday, saying "Maybe it’s a glitch in the Chinese system, maybe it’s intentional," adding "We’ll see after the president speaks with the party chairman."

    We are not seeking to decouple from China, but we must take steps to de-risk.

    Withholding essential products from global industrial supply chains is not the behavior of a reliable trading partner. pic.twitter.com/wq4HkaECRT

    — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) June 1, 2025
    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 14:35
  41. Site: Fr. Z's Blog
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: frz@wdtprs.com (Fr. John Zuhlsdorf)
    Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff. Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Mass of obligation for the Sunday after Ascension Thursday?  … Read More →
  42. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Wall Of Confusion

    Submitted by Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

    Wall of Confusion

    I think that we have seen the word “uncertainty” far too many times in the past few months. While uncertainty had its time and place, maybe confusion is a better description?

    This is a natural evolution of last weekend’s Uncertainty – Main Street vs Wall Street.

    We will use “confusion” or “confusing” as much as possible today. That might be a weird approach to writing a report that is designed to help guide investors and corporations through these markets, but it is where we are.

    Wall of Worry

    Wall Street is well known for climbing the “Wall of Worry.” Some have tried to argue that Wall Street climbed a Wall of Uncertainty in the past couple of months, but that does not seem accurate.

    • Stocks plummeted as “Liberation Day” created certainty on tariffs – and that certainty was scary.
    • Stocks rebounded as the President “pivoted” away from tariffs to the budget. While tariffs have remained a staple of the Wall Street diet, the headlines have had less and less impact, as the consensus view is that the headlines are “grandstanding” and the final results will be “manageable.”

    Where we have been, for a week or longer, is figuring out how well Wall Street can climb a Wall of Confusion? On the prior Friday, when the President sent out his Truth Social posts threatening Tim Cook’s company with tariffs on a certain product, and 50% for the EU (after all the “progress” on China), many people figuratively “threw up their hands.” From a quiet Friday, to assessing the likelihood of these posts becoming policy. For me, I believe, I literally “threw my hands in the air” as the announcement was confusing in terms of timing, scope, and even reality. If we had to identify a moment in time, where the narrative should maybe switch from uncertainty to confusing, it was that series of posts (the EU one, not surprisingly, was “fixed” by the open on Tuesday, and the other one seems to have died off for now).

    While uncertainty and confusion are related, they are not the same thing (at least we don’t think so).

    Wall of Confusion – (That’s What the World is Today)

    Okay, the song is actually “Ball of Confusion” but “Wall of Confusion” seemed more relevant to me (and I’m slightly embarrassed to admit, I thought the song was “Wall of Confusion” – but in my defense, I was never a big Love and Rockets fan, and it was more difficult to find song lyrics back in the day). Moving on, from that faux pas, there are some reassuring things about the song.

    Run, run, run but you sure can't hide
    An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
    Vote for me and I'll set you free

    Ball of confusion (oh, yeah)
    That's what the world is today, hey, hey

    The sale of pills are at an all time high
    Young folks walking 'round with their heads in the sky
    The cities ablaze in the summer time
    And oh, the beat goes on

    Evolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul
    Shooting rockets to the moon, kids growing up too soon
    Politicians say more taxes will solve everything
    And the band played on

    So, 'round and around and around we go
    Where the world's headed, nobody knows

    If you read the lyrics, you might be wondering if something is seriously wrong with me! How are these lyrics even remotely reassuring?

    The fact that Love and Rockets felt it was timely to remake this song in 1985, and we are still around (and in general, thriving) tells me that we made it through the last 40 years, and maybe things weren’t so different?

    The Temptations released the original version back in 1970!

    So, the same set of words, broadly applicable today, were applicable over 55 years ago!

    • The bad news is that we’ve gone 55 years and haven’t seemed to have fixed all that much.
    • The good news is that we’ve flourished even with these issues and as much as today might seem different, in reality, it might not be that different. I really find that encouraging.

    I assume the “ball” referred to in the song is the Earth, and yes, there is a depressing (and scary) element to the lyrics. For today, I’m going to take to heart that the world has been (and probably always will be) confusing, but we can make it through that.

    On that positive note, maybe we should just end today’s report here?

    While that would be nice, I do feel compelled to get across a few of the most confusing things.

    Sentiment By Party Is Confusing?

    We will devote as little text as possible to the University of Michigan Survey (and even that is more time than this survey deserves). We touched on the massive gap between Democrats and Republicans in Together We Stand. Overall, things would be better as the nation gravitates to a relatively uniform plan (not something we have today, but it is something that Jamie Dimon seemed to hit on in a recent interview).

    1-year inflation expectations dropped from 7.3% to 6.6% in the most recent survey – though, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all submitted for higher 1-year inflation. How is that even possible?

    I was prepared for “mood” swings, like we saw in sentiment, where Democrats were less negative (economic data and stocks have been doing well, and the administration has backed off some policies), while Republican sentiment dropped a bit – presumably because of the PIVOT?

    For me, sentiment surveys are on the cusp of shifting from confusing to irrelevant.

    In any case, I certainly don’t know how we are supposed to use them in this day and age of social media, etc.

    Tariff Inflation Confusion

    Maybe I’m the only one confused by the potential impact of tariffs on inflation?

    I’ve seen a number of surveys where the group running the survey is trying to figure out if tariffs are “inflationary” or “deflationary.” A valid goal, but what if the answer is both? Or kind of? Or first one, then the other?

    We will now subject you to one of our very amateur charts, but one that can clarify the view that we have had (and continue to have) on tariffs.

    Overall premise (which we’ve outlined in the past):

    • Tariffs, initially, result in some upward pressure on prices
      • Price increases take time, as the tariffs get paid and prior inventory is worked off
      • Price increases take time because many prices have already been contracted
      • Price increases take time due to uncertainty/confusion over whether the tariffs will remain in place
      • Smaller levels of tariffs will be split between the exporter, importer, and consumer

    The numbers on the “left” scale, ranging from -4 to 10, should be viewed more as a “scale” of deflationary, low, medium, and very high inflation, rather than as estimates of the percentage impact on tariffs.

    While what we consider “manageable” tariffs have some inflationary pressures, it will act more or less as “business as usual.”

    For higher tariff levels, we believe there will be some serious questions about the supply chain.

    As tariffs increase, the pricing dynamic shifts, at least initially, from “attribution,” to real fear about supply chain issues. 

    That will create much higher inflation, much quicker as consumers and businesses scramble to adjust to potentially disruptive supply chains.

    Higher levels of tariffs are highly likely to slow the economy down. Once we get over the initial “supply chain” issues, it seems logical to assume the economy will experience a slowdown. Inflation will reduce the number of goods consumed. 

    Profit margins will erode. Serious re-thinking of the global economy will occur, which will lead to deflation, as spending will drop.

    Over time, in all scenarios, we should drift back to a no or limited effect.

    It is probably accurate to say that tariffs are a “one-time” adjustment to prices, but that “one-time” adjustment will actually occur over a period of time.

    That is why it will be difficult for the Fed to cut, as tariffs slowly leak their way into the system.

    Very high levels of tariffs will likely be deflationary, as they will hurt the economy, possibly severely (which is what the market was pricing in, before the 90-day pause was instituted). Incidentally, this is what ZeroHedge said back in June 2024 in "The Experts Are All Wrong About Inflation Under A Trump Presidency"

    The impact of tariffs is likely to be confusing: If our view is correct, and any inflationary pressures take time to play out, it will be difficult to separate any inflation from tariffs versus all of the other forces shaping the economy and prices.

    Confusing? Possibly, though we would argue this is a logical framework to think about tariffs and inflation.

    Economic Data Is and Will Be Confusing

    Since the election, companies and individuals have had to think about the following:

    • Potential deregulation and aggressive efforts along the lines of National Production for National Security. That was highly anticipated, then seemed to take a back seat, but is moving to the forefront again (the Nippon/U.S. Steel deal is an example.)
    • M&A. Was a big hope for Wall Street. That too faded, but has been bouncing back.
    • Tariffs. Buying ahead of tariffs. Slowdown as Liberation Day tariffs hit. More buying as the pause went into effect.
    • Government Job Cuts and Spending Cuts. DOGE brought out the “chainsaw” – literally, on stage, but then not much seemed to happen. The Big, Beautiful Bill seems to bring back spending.

    Companies and individuals have had to navigate some or all of the above as these factors affect their businesses.

    While it is always difficult to estimate the “steady state” of the economy and separate the “signal from the noise,” I cannot think of a more difficult time than now.

    On the government side, what was probably a drag, has become less of a drag on the economy (assuming the bill gets passed).

    On the tariff side, it probably increased demand for products (and presumably labor), with a potential slowdown as any backlog is worked off.

    Then you have survey response rates. We have bashed on sentiment surveys enough, but the BLS continues to see declines in survey response rates. The Establishment data, for NFP (which we get this week) gets a response rate of about 43%, down from over 60% a decade ago. So not even half of the firms bother to respond, for one of the most important pieces of data that we get.

    We argued in last month’s Instant Reaction that the adjustment from the birth/death model seemed inconsistent with many other things we had been tracking (and it ultimately was the main driver of the report).

    We may well get more confusing data on the jobs front this month. There is a camp that believes the jobs data has been overstated, and we have at least one foot in that camp, for the reasons we’ve been detailing.

    The uncertainty, or even “confusion,” is likely slowing hiring, but it is also likely slowing dismissals, as companies don’t want to be understaffed if the PIVOT is Real and Positive.

    I’m Confused Why World Leaders Are Not Golfing with Trump

    We have mentioned how Abe of Japan learned to golf so he could play with Trump. The President said incredibly nice things about Abe during his speech about the U.S./Nippon Steel deal.

    It seems pretty simple. Learn to golf (if you don’t already know how). Invite him to the best course your country has to offer. Get permission to do a military flyover while he is at the course. Expect a “reciprocal” at Mar-a-Lago. Don’t take the game too seriously and make sure you lose, possibly by a lot.

    If I didn’t have a big defense budget, a need for airplanes, or massive amounts of chips, this would seem like a good plan to me. Heck, even if you need any or all of the above, it seems like a good plan!

    I’m confused why more world leaders aren’t golfing with Trump? It seems funny, but I am serious.

    Bottom Line

    With all the confusion, we continue to believe that you should “stay the course” based on your current convictions, until evidence mounts that the course you are on is incorrect.

    Policy pivots need to be addressed immediately. Fortunately, even with policy pivots, we seem to have time to absorb them, unlike in March and early April.

    On the data front, expect some data to be confusing, or even misleading, but try to sort out the overall trend before correcting course.

    Rates. Moderately bullish. We published Add Duration on May 22nd. The 10-year had closed at 4.6% the night before and is now back to 4.4%. It should have some more room to run to lower yields, especially as yields globally seem to have found support. I think we should be pricing in 3 cuts this year, starting in July.

    Credit. Should continue to chug along.

    Equities. Broad markets seem ok here, but extended. The “everyone is bearish” narrative has largely flip-flopped. Individual sectors may be the key here, as we digest the confusion and what it means for the economy and specific sectors. If anything, the equity market seems to be living a little bit too much on Hopium rather than concrete announcements.

    • The pivot, budget, and Trump put seem fully priced in.
    • Difficulties getting deals closed (including risk of sanctions on Russia, if no ceasefire is reached), seem not to be getting priced in.
    • It has been awhile since we’ve used Hopium, but it seems to be the one word that is emerging from the confusion.

    We can navigate through confusion, but I think we will be most successful navigating through it if we accept that confusion is different than uncertainty (as convoluted as that might sound).

    Also, let’s remember the song that inspired this whole thing was released 55 years ago, and as much as the issues remain relevant, the nation, and individuals in the nation as a whole, have a lot more than we had back then!

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 14:00
  43. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    CT Dems Advance Bill That Allows Lawsuits For Turning Over Illegals To ICE

    Connecticut Democrats have advanced a controversial bill amending the state’s Trust Act to let “any aggrieved person” sue municipalities—including police and school employees—that work with federal immigration authorities, according to Law Enforcement Today.

    The Law Enforcement Today article says that the measure, passed 96-51 along party lines, was prompted by claims from immigrant advocates that some towns ignore existing state law governing local cooperation with ICE. Although it wouldn’t grant immediate recourse to detained migrants, it allows future lawsuits and forces municipalities to pay legal fees if they lose.

    House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, who supported the 2013 Trust Act, criticized the expansion: “It’s not enough that municipalities and our public safety cannot communicate with ICE for them to do their job. They’re now going to allow these same individuals to sue our towns and cities,” he said.

    Democratic Rep. Steven Stafstrom said the change aims to reassure immigrants they can seek help from local police without fear of deportation: “We’re trying to strike the right balance,” he said.

    Republicans slammed the move. Rep. Doug Dubitsky called the Trust Act “a travesty,” while Rep. Craig Fishbein questioned its purpose: “Do we trust the government to use the statutes that are in place to protect us?”

    Mathew Silverman, head of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, argued that sanctuary laws “weaken the relationship between local and federal law enforcement,” making it harder to catch “dangerous individuals” and “intercept deadly fentanyl.”

    Rep. Farley Santos, who came to the U.S. from Brazil as a child, defended the bill, saying: “They [illegal aliens] are the next doctors, they are the next entrepreneurs, they are the next public servants.”

    Critics say the expansion ties the hands of law enforcement and undermines public safety by limiting cooperation with federal agencies.

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 13:25
  44. Site: PeakProsperity
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: davefairtex
    This week's economic indicators show mixed signals: personal income up, auto sales and durable goods down, GDP growth questioned. Financial markets display cautious optimism with treasury yields falling, equities rallying, and gold hinting at a low.
  45. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Candy-Maker Says It Removed Additive Targeted By RFK Jr. From Skittles

    Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Skittles no longer contains titanium dioxide, a chemical identified as potentially problematic by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s commission in a recent report, the candy’s manufacturer said on May 27.

    Skittles on a store shelf, in an undated file photo. Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Our commitment to quality is what has enabled Mars to be enjoyed by consumers for over a century, and nothing is more important than the safety of our products,” a spokesperson for Mars Inc. told news outlets this week. “All our products are safe to enjoy and meet the high standards and applicable regulations set by food safety authorities around the world, and that’s something we will never compromise on.”

    The company did not respond to requests for more information, including when the chemical was removed.

    In the May 22 report from the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which Kennedy chairs, the commission said that titanium dioxide was an additive “of potential concern” and that it “may cause cellular and DNA damage.”

    The commission cited a review that concluded that possible adverse outcomes of titanium dioxide exposure included cancer and damage to the heart, and an assessment that said titanium dioxide may cause immune issues, inflammation, and neurological problems.

    “Based on all the evidence available, a concern for genotoxicity could not be ruled out, and given the many uncertainties, the Panel concluded that E 171 can no longer be considered as safe when used as a food additive,” the assessment from the Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings, commissioned by the European Commission and published in 2021, stated.

    Kennedy hailed the move from Mars.

    You don’t need titanium dioxide to make rainbows,” he wrote on social media platform X. “Mars has announced the removal of titanium dioxide from Skittles. I’ve long been critical of the use of harmful additives in our food, especially when companies are fully capable of producing safer versions for European markets. When corporations take steps that help make our children—and America—healthy again, it’s a move in the right direction.”

    The Environmental Defense Fund and other groups asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a division in Kennedy’s department, in 2023 to ban titanium dioxide from food products. The FDA says on its website that it is still reviewing the petition.

    Skittles still contains artificial colorings, including Yellow No. 5 and Red No. 40.

    The FDA said in April it was banning two other artificial colorings used in foods and beverages, in addition to a third that was previously prohibited. Officials also said companies would voluntarily remove the other six dyes that have regulatory approval, including Yellow 5.

    Following the announcement, PepsiCo executives said the company was quickening its transition away from artificial colors. In-N-Out said it was removing dyes from its strawberry milkshakes, pink lemonade, pickles, chilis, and house spread.

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 12:50
  46. Site: Fr. Z's Blog
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: frz@wdtprs.com (Fr. John Zuhlsdorf)
    It was called to my attention that our Eastern lung, as St John Paul II might say, celebrates today the Nicene Fathers, the bishops who participated in the FIRST Ecumenical Council at Nicea which was called to deal with the … Read More →
  47. Site: Henrymakow.com
    1 week 3 days ago


    fidelito-swab-carnage.png(Klaws Swab and two of his bumboys)

    Mathew Ehret has written a brilliant and concise explanation of Canada, 
    and indeed the world's bondage to the Satanist Rothschild banking cartel.
    This is the case that Pierre Poilievre should have made but didn't.

    None of us are free citizens of a democracy. 
    We are collateral for an ever-increasing national "debt." 
    Most politicians are Freemasons working for the Rothschilds.




    by Matthew Ehret

     "A strange event took place in Ottawa on May 27, 2025 as King Charles III flew in a French AirbusCC330 across the ocean, then was chauffeured in a 27 car motorcade to Canada's parliament to deliver a throne speech- inaugurating the new session of parliament under Canada's -- Prime Minister Mark Carney.

    After ironically acknowledging unceded land in his opening remarks, King Charles (owner of 89% of Canada's surface area dubbed 'Crown land') proceeded to lecture Canada's representatives about committing to de-carbonization, arctic militarization and supporting European militarization via the Re-Arm Europe Plan against Russia.

    Mark Carney has let it be known that he wishes to enmesh Canada more deeply into the British imperial system and the European satraps which fell for London's Euro trap 30 years ago.

    Formerly the Governor of the Bank of Canada, then the Bank of England, and later the UN's special envoy on climate finance, Carney now stands at the center of Canada's political future."

    He is known to be one of the key architects behind Canada2020--the very think tank that selected and managed Justin Trudeau's political career--and now stands as Canada's Prime Minister. He served as a steering committee member of the powerful Bilderberg Group (founded by unreconstructed SS officer Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands), and was president of England's powerful Chatham House which oversees its junior chapter- the Council on Foreign Relations in the USA." (Continues)

    --
    1748705869362.jpg
    Hamdy Mig (Left)--"After two days of displacement, exhausting hardship and escaping certain death, I built my small tent from some thin wood and worn-out bags on the beach, and I live in it now, where the scorching sun in the morning, the bitter cold at night, and the strong winds that almost tear the tent apart and drown it in the sea waves. Here we do the impossible in order to live and not die, we do not despair or get tired, we endure all of this for the sake of a decent life in the near future."

    A Way to Help Gaza


    -
    Encore

    $21 Trillion Black Budget is Funding a Rogue Breakaway Civilization | Catherine Fitts

    Tony B-- "Catherine Austin Fitts absolutely knows of what she speaks and, at the end finally reveals the only true, workable, solution, even though she seems incapable of saying the word "God."

    This knowledge is so much needed that it is worth time to view a second, or even third time, if you miss some of her words.


    -
    Kevin Barrett- "Did Comey issue a deniable threat against Trump on behalf of the same neocon-zionist criminals who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington? Those suspicions were heightened by the timing. May 15 was not just the 8,647th day after 9/11. It was also the day that Trump stopped in Qatar during the US president's tour of West Asia--a tour that snubbed Netanyahu and Israel, and featured Trump denouncing neocons, US imperialism, and regional wars.


    --
    US Manufacturers Can't Fill 500,000 Vacancies Now


    US manufacturing is struggling to fill existing jobs as tariffs aim to bring back more.



    red-symphony.png
    Physician Who Witnessed Interrogation of Rakovsky During Trotskyite Trials, Lifted the Veil of the Global Crime Syndicate


    Rakovsky: "In direct negotiations with Hitler (the Jewish bankers) agreed as to the financing of the National-Socialist Party, and the latter received in a couple of years millions of Dollars, sent to it from Wall Street, and millions of Marks from German financiers- through the Freemason Schacht; the upkeep of the S.A. and S.S. and also the financing of the elections which took place, which gave Hitler power." 

    This was extremely important in the depth of the Depression because the Nazis provided food and shelter to many of their supporters.

    --

    War & Migration = Disease ALWAYS!



    Martin Armstrong-=-"Creating WWIII on top of this gain-of-function COVID-19 disease, will be the devastating impact that our computer is projecting heading into 2029, which will probably be Phase I, with Phase II heading into 2032, but the final Phase will [?]"

    "Yes, I have said there remains the risk of a 50% decline in population as the Sixth Wave of the Economic Confidence Model concludes. This is historically standard. This is traditionally the combination of war and disease."

    -

    trumps-mission-god.jpegTrump's Mission from God: Use WW3 as an excuse to murder millions of non-Satanists

    "However, the inclusion of Pepe the Frog shifts the tone from playful homage to something more contentious. Pepe, created in 2005 by cartoonist Matt Furie for his comic Boy's Club, began as a benign symbol of slacker culture, embodying a "feels good man" ethos.

    By the mid-2010s, however, the character was co-opted by 4chan users and later by alt-right groups, transforming it into a symbol associated with white nationalism, QAnon, and other far-right ideologies.


    -

    'You are going to panic,' Jamie Dimon tells regulators about what will happen when the bond market cracks


    -

    Tim Fitzpatrick--JEWISH LEADERS OF RUSSIA SINCE 1917:


    In a March 2017 interview, Russian opera singer Maria Petrovna Maksakova confirmed: "The majority of the Russian Federation deputies have Israeli citizenship".

    The following article claims that most Russian leaders since 1917, and even since 1970, were Jewish:


    "Apart from the ORIGINAL Bolshevik-Zionists, these also include Putin, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Medveydev, "Stalin", Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, Mikhail Mishustin, Sergey Kiriyenko, etc. According to researcher Christopher Story (who worked with defector Anatoliy Golitsyn), Mikhail Gorbachev may have been a Jew whose real name was Mikhail Orbach. Furthermore, Boris Yeltsin may have been a Jew whose real name was Boris Moiseevich. But, of course, all of this is very hard to prove or disprove.

    "The Russian and East European Holocaust (77 million victims) was perpetrated by Jews such as "Trotsky" (Lev Bronstein); "Zinoviev" (Hirsch Apfelbaum); "Lazar Kaganovich" (Lazar Kahan); "Kamenev" (Lev Rozenfeld); "Maxim Litvinov" (Meir Henoch Wallach); Mikhail Lashevich; Moisei Uritsky; Genrikh Yagoda; "Martov" (Yuliy Osipovich Tsederbaum); "Parvus" (Israel Lazarevich Gelfand); "Ganetsky" (Jakub Fürstenberg); György Lukács; "Bela Kun" (Moritz Cohen); Yakov Sverdlov; "Karl Radek" (Karol Sobelsohn); Willi Münzenberg; "Grigory Sokolnikov" (Hirsch Brilliant); Yakov Yurovsky; "Volodarsky" (Moisey Goldstein); "Yakov Doletsky" (Yakov Fenigstein); "Yakovlev" (Yakov Epstein); Semyon Dimanstein; "Goloshchyokin" (Shaya Itsikovich); Karl Liebknecht; Rosa Luxemburg; Kurt Eisner; Emil Barth; Philipp Scheidemann; Paul Levi; Karl Radek; Lev Mekhlis; Jakub Berman; Mátyás Rákosi; "Ana Pauker" (Hannah Rabinsohn); "Yuri Steklov" (Ovshey Moiseyevich Nakhamkis); "Julius Martov" (Yuliy Osipovich Tsederbaum); "Fyodor Dan" (Fyodor Gurvich); "Yuri Larin" (Yuri Lurye); Mark Natanson; as well as part-Jews "Stalin" (Ioseb Dzhugashvili) and "Lenin" (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov).

    But the official-"truth" narrative claims that the Russian and East European Holocaust had to do with "left-wing politics" but was "not" a religious war in which Talmudic Jews genocided (mostly Orthodox) Christians.

    In reality, of course, "left-wing politics" was a deception invented to dupe the Goyim "Livestock" into thinking that communism had not in fact been a genocidal religious war pursuant to the Talmud. And most Goyim were duped."

     
    car-cemetry.png
    Hamas didn't do this

    ENCORE: JOHN HANKEY PROVES THAT 7 OCT 2023 WAS A FALSE-FLAG RUN BY THE ZIOFASCIST IDF:


    John Hankey states: "Israel was behind the attacks of October 7. Hamas is run by Israeli Secret Intelligence, the Mossad. The fact that the Mossad supplied Hamas with billions of dollars in cash is NOT in dispute. ALL sources say that the Israeli military stood down (was completely absent) for 6 hours. The best evidence indicates that 94 percent of the civilians were killed by the military to justify the genocide in Gaza. Israeli veterans say so."

     

     

     

    IN DEC 2023, ZIONIST CNN ADMITTED "UNKNOWN TRADERS ANTICIPATED 7 OCT HAMAS ATTACK":


     
    POLL: 88 PERCENT OF AMERICANS WANT BIG PHARMA MAFIA HELD "FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE" FOR INJURIES (AND DEATHS) CAUSED BY THE COVID-BIOWEAPON-JAB:

    Here is a report on a recent poll conducted by the Center for Excellence in Polling and commissioned by the Foundation for US-Regime Accountability:

    --
    Elon_Musk_1748628334830_1748628340095.png
    Elon Musk latest member of the black eye club


    --
    ZIOFASCIST TRUMP STILL HAS NOT LIFTED A FINGER TO TAKE THE mRNA-COVID-BIOWEAPON-JAB OFF THE MARKET, LET ALONE MOVED TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE COVID-PHARMA GENOCIDE. COULD IT BE THAT TRUMP IN FACT WANTS TO WIPE OUT AS MANY GOYIM "LIVESTOCK" AS POSSIBLE?:


    Patrick O'Carroll--"Dear Donald, your ZioFascist strings are showing. Your "advisors" should have told you that you need to do much more than just feign a "spat" with your boss and handler Benjamin Netanyahu. Do you think you can "hide" your ZioFascist strings much longer? They are already showing."

     
  48. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Zelensky Calls Meetings With Putin 'Meaningless' And Asks For More Military Aid

    Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a three-way summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, likely in response to Russia's accelerated gains on the eastern front as well as the mass missile and drone attacks on Kyiv.  "If Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or if everyone wants it to be a trilateral meeting, I don't mind. I am ready for any format," Zelensky stated after admitting that the Kremlin had amassed at least 50,000 troops near the northern Sumy region of Ukraine. 

    The Kremlin responded with suspicion to the idea, noting that Zelensky was looking for 'clout' and a 'legitimacy boost' by inserting himself at the table between Russia and the US in the initial talks.  And, to be fair, the real diplomatic discussion is between Russia and the US, not Russia and Ukraine.

    The conflagration in Ukraine is a clear proxy war with NATO officials managing the details of the conflict behind the scenes.  Ukraine's entire intel apparatus is reliant on NATO reconnaissance technology and their long range missile and drone strikes require NATO personnel and satellites to aim and guide the weapons.  The Ukraine war is between Russia and NATO; Ukraine and Zelensky are incidental.  

    Zelensky appears to have taken offense to Russia's claim that he is chasing clout in a recent statement in which he asserted that meetings with Russia were "meaningless" without more pressure from the US and Europe.  He also begged for even more money and weapons to be sent to Ukraine from western partners while suggesting that long range attacks were the best way to bring the war to the Russians and convince them to accept a ceasefire agreement.

    In other words, it appears that Zelensky was indeed interested in diplomatic negotiations until it became clear that he would not be at the center of them. 

    Over the course of the past few months the establishment media and European officials have hinted that the war in Ukraine is not going well.  The realities of attrition warfare are taking hold and eventually Ukraine and NATO will have to admit that they are losing.  It's a reality many analysts have been trying to warn about for at least the past year, but anyone listening to the propaganda from the western media would assume that Ukraine is on the verge of sweeping the Russian out of the country.

    This is simply not the case.  Russian forces are breaking through on multiple fronts and they seem to be massing for a large scale offensive in the north.  Ukraine's military is on it's last legs, which is the only reason why Zelensky has deigned to entertain the idea of peace talks at all.  He is also realizing that it is highly unlikely that the US will ever intervene with boots on the ground - The fundamental strategy of Kyiv and NATO officials was to lure the US and European public to support troop deployments and direct war with Russia.

    European politicians are keen on the idea of sending in troops, but without US involvement they will not be able to effectively fight Russian forces in a brand of warfare far different from the typical maneuver warfare they are used to.

    Donald Trump has sought to balance his peace negotiations with carrot and stick incentives for both sides of the conflict, but it may be too late for a deal as neither government is anxious for a realistic agreement.  Zelensky is forever demanding greater intervention by NATO countries and wants all territory taken by the Russians to be returned.  This isn't going to happen. 

    Vladimir Putin, perhaps rightfully, is concerned about negotiating a ceasefire only to have progressives take power again in the US and upend any deal that is struck.  The motivation for Russia to press for a total victory and the removal of the government in Kyiv is high.        

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 12:15
  49. Site: southern orders
    1 week 3 days ago

     I get it. It’s artwork. But they reckovated a beautiful, historic church in Bishop Marini’s diocese to create it. 

    It’s a bit distracting to me, but nice to see the central crucifix. Placing it (the crucifix) to the side seems to be the Master of Ceremonies preference at the Vatican, although he goes back and forth with it. 

    Not sure which configuration Pope Leo prefers if any preference which is par for the course with the modern Mass, so many preferences, so many choices, so many options. Ugh! But don’t you dare, in the Diocese of Charlotte, pick the choice of fiddlebacks, tall Missal stands, candles on the altar and a central crucifix. 

    And certainly Bishop Marini would be reprimanded by Bishop Martin (no relation) if he prayed the vesting prayers and any prayers after Mass.





  50. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 week 3 days ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    New COVID Variant NB.1.8.1 Starting To Spread Worldwide: What We Know

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1 is causing more infections worldwide, as China’s health agency said it’s the dominant variant.

    A laboratory technician works on samples to be tested for COVID-19 at the Fire Eye laboratory, a COVID-19 testing facility, in Wuhan, China, on Aug. 5, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images

    The new strain was named as a “variant under monitoring” by the UN health body last week, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed a small number of cases were circulating in the United States.

    WHO Says New Variant Spreading

    WHO said in an update on May 28 that the variant is driving up cases in parts of the world and is currently spreading in Southeast Asia, the western Pacific regions, and the Mediterranean.

    The recent increases have been observed in four countries and areas to date: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong ... and Singapore,” the UN group said.

    The variant LP.8.1 is currently the dominant version worldwide, according to WHO. But both LP.8.1. and NB.1.8.1 have not shown signs that they would cause an “increased public health risk” when “compared to other circulating variants,” the U.N. health body stated.

    Reports From China

    In a recent update, the Chinese CDC said that NB.1.8.1 makes up the majority of cases in China, while some Chinese doctors have gone on record in state-run media to say that one symptom that is being reported is a sharply painful sore throat.

    The Chinese CDC has been criticized over the years for not being transparent with its case and death figures throughout the pandemic. The Trump administration and some U.S. intelligence officials have said that the virus appeared to have emerged from a top-level laboratory in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempted to cover it up and downplay its significance.

    Some outside experts have questioned the actual death toll and case numbers reported by the regime since the pandemic’s start in early 2020.

    Dr. Jonathan Liu, professor at the Canadian College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, director of the Kang Mei TCM Clinic, and skeptic of data Chinese CDC figures on COVID-19, said official data for March reported that seven people died from COVID-19 that month. He suggested in an interview with The Epoch Times that such a number is unreal.

    “With normal epidemic rates, such a low figure is implausible. Canada, with a sparse population and good sanitation, reported 1,915 COVID deaths from August last year to May this year—over 200 per month. How could China, with its dense population, have only seven deaths monthly?” Liu told The Epoch Times last week.

    The Chinese CDC also “has not reported the rate of severe cases, hospitalization rate, or mortality rate,” said Sean Lin, assistant professor at the Biomedical Science Department of Fei Tian College, former U.S. Army microbiologist, and Epoch Times contributor.

    Other countries “cannot know the actual situation” in China because of the CCP’s attempts to downplay the true state of COVID-19 domestically, he added.

    WHO’s recent update noted that new variant cases have increased in the western Pacific region, which includes China.

    Other Governments Respond

    Officials in South Korea on Friday said its government is closely monitoring COVID-19 cases in China and Hong Kong, while the country’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters conducted a meeting that morning on the situation.

    “COVID-19 cases are increasing in some neighboring countries, including Hong Kong, China and Thailand, which is concerning,” Second Deputy Director General Lee Han-kyung of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety told JoongAng Daily. “People aged 65 and older, as well as residents of high-risk facilities, should get vaccinated now to prevent severe illness and death.”

    The Korean Medical Association also said it has “concerns” due to large fluctuations in the daily weather temperatures and “increased population movement due to domestic and international travel.”

    “There is considerable concern about a COVID-19 resurgence, and with more indoor activities likely due to the hot weather, the risk of respiratory infections spreading may increase,” the association told the JoongAng Daily.

    In India, Delhi Health Minister Pankaj Singh told the PTI news service on May 26 that there is no need to panic over the strain.

    “We have advised hospitals to be ready with beds, oxygen, essential medicines, and equipment, just in case. This is a part of standard preparedness,” he told the newswire service. “There is no need to worry. COVID caused by the new variant is similar to a normal viral illness. The patients who have come in so far are experiencing mild symptoms like fever, cough, and cold.”

    This week, officials in Taiwan sent an alert about COVID-19 and stated that people in the country should wear a mask and wash their hands. Taiwanese officials earlier this month had reported a rise in cases.

    CDC Says Case Numbers Are Low

    U.S. officials appeared to downplay the significance of the new variant, suggesting that it’s not worse than any of the ones that are currently in circulation.

    In a statement to The Epoch Times on Sunday night, a CDC spokesperson said that the health agency “is aware of reported cases of COVID-19 NB.1.8.1 in China and is in regular contact with international partners.”

    “It has not met the threshold for inclusion in the COVID Data Tracker dashboard. We monitor all SARS-CoV-2 sequences, and if it increases in proportion, it will appear on the Data Tracker dashboard,” the spokesperson added, noting that fewer than 20 sequences of the variant have been found so far.

    Tyler Durden Sun, 06/01/2025 - 11:40

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