Distinction Matter - Subscribed Feeds

  1. Site: Mises Institute
    20 hours 16 min ago
    Author: Patrick Barron
    Protectionism really isn‘t a theory of betterment for all but a claim that certain people in certain occupations are special. They must be paid more handsomely than the market—meaning you and me—wishes to pay. It will be big business and big labor who will be the beneficiaries of tariffs.
  2. Site: Zero Hedge
    20 hours 33 min ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Foreign Meddling: US Ambassador Lobbies Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Against Forcing New Elections

    As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling government coalition stands on the brink of being toppled by a bill that would dissolve the country's parliament and force new elections, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has controversially inserted himself into the country's domestic affairs by lobbying ultra-Orthodox members of Netanyahu's coalition -- urging them to rethink their plans to vote in favor of the measure.

    The rebellion by the ultra-Orthodox parties springs from their anger over the prospect of ultra-Orthodox youth being included in the country's military draft -- after having been exempt from conscription since Israel's 1948 founding. Last summer, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the government must start drafting the Haredi men, who typically dedicate their entire lives to religious study. Since then, the ultra-Orthodox have been pushing hard for the Knesset to pass legislation to render the Supreme Court decision on the subject moot. With the IDF poised to conscript 54,000 Haredi yeshiva students in July, the parties have been boycotting various votes and are now poised to tip the scales in favor of new elections. 

    US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (ACLJ graphic)

    According to polling, Netanyahu would be thrown to the curb in a new election. Enter Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor and fervent Evangelical Christian Zionist has been meeting with senior Haredi politicians, imploring them to give Netanyahu more time to solve the draft crisis. His pitches reportedly include a caution that “government stability is important for dealing with the Iranian issue.” (Pursuing a resolution of tensions over Iran's nuclear program, Trump administration diplomats will have a sixth round of talks with Iranian counterparts on Sunday in Oman's capital, Muscat.) Another report has Huckabee telling ultra-Orthodox leaders that "Washington will have difficulty supporting Israel during an election period," though it isn't clear what means, exactly. 

    As you might expect, Huckabee's intervention isn't appreciated by opposition members working to trigger new elections. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid diplomatically said he hoped the reports were untrue: 

    “Since I have no doubt that Ambassador Huckabee respects Israel’s independence and its democracy, I hope and believe that the report that he is interfering in Israel’s internal politics and trying to help Netanyahu [deal with] the ultra-Orthodox in the military draft law crisis are not true. Israel is not a protectorate.”

    Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist opposition Yesh Atid party and prime minister for six months in 2022, said Huckabee would be wrong to interfere in Israel's internal politics (AP photo)

    So far, Huckabee has been tight-lipped about his machinations. “He is holding meetings with various Israeli figures. The content of those conversations remains private,” a Huckabee spokesperson told Channel 13. The outlet reported that Netanyahu is aware of Huckabee's lobbying and is pleased about it. Huckabee has long been aligned with right-wing, expansionist elements in Israel. “I consider [the two-state solution] no solution whatsoever,” he told a Republican Jewish Coalition audience in 2015, insisting that Israel has a "God-given...title deed" to all the land it controls -- including the West Bank -- or, as he insists on calling it, "Judea and Samaria." 

    Mike Huckabee, after being named Ambassador to Israel by Trump, declares "there is no occupation" of Palestinian territory by Israel. Rather, Israel has had the "rightful deed" to the territory since the days of Abraham. He says he'll be using Biblical terms like "Promised Land" pic.twitter.com/hRjlMpwcBM

    — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) November 16, 2024

    The measure to dissolve the parliament was introduced last week by Israel's largest opposition party. There are 120 seats in the Knesset, and Netanyahu's coalition controls 68 of them. Of his coalition, 18 come from Israel's two main ultra-Orthodox parties, which means their defection would guarantee the dissolution of the Knesset and a new round of elections. Last week, two spiritual leaders of a faction of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party instructed members to move forward with an attempt to topple Netanyahu's government over the draft issue.

    Netanyahu has been also been making the rounds with ultra-Orthodox Knesset members. On Monday, Israel's Channel 12 quoted Netanyahu as telling Haredi lawmakers, “We are in a dramatic period. There are extraordinary challenges on the table. This is a historic window of opportunity that will not return, and therefore, under no circumstances should the foundations of the government be shaken.”

    Tyler Durden Wed, 06/11/2025 - 02:45
  3. Site: Zero Hedge
    21 hours 18 min ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Russia's Arrival In Dnipropetrovsk Puts Ukraine In A Dilemma

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

    It’s very difficult to imagine how Ukraine can prevent any further Russian advances after this...

    The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that their forces had entered Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Region, which Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed is part of Putin’s buffer zone plan. This was foreseen as early as late August once the Battle of Pokrovsk began but has been achieved even without capturing that strategic fortress town. Russian forces simply went around it after breaking through the southern Donbass front. This development puts Ukraine in a dilemma.

    It’ll now have to simultaneously fortify the Dnipropetrovsk front together with the southern Kharkov and northern Zaporozhye ones in case Russia uses its new position to launch offensives into any of those three. This could put serious strain on the Ukrainian Armed Forces as they’re already struggling to prevent a major breakthrough in Sumy Region from Kursk. Coupled with depleting manpower and questions about continued US military-intelligence aid, this might be enough to collapse the frontlines.

    To be sure, that scenario has been bandied about many times over the past more than 1,200 days, but it nowadays appears tantalizingly closer than ever. Observers also shouldn’t forget that Putin told Trump that he’ll respond to Ukraine’s strategic drone strikes earlier this month, which could combine with the abovementioned two factors to achieve this long-desired breakthrough. Of course, it might just be a symbolic demonstration of force, but it could also be something more significant as well.

    Ukraine’s best chances of preventing this are for the US to either get Russia to agree to freeze the frontlines or to go on another offensive.

    The first possibility could be advanced by the carrot-and-stick approach of proposing a better resource-centric strategic partnership than has already been offered in exchange on pain of imposing crippling secondary sanctions on its energy clients (specifically China and India with likely waivers for the EU) and/or doubling down on military-intelligence aid if it still refuses.

    As for the second, the 120,000 troops that Ukraine has assembled along the Belarusian border according to President Alexander Lukashenko last summer could either cross that frontier and/or one of Russia’s internationally recognized frontiers. Objectively speaking, however, both possibilities only stand a slim chance of success: Russia has made it clear that it must achieve more of its goals in the conflict before agreeing to any ceasefire while its success in pushing Ukraine out of Kursk bodes ill for other invasions.

    The likelihood of Ukraine cutting its losses by agreeing to more of Russia’s demands for peace is nil. Therefore, it might inevitably opt, whether in lieu of the aforesaid scenarios or in parallel with one or both of them, to intensify its “unconventional operations” against Russia. This refers to assassinations, strategic drone strikes, and terrorism. All that will do, however, is provoke more (probably outsized) conventional retaliation from Russia and thus painfully delay Ukraine’s seemingly inevitable defeat.

    With an eye towards the endgame, it appears as though an inflection point is about to be reached or already has been in the sense of irreversibly shifting the military-strategic dynamics in Russia’s favor. It’s very difficult to imagine how Ukraine can extricate itself from this dilemma. All signs point to this being impossible, though the conflict has already surprised observers on both sides before, so it can’t be ruled out. Nevertheless, it’s a far-fetched scenario, and it’s more likely that Ukraine’s official defeat is nigh.

    Tyler Durden Wed, 06/11/2025 - 02:00
  4. Site: Restore-DC-Catholicism
    22 hours 30 min ago
    Author: noreply@blogger.com (Restore-DC-Catholicism)
  5. Site: The Unz Review
    23 hours 13 min ago
    Author: Patrick Lawrence
    Those drone attacks on five Russian airfields last week were nothing if not daring. No final report from Moscow yet, but three figures’ worth of Ukrainian drones launched from the backs of trucks destroyed some number of strategic bombers in the Russian fleet. Now we read all over the place — well, all over mainstream...
  6. Site: The Unz Review
    23 hours 17 min ago
    Author: Steven Starr
    The detonation of a 1.44-megaton W49 nuclear warhead 250 miles above Johnston Island in 1958 resulted in the first recorded high-altitude electromagnetic pulse. The photo was taken 860 miles away in Hawaii, far enough away to prevent severe retinal burns in the eyes of observers in Honolulu (military officials had moved the site of the...
  7. Site: The Unz Review
    23 hours 17 min ago
    Author: John Helmer
    President Donald Trump believes – because his opinion pollsters tell him – that pre-emptive attack wins the battleground. That’s to say, the battleground states in US elections. Federalizing California state firefighting troops and ordering them with US Marines – 5,000 of them so far — into action in Los Angeles is the latest example of...
  8. Site: The Unz Review
    23 hours 18 min ago
    Author: Paul Craig Roberts
    Democrats for many long years have imposed race and gender privileges, which violate the 14th Amendment’s requirement of equal protection under law and the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s statutory prohibition of race and gender quotas. In order to give preferences to women, people of color, and sexual perverts at the expense of white heterosexual men,...
  9. Site: AntiWar.com
    23 hours 18 min ago
    Author: William J. Astore
    Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Donald Trump has a dream: a “golden dome” over America to defend the country against nuclear missiles. It’s a repeat of Ronald Reagan’s dream, the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed “Star Wars” after the movie. The problem is that the dream represents a nightmare. How so? Golden Dome … Continue reading "Golden Dome Idiocy"
  10. Site: The Unz Review
    23 hours 18 min ago
    Author: Andrew Anglin
    Firstly, if I was going to kill myself, I would do it in some epic style that no one would ever forget. Probably, I would use a gun in a famous place. If I didn’t have a gun, I’d do like, a quadruple backflip from the 99th floor cocktail bar. Something along those lines. Nextly,...
  11. Site: AntiWar.com
    23 hours 18 min ago
    Author: Dan Steinbock
    Last week, Philippine and US Marines demonstrated “lethal firepower in two separate live fire exercises” the Philippine Marine Corps portrayed as “defense partnership.” It went hand in hand with high-profile, high-cost military deals. These follow Manila’s flirting with US Army Typhon missile systems. The deployment is part of US military’s strategic repositioning in the Pacific … Continue reading "Philippines as a Warring Nation"
  12. Site: non veni pacem
    23 hours 29 min ago
    Author: Mark Docherty
  13. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 13 min ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    NIH Nixes Fauci Pet Project As Scripps' Kristian Andersen Fixes To Flee The Country

    Authored by Paul Thacker via The DisInformation Chronicle,

    Senior officials inside the NIH are working to shut down a Tony Fauci initiative launched in 2020 called the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases or “CREID.” Meanwhile, attorneys inside the Justice Department have launched initial inquiries into one of the CREID grants awarded to Scripps Research Institute researcher Kristian Andersen, who is now in the process of fleeing the United States for a position being created for him at the University of Oslo.

    NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but an NIH spokesperson confirmed the agency is shutting down the CREID grants. “Though the grants have been properly terminated, money will be released to the grantees to assure safe shutdown of these programs in terms of biosafety and security,” said an NIH spokesperson, adding that pandemic preparedness remains important but the dangers of health comorbidities in infectious disease outbreaks was further underlined during COVID. “Strengthening overall health through proactive disease prevention offers a more resilient foundation for responding to future health threats—beyond reliance on vaccines or treatments for yet-unknown pathogens.”

    Tony Fauci announced the formation of CREIDs in 2020, awarding 11 grants worth around $17 million, with $82 million in expected funding in succeeding years. NIH did not explain how much of the $82 million slated for CREID had already been spent. Two CREID grantees have been the focus of intense scrutiny since Fauci’s announcement: Peter Daszak of the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance and Kristian Andersen of Scripps.

    Daszak was later discovered to have undisclosed ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), having provided an NIH subaward to WIV researcher Shi Zhengli. At the close of the Biden Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finally debarred EcoHealth Alliance and Peter Daszak from receiving federal funds, in part because “in response to NIH’s multiple safety-related requests” EcoHealth Alliance had not provided WIV records.

    Andersen also faced close inspection for his CREID grant. Some months before Fauci gave final sign off on Andersen’s CREID award, Andersen and other researchers published a paper in Nature Medicine titled, “Proximal Origin” that dismissed the possibility of a Wuhan lab accident. Andersen’s paper was widely hailed by scientists as proof, at the time, that discussions of a COVID lab accident was a conspiracy.

    Nature Medicine’s editor-in-chief, Joao Monteiro, tweeted that the “Proximal Origin” paper “put conspiracy theories” about the pandemic’s possible lab origin to rest.

    Andersen echoed Monteiro’s statement days later, associating “conspiracy theorists” worried about a possible lab accident with people who doubt the Moon landing.

    The paper would go on to become one of the most heavily cited scientific papers in 2020. However, emails made public through freedom of information act requests and by congressional investigators later found that the papers’ authors had run it past funders—Collins and Fauci at the NIH, as well as with Jeremy Farrar, then at the Wellcome Trust and now with the World Health Organization.

    Congressional Republicans later charged that Fauci had helped orchestrate the paper, while House Democrats pointed the finger at Jeremey Farrar, publishing a report that concluded Farrar helped “organize and facilitate” and “led the drafting process of the paper.”

    The group BioSafety Now has demanded Nature Medicine retract the “Proximal Origin” paper, calling it a “a product of scientific misconduct.” Two weeks ago, The DisInformation Chronicle reported that the Justice Department began an initial inquiry into the paper, sending Nature Medicine a list of questions that included, “How do you handle allegations that authors of works in your journals may have misled their readers?” The existence of the Justice Department letter to Nature Medicine had not been previously reported.

    Justice Department officials opened the inquiry as they suspect the paper may have been a quid pro quo, published by the authors to dismiss the possibility of a lab accident in exchange for the Fauci CREID grant. Andersen addressed these bribery allegations two years ago during a congressional hearing.

    “There is no connection between the grant and the conclusions we reached about the origin of the pandemic,” Andersen wrote in sworn testimony to Congress in July 2023. “We applied for this grant in June 2019, and it was scored and reviewed by independent experts in November 2019.”

    The Intercept later reported that Andersen “knew that was false.” NIH records show the Fauci CREID grant to Andersen wasn’t finalized until May 21, 2020, two months after Andersen published “Proximal Origin” in March 2020.

    Misleading intelligence agencies

    Justice Department officials are also likely to examine Andersen’s possible role in misleading US intelligence agencies. A week after Nature Medicine published “Proximal Origin,” the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) published an intelligence report that circulated inside security agencies. First reported by The DisInformation Chronicle, the INR report is marked “UNCLASSIFIED/FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY.”

    The INR report documents a briefing that non-government scientists gave to State Department officials, downplaying the possibility of a Chinese lab accident and citing the “Proximal Origin” paper. The names of the scientists who briefed State remained unknown until a couple years ago, when emails found that one of the scientists was Kristian Andersen, who is apparently a citizen of Denmark, not the US.

    Did we have a foreign national parading into the intel agencies and convincing senior officials to not look into a matter?” said a State Department official who is not cleared to speak to the media. “That’s a counter intelligence matter. We need a professional law enforcement investigation.”

    Andersen’s involvement came to light in a late 2020 email sent by State Department official David Feith in which Feith wrote that Andersen had briefed State for their March 2020 INR report. “In fact, I'm told that in a briefing organized by INR earlier this year, [Andersen] said that several features that had initially raised questions in his mind were subsequently put to rest by more detailed analysis,” Feith explained by email. “Notably, it was that subsequent follow-on analysis, referred to by Anderson in the INR discussion….”

    Based on the briefing by Andersen and colleagues, State’s INR report concluded there was no evidence the virus originated in a lab. “U.S. scientists said that while they cannot completely rule out that scenario, it was improbable and not supported by available evidence.”

    But on April 16, 2020, a month after briefing the State Department, Andersen sent a Slack message to his “Proximal Origin” co-authors. This message contradicts what scientists told the State Department.

    “I’m still not fully convinced that no culture was involved,” Andersen wrote his co-authors, a month after briefing State that a lab accident was not supported by evidence. “We also can't fully rule out engineering (for basic research).” Andersen added that a critical part of the virus called the furin cleavage site “still could have been inserted” into the virus.

    Researcher Andreas Martin Lisewski with Germany’s Constructor University published a recent study supporting Andersen’s suspicion that a furin cleavage site was inserted into the COVID virus called SARS-CoV-2. After analyzing the sequence, Lisewski concluded the SARS-CoV-2 furin cleavage site came from a laboratory-constructed MERS virus. Although legacy media have ignored these findings, virologist Christian Drosten of Charité University in Berlin presented these conclusions that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was not natural at a World Health Organization meeting last February.

    I don’t see how this not a criminal misleading and counterintelligence matter,” said the State Department official. “This is way beyond the threshold needed for a grand jury.”

    During a sworn congressional deposition, Andersen testified that he also briefed the CIA and FBI, although the nature and timing of those discussions is unclear.

    As the noose continues to tighten on Andersen, he has been looking to move outside the United States and has apparently found a new home at the University of Oslo. The move would be a precipitous fall in status for Andersen, as Scripps Research Institute has been ranked as one of the most influential scientific programs in the world.

    Andersen did not respond to questions and repeated requests for comment sent to his Scripps email.

    Finding refuge

    “I have heard from several sources that there is an ongoing effort from a group of scientists at the University of Oslo to recruit Andersen, and that this might be finalized in the near future,” said Sigrid Bratlie, a molecular biologist and senior advisor at Norway’s Langsikt Policy Centre.

    The campaign to find a position for Andersen at the University of Oslo apparently began last October when professors Anne Spurkland, Rein Aasland, and Nils Christian Stenseth invited Andersen to give a lecture on the Oslo campus. Nelseth has long trumpeted Andersen’s research. In 2021, he published a paper with WIV scientist Shi Zhengli that dismissed the possibility of a Wuhan lab accident, citing Andersen’s “Proximal Origin” paper.

    Covering the “facts and the fiction” of the COVID pandemic, Andersen claimed during the October lecture that critiques of his research were mere political attacks that had been spread by conspiracy theorists, naming two Oslo researchers sitting in the audience: Sigrid Bratlie and Gunnveig Grødeland, a professor at the University of Oslo.

    Andersen’s Oslo talk was sponsored by the Norwegian Society for Immunology which later released an apology. “Kristian Andersen’s lecture concluded by asserting that, based on his findings, SARS-CoV-2 necessarily originated from an animal at the Wuhan wet market,” the statement reads. “In retrospect, unfortunately, it seems the purpose of his lecture was just as much about stopping the free debate in Norway on this topic.”

    Undeterred, Stenseth, Spurkland and Aasland then helped nominate Andersen for membership in the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Two months ago, the Academy accepted Andersen’s nomination.

    The exact position being created for Andersen at the University of Oslo is unclear. Stenseth, Spurkland, and Aasland did not respond to questions and repeated requests for comment sent by email. University of Oslo officials also contacted by email did not reply.

    Andersen’s arrival in Oslo is likely to be greeted with some trepidation. Last week, Bratlie published a book to positive reviews in Norway titled, “The Wuhan Mystery – the hunt for the origins of the covid pandemic.” Bratlie’s book argues that the pandemic likely started from a lab accident in Wuhan, evidence that was then covered up by international scientists to protect reputations, jobs, and funding. This cover-up, she argues, impedes society’s ability to prepare for future pandemics.

    Bratlie said that scientists have legitimate worries about the current climate for research in Trump’s America, but these concerns should be balanced with the need to protect democratic principles and academic integrity.

    “I would be absolutely devastated on behalf of Norwegian academia if this recruitment happens,” Bratlie said of the University of Oslo’s bid to bring Andersen to her country. “If Andersen has contributed to a cover-up of the origins of the pandemic, potentially extending to criminal acts, he should be held accountable and not be given amnesty or academic shield in Norway.”

    *  *  *

    If you haven't subscribed to Paul Thacker's The DisInformation Chronicle yet, we highly recommend supporting his work here

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 23:05
  14. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 1 hour ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Wuhan Researcher Charged With Smuggling Biological Materials Into US Lab

    Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    U.S. prosecutors have charged another Chinese national for smuggling biological materials into the United States and lying about the scheme.

    Petri dishes and notes found in intercepted packages that Chinese researcher Han Chengxuan allegedly smuggled into the United States. Department of Justice

    Han Chengxuan, a PhD candidate from Wuhan in central China, was arrested upon landing at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on June 8. An FBI agent said authorities had intercepted four packages of biological materials that Han allegedly sent to members of a University of Michigan laboratory.

    She was the third Chinese national charged in a week for smuggling materials for biological research. The previous two, accused of smuggling a crop-killing fungus, include a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan’s Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction. The criminal complaint said Han was a Chinese Communist Party member who has shown loyalty to the Party.

    The complaint said Han admitted to shipping an estimated five to 10 packages, but several were lost in transit. She said that her professors at both the Chinese and U.S. universities, as well as the recipients, had no knowledge of what she sent, characterizing them as a “surprises,” according to the FBI agent.

    The packages contain neither the correct documentation nor the permit required for importing roundworm-related materials, the complaint noted.

    The shipments allegedly went to two recipients: one active member of the lab and another among the faculty and staff at the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan.

    Han initially lied to the customs agents at the airport about the content of the packages, claiming they were plastic cups and a book, according to a court filing. Pressed, she admitted that the packages contained petri dishes of nematode growth medium for growing roundworms, as well as small circular DNA molecules called plasmids in an envelope, the FBI agent said.

    Han, who is studying at the College of Life Science and Technology in the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, arrived on an exchange visitor visa; she has an offer letter presenting her as a visiting scholar to the Michigan lab, according to prosecutors. Han told the FBI that she was coming to the University of Michigan for one year for her research on roundworms.

    She stated that she had produced the desired plasmids using E. coli, isolated and injected them into roundworms as a primary method for her research, according to the filing. The FBI agent noted that plasmids are often used as a vehicle for introducing genetic modifications in organisms like roundworms.

    Han’s immigration paperwork said she researches how animals detect sensory cues such as touch, chemicals, and light, and how neural circuits process such information for behavioral outcome, and how genes and drugs affect such processes, the complaint said. She has co-authored two research papers on roundworms, known scientifically as C.elegans.

    A U.S. consular officer initially rejected Han’s J1 visa application on March 18 due to her struggle to conduct the interview in English, which was essential for her obtaining the visa. She secured the visa successfully nine days later, with an officer noting that she “spoke credibly about her educational background, current studies, and post graduate plans,” the complaint stated.

    Han tried to conceal the content of the shipment with written notes and a book, including one reading: “Hello! This is a fun letter with interesting patterns. I hope you can enjoy the pleasure within it,” according to the court document.

    Labels on the same note contain terms consistent with roundworm research, the filing said. Han allegedly told the customs agent she created a “picture game” in the book and that the recipient of her note would sequence the plasmids—a process each taking about a week—to identify what they were “for fun,” the filing said.

    Han allegedly deleted the content of her electronic device before coming to the United States. She stated she wanted to “start afresh” when questioned by federal agents.

    U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Jerome Gorgon, said the alleged smuggling from a Wuhan university marks “part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security.”

    “The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions,” he said in a statement.

    John Nowak, Customs and Border Protection’s acting director of field operations, said the alleged actions compromise the integrity of U.S. research institutions.

    “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the U.S. for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” he said, adding that his agency will not tolerate the smuggling of “potentially dangerous goods” through U.S. ports of entry.

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 22:15
  15. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 2 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Debt, Leverage, And Fiat Come To Bitcoin

    Authored by Kane McGukin via Bombthrower.com,

    Money has always been strategic, providing the foundation of nations and empires for centuries.

    Owning capital and controlling its flow isn’t just about survival; it’s about building something that lasts.

    If Bitcoin 2024 was the year of political invasion and intelligence acknowledgement, 2025 was a confirmation.

    My key takeaway is that what started as an emergent behavior, Bitcoin, has made its way to center stage in 21st-century capital formation. New age dollars are backed once again with layers of sound money and innovative tech rails (stablecoins) that will extend our ability to build the future in both our digital and physical worlds.

    This year’s conference laid out how Bitcoin + Stablecoins will be incorporated into balance sheets, national stockpiles, and act as a financial reserve asset. Backing traditional assets, new financial instruments (bitbonds), and resetting the geopolitical landscape while driving growth in the 21st Century.

    “Bitcoin is now becoming one of the largest asset classes in the world. … The US needs to be able to defend Bitcoin or use it as an offensive weapon…” – Fred Theil, Mara

    “The Executive Order specifically named Bitcoin… as a strategic asset because of its scarcity… and that was a signal being sent to the American population as well as the global population of other national leaders… The US Government sees Bitcoin as a Strategic asset… Is this a signal of a strategic shift? … I think that’s still an uncertain question, but I think we’re leaning towards the latter.” – Matthew Pines

    Strategic reserves aren’t just about oil or Swiss cheese anymore. They’re about Bitcoin and the future of money as statecraft – Matthew Sigel, VanEck

    A Historical Perspective of How We Got to Bitcoin

    Money began with kings and blacksmiths, then shifted to vaults and shipping lanes as industrialized nations arose. To power this evolution, a global information and logistics network emerged: wires stretched across continents, barges moved gold port to port, and boots on the ground gathered local intelligence. Routed it back through government think tanks and major global bank trading desks. These old-fashioned and manual networks are what FED the dollar money machine, creating an unrivaled capital engine in the US.

    By the 1960s and 1980s, a new era began. Derivatives became the norm, and information moved faster, requiring one to have financial trading desks around the globe to capture profitable information and support national security. Bankers ruled supreme. Bitcoin 2025 made it clear there is new capital in town, but this time is no different.

    In recent decades, social networks began outperforming diplomats and spies. Capital shifted from hard assets to liquid and digital instruments. This accelerated the tempo of our world. We must rebuild that complex network of global banks, but with the advantage of nodes over buildings. In the new realm, VCs, software developers, and engineers rule supreme.

    If one theme echoed throughout this year’s conference, it was this: Monetary information is a weapon, and the dollar network needs an extension. A new innovation to carry its weight around the world faster. That’s why Bitcoin is more than Number Go Up (NGU) technology.

    Throughout the conference, if you heard it once, you heard it numerous times. Bitcoin won’t replace the dollar, it will expand and deepen the vast power of the dollar network. Moving forward, BTC will be the basis of capital formation, buying power, and geopolitical edge. Its volatility will be harvested and embedded into the balance sheets of public companies (Bitcoin Treasury Companies).

    Stablecoins Were Everywhere

    The x.com post/meme above is funny and sums up the stablecoin mania. This was an inevitable route, and there was no loss in the opportunity to weave it into almost every session. Stablecoins will lead the way in transforming our money market and dollar payment networks. They bring them up-to-date with modern technology and making “money” fully digital and usable.

    Making money move at the speed with which people live today. Tether’s (USDT) Paolo Ardoino proved this in his session. He effectively showed that we’re moving from an era of tech stacks to an era of monetary tech stacks.

    If you want value, it must be backed by truth and sustainability. Not rhetoric, corruption, merry-go-rounding, and nothingness.

    Underneath the most popular stablecoin USDT sits: sound money assets (Bitcoin and Gold), paper yield-bearing monetary assets (US Treasuries), private company profits, Bitcoin mining and AI datacenter infrastructure, independent media tools, privacy chat tools, and more. Tether has built the future of what a monetary tech stack likely looks like. A combination of all forms of assets we might want in our society today.

    “There are many senior folks in the Trump administration directly around the stablecoin space, and this was the same philosophy that really gave rise to the growth of US-based, world-dominant multinational corporations. It was not just the love of Pepsi and Coke as products. It was that they served as instruments of US statecraft, and there was a deep financial overlap between the profits of the large multinational corporations and the reach and acquisitions of the American Empire. … I think that there is a kind of belief that Stablecoins and the Bitcoin market can effectively do for the dollar what multinational corporations did in the 20th Century for the reach of the Empire.” – Mike Benz

    As we’ve seen across centuries, intelligence is once again being embedded and synchronized. As power has shifted to technology networks, we’re seeing the importance these leaders are now playing in government.

    Much like we saw with old Wall Street revolving doors that allowed leaders to bounce back and forth between Goldman, JP Morgan, Black Rock, The Federal Reserve, and other government institutions. We’re now seeing the same with technology companies, too.

    Given the posturing around Bitcoin and AI, it would not be a shock for Bitcoin and stablecoin companies to be the next vector. After all, the power of a monetary network is in the information and profit its operators control.

    As capital competition intensifies, it is clear that economic dominance and even warfare have moved from the battlefields to bandwidth.

    All of this, Bitcoin’s integration, the rise of stablecoins, and the evolution of monetary tech stacks point to a deeper truth: our current financial system isn’t just adapting, it’s straining while monetary architecture is quickly becoming the next battleground.

    This strain comes from a design flaw baked into the system itself: its dependency on endless growth. Its dependency on debt-backed growth.

    The Problem of Scale and Constant Growth

    “Basically, the way the system is constructed. … it relies on constant growth. It’s like a shark that can’t stop swimming, otherwise it drowns, ironically.” – Lyn Alden

    What Lyn describes here with the shark analogy is the premise of Geoffrey West’s book Scale – The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies.

    Eventually, superexponential growth systems (like financial systems) reach finite time singularity where the energy and growth required to maintain pace become catastrophically unsustainable.

    The only way to avoid the inevitable collapse is through innovation. Ironically, Bitcoin is an innovation for both our financial system and our information system. Both are on unsustainable resource burn paths just to maintain themselves. For the financial system, it’s a debt issue. For the internet, it’s an energy and volume of content/information/value issue.

    These dilemmas, though not Triffin’s, make the points highlighted by Vice President JD Vance even more important.

    For starters, unfortunately, he made it clear that Bitcoin is now political; continued voice and action are required. As he posed, Bitcoin and AI together should be considered the two most important tools for our future.

    As a reminder, empires and stability are built on one’s ability to collect, process, and profit from information. Both work nicely in these capacities. So, the undue interest does make sense.

    As a reminder, those who reign are the ones who best showcase the ability to monetize the value in networks.

    What nation-states, public entities, and those in statecraft seem to grasp is we’ve shifted from a world of “he who holds the gold makes the rules” to a world of “he who holds the data gets the value”.

    It now appears to be an arms race to see who can amass critical capital. Because in times of geopolitical instability, strategic resources are what give control. They are what lead to historical transitions. Once again, we find ourselves in the midst of a paradigm shift, with Bitcoin at the center.

    Money, information, and supply chains are the battlegrounds of the moment that will define the lanes of the future.

    “We have to start thinking about the long-term strategic implications of Bitcoin. Where Bitcoin is going is as a strategically important asset for the United States over the next decades.” – JD Vance

    And yet, while the Bitcoin Conference conversations touched on geopolitics, network theory, and systemic fragility, there was also something personal about this year’s conference.

    One moment that captured this shift in narrative was from none other than Jack Mallers.

    Mr. Mallers is Aging… A Conference Farewell

    Lastly, a Bitcoin Conference would not be complete without a passionate ending from Jack Mallers.

    However, this year was a bit of a flip of the script. Rather than promoting HODLing or stacking sats forever, Mallers promoted spending bitcoin and even taking loans against them… debt… because the reality is, as you become an adult, there are things in life Bitcoin can’t buy. There are real moments, real bills quoted and accepted only in USD. This realization helps us understand the simple line Jack quoted:

    “Money is a means, it’s not an end.” – Jack Mallers

    Money is a savings technology > Spending is for memories and life.

    Jack Mallers Bitcoin 2025 Keynote Speech: The HODLers Dilemma

    Get on the Bombthrower mailing list here and receive a free copy of The Crypto Capitalist Manifesto and The CBDC Survival Guide when it drops.   Subscribe to Kane McGukin’s Substack here.

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 20:35
  16. Site: Public Discourse
    1 day 3 hours ago
    Author: Daniel B. Murphy

    After his nomination of Linda McMahon as the new Secretary of Education, President Trump told reporters that he wanted her to put herself out of a job. The following month, on March 20th, Donald Trump signed an executive order with the promising title “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities.” The order instructs the Secretary of Education to dismantle the federal Department of Education and return authority over children’s education to parents, states, and local communities.

    The Department of Education was already dismantled once before, but through the efforts of the National Education Association (NEA) it returned. The NEA has also lobbied for federal spending on education, which has dramatically increased without improving student outcomes. Trump’s executive order is a step in the right direction, certainly improving government efficiency, but it is not enough.

    Education in the Hands of the Federal Government

    The Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Since the Constitution does not delegate power over education to the federal government, this power is reserved to the States or to the people. States and individual people are free to decide how to handle education.

    The Department of Education does not directly regulate education, but it exercises powerful indirect influence through its grant-giving ability. In 2022, the Department of Education provided 13.7 percent of the funding for K-12 education. The department gives grants to districts and schools based on their adherence to its specific guidelines. The federal government also gives grants to teachers for professional development and training programs, like National Board Certification or TEACH. The more money available to the Department of Education, the greater its power, a power that should be reserved to the states.

    Thomas Jefferson was the Founding Father who spoke most extensively about education. He is often misrepresented as one of the early pioneers of the public school system, but he advocated for a very limited version of state-regulated public schools. In 1779, Jefferson successfully passed “A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge” in the Virginia state legislature. This bill provided free education for three years in reading, writing, and arithmetic to all citizens. In an 1817 bill proposed by Jefferson, he encourages local control of public school funds and warns that with control at the level of state government, “they would be badly managed, depraved by abuses, and would exhaust the whole literary fund.”

    For many years, the role of the federal government in education, as described in the 1785 Land Ordinance, was simply to ensure land grants for public schools. Government involvement expanded with the establishment of the federal Department of Education in 1867.

    History Repeats Itself: The Department of Education and the NEA

    The NEA has played an instrumental role in molding federal education policy, though it began with different aims. The NEA was founded as the National Teachers Association (NTA) in 1857. Thomas Valentine, President of the New York Teachers Association, invited forty-three other educators to a National Teachers’ Convention in Philadelphia to discuss the formation of a national teachers’ union. Valentine told these educators that the NTA would gather and disseminate education information to teachers across the country. Valentine assured those present that the NTA would perform the duties of a much-needed federal department of education which, once established, would remove the necessity of the NTA. Other speeches at the first meeting of the NTA also called for a Department of Education in the federal government, including that of Zalmon Richards, voted to be the first president of the NTA. Speakers at subsequent NTA meetings year after year called for a federal Department or Bureau of Education.

    Finally, in 1867, the United States Congress passed an Act to Establish a Federal Department of Education. The following year, however, Congress abolished the department and replaced it with an “Office of Education,” due to questions about its constitutionality and fears that a federal department might exert too much control over local education policies in the states. Nevertheless, the Office of Education remained part of the federal government, a long-term victory for the NTA.

    In 1870, the NTA merged with the American Normal School Association, the National Association of School Superintendents, and the Central College Association. Upon this merger, the National Teachers Association changed its name to the National Education Association (NEA).

    Writer and educator Samuel Blumenfeld details the lobbying efforts made by the NEA in his book NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education. In 1889, a committee of the NEA urged legislators that “the Bureau of Education should be restored to its original position as an independent department.” In 1918, the NEA set up its headquarters in Washington and created a “Legislative Commission” (now the “Legislative Program”) for drafting legislation proposals to Congress. In 1921, the Journal of the National Education Association  started running a column in every issue that detailed the status of legislation related to education, urging members to write to their legislators for support. By 1964, the NEA was sponsoring weekend “Teacher-In-Politics” training workshops with the purpose of inspiring and aiding teachers to become active in politics at the service of NEA-driven goals.

    After years of NEA lobbying, in 1965, Congress approved the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), with an initial appropriation of $1.3 billion. This act granted a yearly payout to be administered to schools based on the school meeting certain requirements (in 2023, the ESEA appropriated $29.3 billion).

    The success of the 1965 ESEA did not satisfy the NEA. NEA president Sam Lambert said the following in his 1965 inaugural speech as executive secretary:

    NEA last year had 1,030,000 members; and by the end of this year we will have at least 1,100,000. . . . We are already four times as large as any other professional organization in this country. Within a few years we will be six or seven times as large. And, beginning now we are going to put our power and influence to work for the things that are most important:

    NEA will become a stronger and more influential advocate of social changes long overdue.

    NEA will become a political power second to no other special interest group.

    NEA will have more and more to say about how a teacher is educated, whether he should be admitted to the profession, and depending on his behavior and ability whether he should stay in the profession.

    And, finally, NEA will organize this profession from top to bottom into logical operating units that can move easily and effectively and with power unmatched by any other organized group.

    In 1975, the NEA published a report entitled “Needed: An Education Department.” In 1976, for the first time in 119 years of its existence, the NEA endorsed a presidential candidate: Jimmy Carter. In 1979, Jimmy Carter repaid the favor by signing a bill re-establishing the Department of Education.

    Just two years later, Ronald Reagan announced plans to dismantle the Department, threatening a historical repeat of the first establishment and disestablishment of the department in 1867. The NEA voiced strong disapproval, and Reagan was ultimately unable to get the legislation passed by Congress.

    Spending without Results

    The Department of Education website states the following:

    In the 1860s, a budget of $15,000 and four employees handled education fact-finding. By 1965, the Office of Education had more than 2,100 employees and a budget of $1.5 billion. As of mid-2010, the Department has nearly 4,300 employees and a budget of about $60 billion.

    How did the “Office of Education” grow its budget so much from 1867 to 1965? Clearly, the power of the “Office of Education” was not limited during its time as a mere “office.” Even considering inflation, the education budget grew by a factor of 40,000. From 1965 until 2024, the growth in budget was not nearly as significant, only growing by a factor of between seven and eight.

    The figure below maps a timeline of the spending in billions of dollars by the department of education together with the NAEP reading results from 1970 to 2022. The spending dollars are inflation-adjusted to represent constant 2022 dollars.

    Chart 1

    Chart created using data from the Digest of Education Statistics

    The National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP), sometimes called “The Nation’s Report Card,” is a nationwide test administered to students to get an idea of how well students are learning various subjects. Despite an increasing Department of Education budget, reading scores on the NAEP have hardly budged for fifty years. The NAEP defines each corresponding to a numerical cutoff score on the NAEP. “Basic” indicates partial mastery of the subject. “Proficient” level indicates “solid academic performance and competency,” and “Advanced” is anything beyond this. In 2024, 69 percent of fourth graders and 62 percent of eighth graders performed below “Proficient” and 40 percent of fourth graders and 33 percent of eighth graders performed below the NAEP “Basic” level of reading. The grade level averages in reading (graphed above) have never risen beyond the “Basic” level in the history of the NAEP.

    The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) provides data on the performance of students worldwide. In 2019, the United States spent 38 percent more per student than the average of other participating countries, yet PISA reading scores for the US are very similar to the average of other countries and have not changed significantly since 2000. In 2022, the United States spent roughly twice the amount per student compared to Japan, yet Japan’s PISA results far surpass our own. The percentage of our government spending dedicated to education is also roughly twice that of Japan’s.

    Chart 2

    Chart created using data from the OECD

    The poor performance on literacy tests has not gone unnoticed by the federal government. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), passed in 2001, appropriated more funding for districts and schools whose NAEP performance was significantly lower than the US average. NCLB increased federal funding for education by about 25 percent, or about $13 billion. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was passed in 2015, appropriating more federal money for education and requiring all states to submit annual education goals and plans to the Department of Education. These are just a few of the acts Congress has passed over the last fifty years to address concerns about the status of education in the United States. Clearly, they are not working.

    Closing the Department Is Not Enough

    Closing the Department of Education won’t be enough. Organizations like the NEA do not want it to happen. Even if it does happen, they will lobby it back into existence just as they did before. The NEA sued the government this year for what they claim is an unconstitutional executive order.

    In 1983, Congressman John Ashbrook explained the NEA’s deep interest in federal funding for education:

    An integral part of the NEA design is to siphon ever more control of public education from the grass roots to Washington, closer to its own powerful lobbying influence, farther from the parents and taxpayers who elect the school boards and pay the bills.

    The NEA, originally intended to be an organization for teachers to discuss education, is now a lobbying powerhouse. In 1920, the headquarters were moved to Washington, DC and a “Representative Assembly” for discussing policy issues was attached to the annual meeting. With the NEA Legislative Program, the political influence that this organization wields will pose a challenge to the free education of American citizens, even if the federal Department of Education is dismantled. The NEA also advises all three million of its members on various bills in the Congress. The NEA, like the Department of Education, also provides grants to individuals and schools. Many of the grants provided to individuals are to occupy positions in local politics. Last year, when Trump announced his intention to appoint Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education, NEA voiced strong disapproval. The NEA is concerned that power will be returned to the states and the people.

    The Trump administration has demonstrated an emphasis on federalism, moving power and authority from the federal government to local control. In 2016, Gerard Robinson, in an article for the American Enterprise Institute, suggested a federalist “encouragement philosophy” to guide the role of federal involvement in education. In 2020, Lindsey Burke and Jonathan Butcher wrote a policy report for the Heritage Foundation, suggesting the dissolution of the Department of Education. But if action is limited to the political sphere, the public education system will not improve.

    Work needs to be done in the private sector to eradicate organizations like the NEA that exercise such enormous lobbying power and sway members’ political activism. Rachel Greszler and James Sherck of the Heritage Foundation have written about how large unions like the NEA frequently fail to serve the needs of workers, instead focusing on political lobbying. Nevertheless, the suppression of a union like the NEA by the federal government would be unnecessarily authoritarian, not to mention a violation of the constitution.

    The laws of our beautiful nation provide for and facilitate a grass-roots effort to dismantle bloated unions like the NEA. Legally dismantling the NEA would require a “decertification election.” A union can be decertified if, after 30 percent of its members petition the National Labor Regulations Board for a decertification election, a majority of union members vote in favor of decertification. The National Right To Work Committee has explained that the purpose of a decertification election is to remove a union as the “exclusive representative” of the workers. The NEA is the largest labor union in the country with 3 million members. In 2016, roughly 70 percent of all public school teachers in the US were members of the NEA, the same percentage of teachers nationwide that were members of unions. The NEA does have exclusive representation for teachers, and it should be decertified.

    For long-term success in protecting local control of public education, the National Education Association must go.

    Image by Tada Images and licensed via Adobe Stock.

  17. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 3 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Waste Of The Day: Secrecy Surrounds California Capitol Annex

    Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations,

    Topline: An annex to California’s Capitol Building was supposed to cost $543 million, but the price has doubled to $1.1 billion and now includes hallways designed to hide lawmakers from journalists.

    Key facts: KCRA 3 reported that the annex will include a new parking garage and visitor’s center and office space for 120 state lawmakers. The news station pointed out it is almost as expensive as the $1.3 billion spent on Levi’s Stadium, the San Francisco 49ers’ football stadium that seats 68,500 people.

    KCRA 3’s sources revealed the annex will include private hallways. The building’s current layout means lawmakers must walk through a public “swing space” to get from hearing rooms to the elevators, where journalists can ask them questions about the day’s proceedings. The new layout will allow lawmakers to avoid the swing space.

    Other details are still unknown. There has not been a public update on how tax dollars are being spent since 2021. The Joint Rules Committee of the state legislature, which is overseeing the project, denied KCRA 3’s request for an interview and did not provide diagrams of the private hallways.

    Taxpayers might have learned more from the project’s environmental impact report, which all public construction projects must complete under the California Environmental Quality Act. But lawmakers wrote a bill that exempts the Capitol annex from the report and signed it into law just 10 days later. The law was upheld by a state court of appeals.

    Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com

    Supporting quote:  State Senate Pro Tempore Mike McGuire told KCRA 3, “Secure corridors have always been included in plans for the new annex … and are designed to help ensure the safety and security of lawmakers, which is even more important today given the events that unfolded on January 6th at our nation’s capital building and the active threats public officials continue to face. Regardless, legislators will continue to be accessible and responsive to the public, staff, and reporters no matter what hallway, elevator or stairwell they choose to use.”

    Critical quote: “I think this is the height of hypocrisy,” state Assemblyman Josh Hoover told KCRA 3 about the hallways. “You are using taxpayer dollars for a taxpayer-funded facility and yet you are going to design it in a way that shields you from the public and shields you from accountability.”

    Summary: A $1.1 billion taxpayer-funded project should have full transparency and be in the public’s best interest. California’s new Capitol annex might not meet either of those criteria.

    The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 19:45
  18. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 3 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    China Sends Two Aircraft Carriers Deeper Into Pacific For First Time, After NATO Bolstered Presence

    Western media and American allies in east Asia are hyperventilating over Chinese warships being deployed in... regional waters off China.

    "In a display of Beijing’s growing military reach, the Chinese Navy sent two aircraft carriers into the Pacific Ocean, far from the country’s coast, for the first time to conduct exercises together, Japan’s defense minister, Gen Nakatani, said," writes the NY Times on Tuesday. Let's compare this 'threat' to the eleven active nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that America currently has in action, with worldwide patrol and reach.

    Nakatani informed reporters that the pair of PLA Navy carriers engaged in exercises which included jet fighters launching and landing, in an area to the east of Iwo Jima, about 750 miles south of Tokyo. Of course, this area has had a strong permanent American military presence going back to WW2.

    Tokyo confirmed that Japan's tiny navy monitored the activities of the Chinese carriers from afar, given it was a first instance that the carriers had operated together in the Pacific beyond the islands of Japan.

    The Liaoning and the Shandong were accompanied by PLA warship escort vessels, as is common with carrier groups.

    And why would China want to bolster its navy and send it's paltry sum of two carriers deeper into the Pacific?

    ...it could be because Chinese officials in Beijing are used to opening up their daily newspapers and seeing provocative headlines like the following: 

    But Washington and its regional allies are keeping a close eye on China's rapid naval expansion, given also a third aircraft carrier has been built, the Fujian, and is currently undergoing sea trials before official active deployment. And a fourth carrier is further being constructed.

    Again, might China have real reason to worry? And all the while the US Navy (and increasingly other Western navies) routinely send warships through the contested Taiwan Strait, typically accompanied by jingoistic statements of American neocon Congressmen threatening all-out war should Beijing ever attempt to unite the self-ruled island of Taiwan with the mainland.

    The question remains: can most Americans find Taiwan on a map? Well, yes it's true they might start caring when the world's supply of semiconductors comes under direct threat, and the iPhone addicted out-of-shape masses might have to put down their devices for a moment.

    Even NATO, which is fundamentally a European, trans-Atlantic military alliance, is getting in on the Pacific action with an eye on China... in China's own backyard.

    Bloomberg reported last August that "NATO is bolstering its presence in the Western Pacific by sending warships to more places, a move that risks stoking tensions with China, which is worried about the alliance’s growing influence in the region."

    Even Italian vessels are seeking to flex: "The latest entrant is the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour, the first time Rome has deployed its lone carrier to the Pacific. The Cavour and an Italian frigate recently held exercises with the US carrier USS Abraham Lincoln near the island of Guam. A day later, F-35 stealth jets and AV-8B Harriers launched from the Cavour," Bloomberg wrote. Italy?... 

    Sensationalist MSM headlines, if they were written from the opposite perspective...

    China recognizes the One America Policy.

    But if the US invades California, China will consider sending troops to defend it.

    The Aircraft Carrier Fujian is en route to the California coast to uphold freedom of navigation. pic.twitter.com/QYOWd7mxlK

    — Kai the Peasant 農民阿凱 (@Kai_Wong_CN) June 8, 2025

    So at least from a realist and strategic point of view, China wanting to extend its carriers sphere of patrol and influence makes perfect sense. This is simply the way the world works, and how the 'great powers' operate. 

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 19:20
  19. Site: LifeNews
    1 day 4 hours ago
    Author: Steven Ertelt

    The Satanic Temple plans to open an abortion center in Maine on June 14, 2025, named “The President’s Yuge Most Beautiful Tremendous Satanic Abortion Clinic” in a mocking nod to President Donald Trump’s birthday.

    “We hope he receives this clinic’s distinguished title as the magnificent, regal birthday present it is intended to be,” said Satanic Temple executive director Erin Helian in a press release.

    The facility, part of the temple’s TST Health network, will sell dangerous abortion-inducing drugs by mail and instruct women to perform a “Satanic Abortion Ritual” involving chants that pro-life advocates denounce as evil and morally repugnant.

    The abortion biz, announced on June 6, 2025, will offer free medical consultations and prescriptions for mifepristone and misoprostol, costing patients approximately $91, according its website.

    REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.

    The ritual requires women to recite tenets emphasizing bodily autonomy and scientific reasoning, culminating in a personal affirmation: “By my body, my blood; by my will, it is done.”

    The Satanic Temple, a nontheistic organization based in Salem, Massachusetts, claims its ritual is a protected religious practice under the First Amendment and state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts. Since the 2022 Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, the temple has opened similar clinics in New Mexico and Virginia, named to taunt Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and pro-life principles. In Maine, where abortion is legal throughout pregnancy, the abortion center aims to expand access to abortions with mifepristone up to 11 weeks gestation.

    Pro-life advocates argue the temple’s provocative branding and ritualistic approach trivialize the gravity of abortion. The temple’s Maine clinic has drawn ire for its timing and name, with posts on X from users  labeling it a “satanic” affront to Maine’s values.

    The temple has not disclosed its Maine staff but partners with Honey Bee Health for delivery of the dangerous abortion pills.

    The post Satanic Temple Opens Abortion Clinic in Maine, Tells Women to Do Evil Chants Celebrating Killing Babies appeared first on LifeNews.com.

  20. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 day 4 hours ago
    From June 7 to 9, between Paris and Chartres, nearly 30,000 pilgrims, aged 21 on average, journeyed in faith, despite the headwinds of a materialistic society indifferent to spiritual impetus, rejoices Ambroise Tournyol du Clos, a history professor.That He reigns on earth, as He does in Heaven"Morning star, inaccessible queen,Here we are marching towards your illustrious court,And here is the Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  21. Site: LifeNews
    1 day 5 hours ago
    Author: Right to Life UK

    Kim Leadbeater has refused to distance herself from the Sarco gas chamber assisted suicide pods after she failed to back an amendment to her Bill, which would ban the use of the portable gas chambers.

    Sarco inventor Philip Nitschke, who is nicknamed “Dr Death” and “the Elon Musk of assisted suicide”, said he is “absolutely” keen on bringing his Sarco suicide machine to the UK if the assisted suicide Bill passes, and described his machine as a “stylish” and “elegant” option for assisted suicide.

    REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.

    A person ends their own life inside the 3D-printed Sarco pod by pushing a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed gas chamber. The nitrogen causes them to suffocate to death.

    Tory MP Greg Stafford tabled an amendment to Kim Leadbeater’s Bill to ban the use of portable gas chambers. Stafford, whose amendment “requires the Secretary of State to forbid the use of medical devices which cause death by the administration of a gas”, told The Independent “The inventor of the Sarco death pod has stated that he would like to introduce his gas pods to this country. The assisted dying Bill, as drafted, would allow the Sarco pod to come to these shores”.

    “If accepted, my amendment would remove this possibility by requiring that regulations prohibit any device used for the self-administration of gas”.

    Stafford added “We know that the public is uneasy with the Sarco pods. I very much hope that the Bill sponsor takes the opportunity to accept my amendment and makes it clear that she doesn’t support the introduction of these suicide pods in the UK”.

    Despite Stafford’s words, Leadbeater declined to back the amendment, with her spokesman saying “I think it’s highly unlikely to be accepted for debate or vote if it hasn’t gone down yet”.

    “We know that the public is uneasy with the Sarco pods”

    The danger of the Sarco machines being made available in the UK has been highlighted by the fact that Nitschke has said people from the UK have already shown significant interest in his new device, and by leading legal academics confirming with The Telegraph that the assisted suicide pods will be legal under the proposed legislation.

    Professor of law and constitutional government at St John’s College, Oxford, Richard Ekins KC, said “If Kim Leadbeater’s Bill passes, and if the Secretary of State approves liquid nitrogen as an approved substance, then the Sarco death pod would be a lawful means to assist suicide in Britain”.

    Nitschke heavily criticised by both supporters and opponents of assisted suicide

    Leadbeater’s refusal to back the amendment may raise concerns as Nitschke, who believes “troubled” teenagers should be able to access suicide pills, is a controversial figure whose  ‘Sarco machine’ has been dogged by controversy. In July 2024, prosecutors in Switzerland banned its use because they were concerned not only about the legality of its use in the country but also potential ethical issues surrounding its implementation.

    In a letter obtained by the Swiss media, Public Prosecutor, Peter Sticher said “There is no reliable information about the method of killing. It is completely unclear who has control over which mechanical process during the dying process”.

    Nitschke has also been heavily criticised, both by those for and against assisted suicide. Journalist Emily Lawford highlighted the fact that an Australian coalition of voluntary assisted dying societies, Your Last Right, has “specifically opposed” Nitschke’s platforms, whilst Rodney Syme, founder of Dying with Dignity Victoria, referred to Nitschke’s views as “aberrant”.

    James Mildred, Director of Engagement for Christian Action Research and Education (CARE), said “Philip Nitschke’s device has been condemned by a broad range of commentators. Many people feel that it trivialises, and even glamourises, suicide. We believe that suicide is a tragedy that good societies seek to prevent in every circumstance. There are ethical ways to help human beings that don’t involve the destruction of life”.

    Further blows for Leadbeater Bill

    Stafford’s amendment came on the same day the Leadbeater Bill was dealt further blows. First, reports emerged that a letter signed by around 1,000 doctors was sent to MPs urging them to vote against the assisted suicide Bill. The doctors criticised the “deeply flawed bill”, saying “This bill will widen inequalities, it provides inadequate safeguards and, in our collective view, is simply not safe”.

    “This is the most important piece of healthcare legislation for 60 years and we urge you to listen to the doctors who would have to deliver the consequences of this deeply flawed Bill”.

    The doctors added “It is our opinion that this Bill poses a real threat to both patients and the medical workforce, and we urge you to vote against it”.

    Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Greg Stafford is right to try and prevent Nitschke’s horrendous Sarco suicide pods from being allowed in the UK. This bizarre killing machine has no place in civilised society and should be destroyed immediately”.

    “It is hugely worrying that Kim Leadbeater did not take the opportunity to distance herself from Nitschke and his destructive ideas. She should be listening to the growing number of credible organisations, including the Royal College of Physicians, the British Geriatrics Society, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and around 1,000 doctors, who have expressed grave concerns about this reckless legislation”.

    “We urge MPs to pay attention to these concerns and to vote against this dangerous Bill at Third Reading”.

    LifeNews Note: Republished with permission from Right to Life UK.

    The post UK Bill Would Allow Horrific Suicide Machines People Use to Kill Themselves appeared first on LifeNews.com.

  22. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 day 5 hours ago
    She spent 20 years within the Institute of the Incarnate Word, which she joined at just 18 years old. She changed her name to "Esposa Fidelis" and was a faithful "servant" until she had had enough and left the order, which is now under investigation by the Vatican. She left with nothing, as she stated in an interview with Colpisa. She hadn't been paid into Social Security, she had no right to Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  23. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 day 5 hours ago
    On June 14 and 15, 2025, the JUBILEE OF CREATION promoted by the Archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val D’Elsa-Montalcino and the Diocese of Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza will be celebrated. The meeting is at the historic Church of Abbadia San Salvatore starting at 3:00 pm on June 14, 2025. The slogan that has been chosen for this event is “Protecting creation, generating hope”.There will be two days. Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  24. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 5 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Border Czar Homan Says Trump Admin Has 'No Intention' To Arrest Newsom

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

    White House border czar Tom Homan said on Monday that he has “no intention to arrest” California Gov. Gavin Newsom after the Democratic governor dared him to arrest him as protests and riots persist in Los Angeles.

    Homan told CBS News that talk about arresting Newsom has “been taken out of context” and that Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass “haven’t crossed a line yet.”

    “If you cross that line, I don’t care who they are—the governor, the mayor, whatever—and when you commit a crime against ICE officers, we will seek prosecution,” Homan added, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    In another interview with NewsNation, Homan said that “there is no threat to arrest Gov. Newsom” but that a previous comment about arresting anybody who impedes ICE efforts to enforce laws against illegal immigrants still stands.

    “If he crosses that line of impeding ICE enforcement efforts, if he knowingly harbors and conceals an alien, that’s a crime,” he told the outlet.

    “We would ask … the attorney general to seek prosecution,” he added. “My words were taken out of context, but it is what it is.”

    At one point on Sunday, Newsom was asked by an NBC News reporter about the possibility of being arrested. “Come and get me, tough guy,” he replied.

    And when a reporter at the White House asked President Donald Trump on Monday about Newsom being arrested by Homan, the president said, “I'd do it if I were Tom,” adding: “Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.”

    The Trump administration and Newsom have been sharply critical of one another in the handling of unrest in Los Angeles over the past several days, which was sparked by protests against ICE efforts across the city. Trump and Homan have said that Newsom hasn’t been able to quell the violence, prompting the president to deploy the National Guard and Marines over the past several days.

    In response, Newsom said that the troop deployments are a form of overreach and that Trump’s actions are an incitement to more violence. The state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the deployment on Monday.

    Newsom said that the deployment of Marines, which was confirmed by U.S. Northern Command on Monday, is a form of escalation that he described as “completely unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented.”

    Homan has told media outlets that ICE agents were serving criminal search warrants at a Los Angeles worksite last week as part of a probe into customs fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering.

    Speaking to the “Dr. Phil” show, Homan said that 41 people were arrested and that the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Internal Revenue Service were also involved.

    “We took a lot of bad people off the street that day,” he told NewsNation in another interview, adding that those enforcement measures were “targeted” instead of being a random sweep.

    In a directive on Saturday, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”

    The Northern Command said in its Monday statement that the 700 or so Marines “will seamlessly integrate” with troops “who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area.”

    Meanwhile, Monday’s demonstrations were far less raucous, with thousands peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds protesting outside a federal complex, which includes a detention center where some illegal immigrants are being held following workplace operations across the city.

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 17:20
  25. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 6 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Steel Stocks Slide After US Nears Deal With Mexico To Cut Steel Duties, Cap Imports

    After weeks of quiet, Trump's trade deals are starting to take shape: first it is the ongoing negotiations with China which are "going well", then we learned that an interim deal with India was largely completed, and now Bloomberg reports that in the third positive trade news of the day, the US and Mexico are closing in on a deal that would remove cut steel duties - including Trump’s 50% tariffs on steel imports up to a certain volume - in a revamp of a similar deal between the trade partners during his first term. 

    The talks are being led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and since Trump hasn’t been directly involved in the negotiations he would need to sign off on any deal.

    While the agreement hasn’t been finalized, under the current terms it would allow US buyers to import Mexican steel duty-free as long as they kept total shipments below a level based on historical trade volumes. The new cap would be higher than what was allowed under a similar deal during Trump’s first term, Bloomberg sources reported, which was never a fixed figure but designed to “prevent surges.”

    Following the Bloomberg report, US steel stocks moved lower: Cleveland-Cliffs dropped more than 7%, and Nucor fell more than 4%. The Mexican peso trimmed losses.

    At an event on Tuesday, Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said he told US officials in meetings last week that steel tariffs are not justified in Mexico’s case because the US sends more steel to Mexico than vice versa. Last Friday, he posted a picture that showed him shaking hands with a smiling Lutnick in Washington.

    “We are waiting for their response, because on Friday we gave them the details of Mexico’s argument and we are right,” Ebrard told reporters Tuesday. “So we are going to wait for their response which will probably be this very week.”

    Last week Trump announced he would double steel duties to 50% after saying he would approve the purchase of US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, a move he said would protect the domestic industry and national security. While domestic steelmakers welcome the move, end-users have urged the administration to ease the tariffs. 

    The negotiations come as Sheinbaum seeks an accommodation with Trump over immigration and drug trafficking across their shared border, which the US leader has demanded Mexico halt. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Sheinbaum Tuesday of “encouraging” more anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, where the US has deployed troops. Sheinbaum has called Noem’s claim “absolutely false.”

    The talks also come ahead of a Group of Seven leaders summit in Canada, where the two presidents are likely to meet.

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 17:09
  26. Site: LifeNews
    1 day 6 hours ago
    Author: Dave Andrusko

    The Montana Supreme Court on Monday struck down three pro-life laws passed in 2021, upholding  District Court Judge Kurt Krueger’s 2024 decision that concluded the laws violated the state’s right to privacy.

    “The laws have been on hold since 2021 after a preliminary injunction was granted in Planned Parenthood’s favor,” John Riley reported.

    According to the Attorney General’s office, here are the three commonsense laws struck down:

    HB 136 prohibited abortion in the case of babies who can feel pain, generally defined as a baby 20 or more weeks old.

    HB 140 required that a pregnant woman be afforded the opportunity to view an active ultrasound and listen to a baby’s heartbeat before undergoing an abortion.

    HB 171 established a protocol for the prescription of abortion-inducing drugs to protect the health and welfare of mothers, requiring in-person visits for prescribing and dispensing of chemical abortion drugs.

    REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.

    The Montana Attorney General’s office and Gov. Gianforte blasted the decision, written by Justice Beth Baker. “This isn’t surprising. It’s another rubber stamp for Planned Parenthood from their allies on the Montana Supreme Court” said Emilee Cantrell, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice. “And as the dissenting opinion correctly points out, ‘the State’s vital role in protecting and preserving human life,’ was ignored.”

    Gov. Gianforte hammered the justices for striking down the three laws that were aimed at protecting the life, health, and welfare of mothers and their babies,

    “Activist justices on the Montana Supreme Court continued their series of attacks on commonsense measures to protect the life, health, and welfare of mothers and their babies. Clinging to a shaky, outdated ruling and failing to account for the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions, these activist justices aren’t interpreting the law. They’re overreaching, making law from the bench and rejecting the will of Montanans’ duly-elected representatives who make laws.

    “These activist justices rejected modern medicine and are instead clinging to medical care available more than 50 years ago. Ultimately, they have failed the lives, health, and welfare of mothers and their babies, and they should be ashamed.

    Gov. Gianforte concluded

    “As a pro-life governor, I believe all life is precious and must be protected. I will continue to defend the lives of those who cannot speak for themselves. I’ll also pray for changed hearts as we work to bring nabout a culture of life for every Montanan, born and unborn.”

    In her 69 page decision, Justice Baker “cited the Montana Supreme Court’s 1999 ruling, commonly known as the Armstrong decision, which stated that the state constitution’s right to privacy protected access to abortion before a fetus is viable,” Riley reported.

    Wrote Justice Baker, “Armstrong thus explicitly and unequivocally acknowledged that the right of individual privacy—encompassing the right to personal and procreative autonomy—is protected separately under Montana’s right to privacy, a broader provision independent of federal law.”

    Gov. Greg Gianforte and Attorney General Austin Knudsen “have argued the Armstrong case was wrongly decided, and the state again made that argument in this case,” according to Riley.

    In January 2022, Knudsen told the state Supreme Court that “All three laws unquestionably enhance the health and safety of Montana women. And they represent basic regulations of the practice of medicine—bread-and-butter exercises of (state government).” He added that the reasoning in Armstrong

    is a deeply flawed tribute to unrestrained judicial activism. Nowhere in Montana’s constitutional text is there a right to elective abortion. Instead, the framers intentionally excluded abortion from the Constitution and left to the Legislature the prerogative to permit, prohibit, or regulate it.

    LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. He frequently writes Today’s News and Views — an online opinion column on pro-life issues.

    The post Montana Supreme Court Strikes Down 3 Pro-Life Laws, Claims Unlimited Right to Abortion appeared first on LifeNews.com.

  27. Site: Novus Motus Liturgicus
    1 day 6 hours ago
    Here is another wonderful discovery from the website of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, an illuminated psalter from the beginning of the 13th century. (Département des manuscrits. NAL 1392) The manuscript begins with 13 pages of images of the life of Christ, each within a circular medallion, two per page, enclosed in a rectangular decorative border; these cover all the major feasts of Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0
  28. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 6 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Viral Footage Appears To Show Waymo Vehicles Fleeing Los Angeles After Riots 

    Law-abiding Americans watched in disbelief as Marxist-aligned NGOs sparked chaos in downtown Los Angeles. Riots and looting raged overnight and entered the fourth day, with videos flooding X showing individuals—possibly illegal aliens, migrants, or even U.S. citizens—waving Mexican flags as they torched Waymo Jaguars. 

    Waymo confirmed to CNBC on Monday that five of its vehicles were set on fire in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, prompting the company to suspend service across the metro area. 

    Got this the other side of the Waymo fires pic.twitter.com/HVOXKZtI3V

    — Los Angeles Alerts (@AlertLosAngeles) June 9, 2025

    Multiple Waymo vehicles set ablaze here in LA pic.twitter.com/p2iVDUbEIL

    — Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) June 9, 2025

    As of Tuesday, Waymo's service remained suspended due to ongoing protests, with a company representative stating that "some areas are currently inaccessible because of the protest."

    "There's no specific timeframe available at the moment; I recommend checking the app periodically for updates," the company representative continued. 

    A viral video posted Monday evening by an X user claimed, "Waymo is moving their cars out of LA."

    Waymo is moving their cars out of LA pic.twitter.com/lkpANPwmjx

    — Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) June 9, 2025

    Viral images of Mexican flag-waving rioters torching vehicles and looting are spreading globally. The Democratic Party's color revolution against Trump is now fueling chaos in the streets of Los Angeles — and the optics are disastrous for Democrats, as it only strengthens Trump's case for a mass deportation mandate of criminal illegal aliens. 

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 17:00
  29. Site: Fr. Z's Blog
    1 day 6 hours ago
    Author: frz@wdtprs.com (Fr. John Zuhlsdorf)
    I unbox – open the package – of the newly reprinted Pre-55 Missal from the Benedictines of Norcia which just arrived. The monks forewarned that they don’t have many at the time I made this video. They will eventually have … Read More →
  30. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 6 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Rogue NGOs Prepare For Nationwide Color Revolution; Walmart Heiress Calls For "Mobilization"

    A network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with known affiliations to Marxist-aligned political ideologies initiated coordinated protest activity across Los Angeles last Friday. Almost immediately, these protests escalated into widespread unrest, including acts of vandalism, arson, and looting, consistent with patterns observed in previous color revolution-style mobilizations by the Democratic Party. 

    In response, President Trump authorized the deployment of National Guard units and Marines to secure high-risk areas and prevent further civil unrest, with looting and chaos continuing in the overnight hours...

    Apple store in LA looted last night.

    But don’t worry, Gavin Newsom has it under control and the media say it’s totally peaceful.pic.twitter.com/oarl25BmxJ

    — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 10, 2025

    They're protesting ICE by looting Adidas pic.twitter.com/vjViwA9cmD

    — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 10, 2025

    There is reason to believe that an early staging of a coordinated national mobilization effort is underway to unleash a color revolution across cities, similar to BLM-style protests that morphed into riots in 2020, spearheaded by a group identifying itself as "No Kings." This organization appears to function as a front entity for broader far-left networks, with affiliated support from established rogue leftist NGOs, including Indivisible, a Soros-funded nonprofit previously linked to a failed color revolution targeting Elon Musk's Tesla earlier this year. 

    Leftist news outlet Common Dreams stated that Indivisible's Leah Greenberg is one of the leading groups behind the "No Kings" movement.

    This weekend's planned protest is receiving organizational backing—or, at the very least, logistical support—from nearly 200 groups, including a wide range of NGOs (get ready for the bussing of professional protesters to cities near you).

    Here's a partial list of those groups...

    Notably, the timing coincides with June 14, a symbolic convergence of Flag Day, President Trump's birthday, a military parade in Washington, DC, and the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, suggesting deliberate political signaling behind the mobilization effort. 

    Map: Nationwide Mobilization Effort 

    FBI Director Kash Patel told media outlet Just the News, "The FBI is investigating any and all monetary connections responsible for these riots." 

    Patel might want to take a look at the funding Billionaire Walton Family Heir Christy Walton (one of the heirs to Walmart) could be involved in; the 50501 movement, the leftist group also partnered with No Kings, re-posted Walton's protest mobilization ad in the New York Times. 

    "Who had Christy Walton, Walmart Heiress, on your Bingo Card paying for ads in The New York Times to promote: "No Kings", June 14, Nationwide Protests? Anyone?!?" 50501 movement wrote on Facebook. 

    Hey @Walmart why are the Walton’s funding these riots? https://t.co/wLOjjacv7z

    — Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) June 10, 2025

    Riots and chaos in Los Angeles are creating terrible optics for the Democratic Party. The NGOs' deployment of migrants and radical leftists as frontline actors—some of whom are burning vehicles, looting, and causing chaos while waving foreign flags—has strongly reinforced President Trump's mandate from the American people regarding the urgent need to deport criminal illegal aliens.

    They are demanding to stay in a country that they have no respect for pic.twitter.com/b8NE6U4d3N

    — Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) June 9, 2025

    "The protests the Left is calling "No Kings" for next Saturday should be consistently messaged as "the Left's Anti American Flag Day protests." That's what they are," author and commentator James Lindsay wrote on X. 

    The protests the Left is calling "No Kings" for next Saturday should be consistently messaged as "the Left's Anti American Flag Day protests." That's what they are.

    — James Lindsay, anti-Communist (@ConceptualJames) June 10, 2025

    All in all, early indications suggest staging efforts nationwide are underway with the Democratic Party's color revolution operation against Trump, supported and funded by rogue NGOs, in an effort to shift public opinion polls. Democrats are using the same playbook from their 2020 BLM riots. 

    There is growing public awareness of the Democratic Party's deployment of dark NGO networks to orchestrate domestic unrest through tactics resembling the 2020 BLM riots. The ongoing unrest that could potentially spread nationwide by the weekend is best characterized as a hybrid war—cultural and informational against the sitting president of the U.S.  

    The central unresolved question remains: To what extent are these leftist NGO-linked operations influenced or financed by foreign actors?

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 16:40
  31. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 6 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    We Are Being Amused & Abused To Death

    Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

    “But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another—slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” – Neil Postman – Amusing Ourselves to Death

     “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.” – Neil Postman – Amusing Ourselves to Death

    I find myself ruminating about whether there is anything myself or any other average Joe can do to make a difference in this world, controlled by psychopaths, satanists, egomaniacal billionaires, corrupt evil politicians, a cabal of greedy financiers, neocon warmongering globalists, and the propaganda entertainment complex. When a complex entity becomes too large, it becomes inefficient, bureaucratic, corrupt, and uncontrollable.

    The corruption, waste, and purposeful use of governmental power to enrich politicians and their billionaire benefactors, to the detriment of the country and the average citizen, has grown to an incomprehensible and uncontainable level. Whether DOGE was a legitimate undertaking by Musk and his tech geniuses to cut wasteful spending and uncover fraud, or nothing more than a PR stunt designed to keep the MAGA army satiated with the appearance of making America great again, it appears to have sunk into the swamps of DC, foiled by the uni-party once again.

    But the show must go on, and this past week’s episode of “As the Empire Crumbles” was certainly entertaining, with the most powerful politician in the world hurling insults at the richest man in the world, who responded by accusing the president of pedophilia, while calling for his impeachment and the creation of a new political party. The MAGA acolytes were flabbergasted, as their two heroes, who were going to usher in a new golden era, came to blows and have irreconcilably broken up. Who could have predicted that the two biggest egos on the planet would ultimately clash and dissolve their partnership? Many of the twitterati were convinced it was just more 4D chess, just as they believed the Q bullshit during Trump’s first term.

    The world was captivated and enthralled by this trivial social media war, while NATO/Ukraine desperately attempted to initiate WW3 with their attacks on Russian airbases, the Crimean bridge, and Russian passenger trains. Thousands of tweets and hundreds of articles have been written about this Trump/Musk bickerfest, while the world is imploding and we are accelerating headlong towards a global war, initiated by the three stooges running France, U.K. and Germany, and cheered on by the likes of Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo.

    Trump’s campaign trail promise to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours has proven to be nothing more than his predictable bloviating bullshit. It has become clear he has absolutely no sway over the EU warmongers, or his own Deep State CIA operatives carrying out the attacks on Russia, as his weak and ineffectual efforts to end the conflict start to diminish his presidency from the outset.

    The Gaza genocide continues, with American financial and military support, even though Trump promised to end that conflict. Iran continues to resist efforts to stop its nuclear enrichment program. China pretends to be negotiating with Trump on tariffs but is content letting the Soros installed leftist judges across the country place roadblock after roadblock in the way of Trump’s tariff, deportation, and governmental downsizing agenda. Foreign leaders know they can wait out all of Trump’s threats by just slow walking negotiations and hoping the Republicans lose the House in 2026.

    China is biding its time until they believe America is sufficiently preoccupied with its own domestic turmoil and its Ukraine quagmire, and they will initiate their inevitable Taiwan takeover. The United States has not won a war in 80 years and is in no position to wage war in Europe and Asia simultaneously. Trump professes to be for peace, but the Deep State actors controlling the government and the globalist billionaires pulling the strings will force him into WW3. That is how Fourth Turnings roll.

    With the intense opposition to the Big Beautiful Bill from Musk and key Republicans in the Senate, the next few months could get messy on the fiscal front. Musk is entirely correct, calling the BBB a massive, outrageous, pork-filled disgusting abomination of congressional pork. When the mind numbingly stupid media outlets declare it will add $3 trillion to the national debt over ten years, that means $3 trillion more than the $21 trillion of additional debt already projected. And this assumes no recessions, no financial crisis, no wars, and no fake pandemics. They purposefully give the impression our national debt only goes up by $3 trillion over ten years.

    I’m absolutely certain the average prole, distracted by their technological bread and circuses, has no clue our debt is on automatic pilot to increase by nearly 70% over the next ten years. The average person remains trapped in a false comfort zone, designed by their overlords, to keep them satiated with toxic foodstuff, propaganda disguised as entertainment, and believing going deeper and deeper into debt, buying trinkets and baubles makes them wealthy. Until that comfort zone is shattered by the bitter reality of the next financial implosion, the masses will do nothing to try and alter the disastrous course plotted by their overlords.

    The GOP passage of $9.4 billion of DOGE cuts is nothing more than a PR stunt to convince the ignorant masses they are actually doing something about the deficit. The dopes making bets on Draft Kings and posting videos on Instagram have no concept about how ridiculously out of control our government has become. They add $6 billion to the national debt every single day, so their $9.4 of “cuts” will be gone in 37 hours. Our deficits are big, but they are not beautiful. Our deficit in FY24 was $1.8 trillion. Through the first 7 months of FY25 the deficit is $1.049 trillion. At the current rate of spending, the deficit will be $2.2 trillion by the end of the fiscal year.

    Interest on the national debt is now the second biggest expenditure and has gone from $500 billion during Trump’s first term to $1.3 trillion today. These deficits are clearly unsustainable, and anything which is unsustainable will not be sustained. But the corrupt, captured politicians and insatiably avaricious Wall Street bankers will keep dancing until the music stops. Then they will use their next engineered financial crisis to take more of our money and further restrict our liberties and freedom. CBDCs and social credit scores anyone?

    The real reason Trump and the GOP need to pass the big beautiful, bloated pig of a bill is because our Ponzi scheme economy depends upon the never-ending issuance of trillions in debt every year to give the fabricated appearance of stability. This is why the GOP applauds Musk’s low hanging fruit DOGE cost savings and ignores them in their outrageously corpulent budget bill. The truth is any actual reduction in government spending (36% of GDP) would ripple through an economy entirely dependent upon government largess and immediately create a massive recession and probable depression.

    Ponzi schemes have to keep growing until they run out of suckers believing the bullshit underlying the Ponzi. This is where those controlling the levers of society (Bernays’ invisible government) utilize their limitless well of propaganda techniques, technological distractions, and mindless entertainment venues to keep the ignorant masses amused, delusional, and living in denial of the reality staring them in the face.

    Since the 2008 financial crisis we have been muddling through economically at a 10,000 feet macro level, with periodic crisis episodes (housing collapse, fake pandemic) utilized by the powers that be to issue trillions more debt as the antidote to the initial crisis created by too much debt. At a micro level, the average American has seen a significant decline in their standard of living, as official government reported inflation has eroded 40% of their purchasing power, when in reality they have lost more than 60% of their purchasing power. The reality for the average American prole is debt slavery, either self-imposed to keep up with the Joneses or forced upon them to survive this globalist-imposed death by a thousand cuts economy.

    Credit card debt of $1.3 trillion is at an all-time high, up $350 billion (35%) since 2020. The average balance on those credit cards is over $7,000 and the average interest rate on those unpaid balances is over 21%. Student loan debt of $1.8 trillion is at an all-time high, up $100 billion since 2020, with over 25% of these loans in default. Auto loan debt of $1.7 trillion is at an all-time high, up $350 billion (27%) since 2020. The average length of these loans is now 70 months. The borrower is underwater by the fifth year of these loans. Shockingly, credit card and auto loan delinquencies have been soaring in the last year, with credit card delinquencies above 3% for the first time since 2012, and auto loan delinquencies surpassed 8% for the first time since 2010. Does that sound like a consumer on solid ground?

    In addition, the housing market is a disaster looking for a trigger. The Wall Street hedge funds (Blackrock) bought up millions of homes, driving prices 140% (Case Siller Index) higher than the 2012 low, while outstanding mortgage debt has risen from the 2012 low of $13 trillion to $21 trillion today. Prices are ridiculously high and mortgage rates of 7% make it virtually impossible for an average working stiff to buy even a small home. The market is frozen.

    This is why Trump and his GOP minions must avoid a recession at all costs by continuing to rack up $2 trillion annual deficits. A recession would result in millions of layoffs, which would mean unpaid mortgages, which would mean foreclosures and slashing of home prices, which would trigger housing collapse 2.0, which would turn the recession into a depression, causing a stock market collapse. Now you know why they are desperate to pass this big, beautiful behemoth of bilge.

    The Fed is in a precarious position of their own making, with all choices pointing towards disastrous outcomes. They are already sitting on over $1 trillion of unrealized bond losses, while their Wall Street owners sit on another $400 billion of unrealized bond losses. If these entities ever have to realize those losses, our entire banking system would collapse. The Fed has cut rates by 1%, but market rates went up, as their power to mislead market players diminishes.

    They have reduced their balance sheet from $9 trillion to $6.7 trillion. The last time they tried to reduce their balance sheet in 2019, the repo market spasmed and they used the Covid cover to drastically print more fiat. Trump is mocking Powell and demanding interest rate cuts. Powell is pretending to be independent, but he is praying for some kind of crisis to again set the printing presses to hyper-speed. I’m sure the ruling oligarchs are hatching a new crisis to expand their wealth, power, and control, while further impoverishing and enslaving the plebs.

    It is clear at least to me, we stand on the precipice of an economic conflagration capable of putting the final nail in the coffin of this empire of debt. At the same time there are unrelenting evil forces who are frantically creating the casus-belli to initiate World War III and the massive death and destruction that would produce. The simultaneous commencement of these two events would produce the type of climax expected in the waning years of a Fourth Turning, with a final resolution expected by 2032.

    Most people are blissfully unaware of the imminent demise of their comfortable existence, so addicted to their techno-gadgets and mindless social media performance art, they are incapable of critical thought regarding the dystopian world they inhabit.

    “People will come to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think” ― Neil Postman – Amusing Ourselves to Death

    “If politics is like show business, then the idea is not to pursue excellence, clarity or honesty but to appear as if you are, which is another matter altogether.” ― Neil Postman – Amusing Ourselves to Death

    If you ever needed proof politics is nothing but show business, it is this big, beautiful bill episode of drama, fiction, comedy, and tragedy. Excellence, clarity, and honesty have no part in this absurd psychodrama of lies, accusations, and continued downward spiral of this empire of debt. We know Huxley believed the masses could be sufficiently distracted by their own ego driven pursuits, but I don’t think even he realized how much power the technological “advances” of our times (TV based mass media, the internet, corporate/government controlled social media, Big Pharma) would be used by the ruling elite to control, manipulate, sedate, and scare the ignorant masses into voluntary subservience. Everything we are witnessing and living through is nothing more than a theater production, designed by Bernays’ invisible governing authorities to herd us towards their technological gulag, with the slaughterhouse as the other alternative.

    Huxley’s 1932 dystopian vision, which he believed was more likely than Orwell’s 1949 dystopian vision of the future, and reinforced in a letter to Orwell in 1949 shortly before his death, has been the pre-dominant method used by our overlords to rule over, manipulate, and exploit the foibles of the unthinking masses. They have kept their citizens distracted with pleasures, drugged into passivity, taught to feel rather than think in government run indoctrination centers (public schools) and overloaded with so much useless trivial information, they are incapable of distinguishing between good and evil – actually believing their servitude is freedom.

    While Huxley’s dystopia continues, the ruling class fears their passive mind control methods aren’t as effective in achieving their great reset agenda, and in need of some Orwellian censorship, disinformation, brute force, government intimidation, harsh mind control, and guaranteeing compliance through fear. Aren’t we lucky to be experiencing the best of both dystopian visions. Those controlling the levers of society have used the school system to create a soulless amalgamation of hedonistic mass consumers; purposeless, apathetic, with muddled brains unable to understand their unintended enslavement to the evil demons running our world and controlling their lives.

    Knowing most of what we see on our screens and hear from supposed “experts”, left wing corporate media talking heads, and Fox News bimbos, is gibberish and propaganda, it is hard to distinguish real threats from clickbait, purposeful disinformation, and scare tactics designed to make you do what they want you to do. The precarious financial situation of the country is real. The danger from an AI cage built through a tech-state merger with Palantir to surveil and digitally profile everyone is real.

    The threat of the Ukraine-Russia conflict morphing into WW3 is real. The desire by billionaire globalists to introduce a Great ResetGreat Taking, and CBDCs is real. The planned, funded, and executed invasion of our southern border during the Basement Dummy administration by third world dregs, with the sole intention of destroying the social fabric and finances of the country, run by the Soros/Clinton/Obama triumvirate is real.

    Even with the dismantling of their USAID insurrection funding source, this week’s festivities in Los Angeles kicked off the summer of civil war. There is nothing real or spontaneous about these riots. Whenever pallets of bricks suddenly show up on streets in city centers, you know Soros and his ilk are behind the organized destruction of that particular city. The brick and bomb throwers are being paid to riot and take photo ops. This will assuredly be rolled out in our other Democrat controlled urban shitholes across the land. The governor of California and the communist mayor of Los Angeles are paid acolytes of Soros, stoking insurrection and should be arrested and thrown into the dungeons of DC, like the grandmothers and patriots who sauntered through the Capitol on January 6.

    We find ourselves on the precipice of a financial, social, and military calamity, all driven by the three driving forces of this Fourth Turning: debt, civic decay, global disorder. Anyone not noticing events are intensifying, conflict is expanding, anger is building, and the world is accelerating towards that precipice at breakneck speed, is simply ignorant or their minds are so numbed by their i-gadgets and government school indoctrination, that it’s beyond their comprehension to acknowledge reality.

    At this point in history, I do not believe there are enough awakened critical thinking citizens to make a difference during the waning years of this Fourth Turning. We can’t vote our way out. We likely can’t shoot our way out. We can’t buy our way out. When the majority are proud of their ignorance and believe it is superior to actual knowledge, your society is pretty much fucked.

    “What is happening here is that television is altering the meaning of ‘being informed’ by creating a species of information that might properly be called disinformation. I am using this world almost in the precise sense in which it is used by spies in the CIA or KGB. Disinformation does not mean false information. It means misleading information–misplace, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information – information that creates the illusion of knowing something but which in fact leads one away from knowing. I am saying something far more serious than that we are being deprived of authentic information. I am saying we are losing our sense of what it means to be well informed. Ignorance is always correctable. But what shall we do if we take ignorance to be knowledge?” ― Neil Postman – Amusing Ourselves to Death

    The existing financial, social and political paradigms will have to collapse and be swept away for any real change to occur. The problem is it appears that is exactly what the billionaire globalist elite are trying to trigger. In the aftermath, amidst chaos, financial ruin, civil and global war, social strife, and a political vacuum, they envision establishing an authoritarian global world order, with CBDCs, social credit scores, 15-minute cities, and Big Brother level surveillance. If this vision prevails, Orwell wins the award over Huxley for the most accurate dystopian nightmare.

    “It does not take a majority to prevail … but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.” ― Samuel Adams

    “The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.” – George Washington

    Our only hope resides in the hubris and arrogance of the ruling class. Once the collapse is underway, its course is unpredictable and unstable. The best laid plans have a way of going awry. This could offer an opportunity for normal rational people to make their stand. If a liberty movement, backed by the 300 million firearms residing in the red states, could re-ignite the brush fires of freedom in the minds of men, maybe we could reset the course of our country. The odds probably aren’t worse than they were in 1776. At this point, all we can do is prepare mentally, physically, and spiritually for the coming storm. Buy supplies, guns and ammo. And remember what your forefathers accomplished with far less. The choice is slavery or freedom.

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 16:20
  32. Site: Henrymakow.com
    1 day 7 hours ago


    Trump-Jeffrey-Epstein.jpg
    Please send links and comments to hmakow@gmail.com


    In a world that embraces lies as long as they are big enough, and repeated often, 
    we're supposed to forget the Trump was a pedophile. We are supposed to believe 
    that Musk's confirmation that Trump is in the Epstein file, (why it is being withheld,)
    was a smear caused by a clash of egos. Now the two men can make up and go on as usual.

    Trump was a nasty pedophile.   I doubt he is one now. He should not allow Mossad blackmail to 
    influence life-and-death decisions. He should confess to his disgusting past and resolve to take the high road. Don't you think he would be forgiven? 

    More serious is the fact that Trump (and Putin and Netanyahu) belong to Chabad, a Jewish supremacist cult that conjures up world wars to kill the goyim (defined as anyone who reject Chabad as God.) They believe that a "social catastrophe" will summon the Jewish "Messiah." Trump must denounce Chabad and its genocidal goals. 

    Meanwhile, he could admit that Fort Knox is empty and the CIA murdered JFK. Imagine how his credibility and popularity would explode!

    Trump's role in history is the same as Hitler's was - to provide false Fascist opposition to Rothschild Communism. 
    He must realize that he will be reviled as much as Hitler if he leads the US to world war.




    JD Vance prevaricates when asked about Trump's raping underaged girls


    Zionist errand boy demands Iran give up nuclear energy - it won't happen. If he wanted peace, he would ensure that Iran has nuclear weapons. 



    tulsi-gabbard.png
    Tulsi Gabbard posts "bizarre" video: 'Closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation'


    Gabbard used the story to suggest leaders should not provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin over his war in Ukraine.

    "This is the reality of what's at stake, what we are facing now," she said. "Because as we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elites and war mongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers."
    --

    The COLOR REVOLUTION MASTERMINDS Behind LA's RIOTS & the WAR ON TRUMP



    "Barbara Boyd uncovers the true orchestrators behind the ongoing riots in Los Angeles. Discover how these events are linked to broader geopolitical strategies stretching from Ukraine to the US, and orchestrated by Anglo-American (Rothschild) intelligence networks. Explore the deep dive into the color revolution against Trump, understand the role of British intelligence, and learn how the destabilization of America is part of a greater agenda. Get informed on what steps need to be taken to dismantle this apparatus and protect our republic." 


    Simpsons creators shill for migrant invasion - past episode predicts social breakdown due to expelling freeloaders


    --

    bbb.png
    How the LA Riots Fit Perfectly Into Agenda 2030's Plan


    -

    RFK Jr. Removes All Members of CDC Vaccine Advisory Panel
    The health secretary says 'A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.'

    --






    Gaza: Aid Trucks Lure the Starving and then Opened Fire on Them

    -


    id5801672-Kash-Patel-KASH-PATEL_2-1080x720.png
    China Is Deliberately Using Fentanyl to 'Kneecap' the US, FBI Director Says
    China's long-term plan is to use fentanyl to 'take out generations of young men and women' in the United States, FBI Director Kash Patel said.


    -
    IAEA an 'instrument for Israel,' secret documents seized by Iran reveal

    Iranian media says the documents show that Tehran's confidential letters to the IAEA were passed on to Israel


    "These documents clearly show that instead of playing a neutral role, the IAEA has become an instrument serving the objectives of the Zionist regime," Fars news agency cited an informed source as saying on 10 June. 

    The documents prove that "Iran's official and confidential letters to the IAEA - containing sensitive information - were channeled to the espionage agencies of the Zionist regime through covert conduits," the report added. 

    The report also notes that several top Iranian nuclear scientists ended up getting assassinated due to their names being disclosed by the IAEA."



  33. Site: LifeNews
    1 day 7 hours ago
    Author: Steven Ertelt

    The House Judiciary Committee voted 13-10 on June 10, 2025, to advance a bill to repeal the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. That’s the 1994 law Joe Biden’s administration used to put pro-life Americans in prison for peacefully protesting abortion.

    The FACE law was weaponized by the Biden administration to target and imprison peaceful pro-life activists, including elderly women. The legislation, led by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, aims to prevent future administrations from using the law to punish pro-lifers for exercising free speech and religious freedoms outside abortion clinics.

    The FACE Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, prohibits the use of force, threats, or physical obstruction to interfere with abortion businesses and pro-life pregnancy centers. However, pro-life groups argue it has been disproportionately enforced against their advocates.

    REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.

    Data cited by Roy’s office shows that 97% of FACE Act prosecutions from 1994 to 2024 targeted pro-life activists, including cases against elderly women like 89-year-old Eva Edl, a wheelchair-bound Soviet concentration camp survivor convicted for praying and singing hymns outside a Michigan abortion clinic in 2020.

    “This vote is a victory for the unborn and for the free speech of Americans who stand for life,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action, which has championed the repeal effort. “The FACE Act was twisted into a tool to jail grandmas and peaceful protesters while ignoring attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers. It’s time to end this injustice.”

    Under the Biden administration, the Justice Department prosecuted 55 pro-life activists in 24 cases, securing 34 convictions, according to congressional testimony.

    Notable cases include Paul Vaughn, arrested by FBI agents at his Tennessee home in 2022 for a 2021 nonviolent sit-in, and Edl, who faced up to 11 years in prison for her role in a peaceful blockade.

    Pro-life advocates argue these prosecutions, often paired with “conspiracy against rights” charges to inflate penalties, represent a double standard, as attacks on pro-life facilities post-Dobbs—such as vandalism and firebombings—rarely faced federal charges.

    “Joe Biden’s DOJ turned the FACE Act into a weapon against everyday Americans who believe in the sanctity of life,” Roy said in a statement. “With a Republican-led Congress and President Trump’s support, we can repeal this law and protect free speech for all.”

    The bill’s passage through the Judiciary Committee marks a significant step, though it faces hurdles in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster.

    Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has introduced companion legislation, and pro-life groups are hopeful that President Donald Trump, who pardoned 23 FACE Act convicts in January 2025, will sign the repeal if it reaches his desk. Trump’s Justice Department has already limited FACE Act enforcement to “extraordinary circumstances,” leaving most cases to state and local authorities.

    The bill now heads to the House Rules Committee before a potential floor vote. If passed, it would end a law that pro-life groups say has been used to silence their message and imprison their supporters, including vulnerable elderly activists.

    The post House Committee Passes Bill to Repeal Law Biden Used to Put Pro-Life Grandmas in Prison appeared first on LifeNews.com.

  34. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 7 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    'Several Agencies' Spied On Foreign Musk Associates During Biden Years: Report

    In the final years of President Biden’s term, as Elon Musk began publicly criticizing Democrats and shifted his support to Donald Trump, multiple federal agencies launched a quiet but sweeping inquiry into Musk's foreign associates.  

    Francis Chung/POLITICO

    The investigation, reported by the Wall Street Journal, involved the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and included briefings to officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It focused on foreign nationals — particularly from Eastern Europe and other sensitive geopolitical regions - who were seen traveling to and from Musk’s private properties in 2022 and 2023.

    While the probe never led to formal charges and its current status remains unclear, it smacks of yet another politically motivated investigation, while government defenders may argue it was warranted given Musk's proximity to America’s most closely guarded government secrets. The inquiry predated Trump’s return to power in January and was allegedly prompted in part by concerns that foreign actors could attempt to sway or compromise the influential CEO.

    The timing, of course, makes that assertion highly suspect. 

    Musk, who runs five companies including SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter), has enjoyed privileged access to senior government officials and oversees ventures that contract directly with U.S. defense and intelligence agencies. SpaceX, in particular, holds highly sensitive launch and satellite surveillance agreements with the Pentagon.

    Trump administration officials, when asked about the prior investigation, said they had no knowledge of it. Since returning to office, the president has cracked down on foreign influence, issuing a series of executive orders restricting international travel and enrollment in American universities, and imposing new vetting requirements on political donors and campaign associates with ties abroad.

    The irony, current and former officials note, is that one of Trump’s closest political allies had already been the subject of a counterintelligence review under his predecessor.

    Musk’s relationship with Trump has unraveled dramatically in recent days following a public feud that erupted on social media and spilled into news conferences. Once described by insiders as the administration’s “shadow budget director,” Musk had briefly served as a special government employee tasked with streamlining federal expenditures. He was also the primary benefactor behind America PAC, a political action committee that poured more than $250 million into Trump’s reelection campaign, much of it from Musk’s own fortune.

    According to the report, as Musk’s influence grew, so too did concern among his political and corporate peers about the people in his orbit.

    Even as they worked together over the past few months, however, there had been signs of tension over Musk’s association with foreign nationals.

    Musk traveled with foreigners to such an extent that the staff of his super PAC, which he started last year to help re-elect Trump, became concerned about who was joining him at meetings and events, two people familiar with the group’s operations said.

    An official at the group, called America PAC, said they had to institute extensive vetting to keep foreigners out of their efforts. Two campaign staffers also said they were worried about Musk’s coterie of foreign nationals. -WSJ

    Muh Russia...

    And here we go again... the Journal of course goes into a report they broke in October - the peak of Trump-Musk campaigning before the election, that Musk had maintained direct contact with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin since late 2022, sparking internal alarm among national security officials and raising questions about the propriety of such outreach during an active conflict in Ukraine.

    The Journal also claims that SpaceX attorneys advised Musk against pursuing a higher security clearance, fearing that formal disclosure of his foreign communications could either jeopardize the application or trigger its revocation.

    Still, Musk remains a figure of enormous influence inside and outside government. His ventures span commercial spaceflight, artificial intelligence, transportation, and social media - sectors deeply entwined with U.S. national security and public discourse. His naturalized U.S. citizenship, obtained after emigrating from South Africa, does not exempt him from the types of scrutiny often applied to private individuals with sensitive access and overseas entanglements.

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 15:40
  35. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 day 7 hours ago
    Irene Montero,  the socialist-communist government minister responsible for a law that freed a multitude of rapists, did not receive when she was in government the victims of ecclesiastical sexual abuse with whom she demonstrated yesterday.Cathcon: Along with the synodalists, someone else politically instrumentalising the abuse crisis for their own ends.  The person responsible forCatholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  36. Site: LifeNews
    1 day 8 hours ago
    Author: Steven Ertelt

    A federal investigation has concluded that Ascension Seton Williamson Hospital in Texas violated federal law by failing to promptly treat Kyleigh Thurman’s life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, resulting in severe health consequences, including the loss of a fallopian tube.

    Pro-life advocates argue the case highlights hospital mismanagement, not Texas’ pro-life laws, which explicitly permit treatment for ectopic pregnancies.

    According to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) report, Thurman, 36, sought emergency care in 2023 for symptoms including vaginal bleeding and cramping. Despite clear signs of an ectopic pregnancy—where a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, posing a risk of rupture and death—the hospital discharged her without treatment or transfer to another facility.

    Days later, after continued bleeding, she returned, but the hospital again delayed care until her fallopian tube ruptured, necessitating emergency surgery that compromised her future fertility.

    REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.

    The CMS investigation found the hospital violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) by failing to provide a proper medical screening or stabilizing treatment.

    This tragedy stems from hospital failures, not pro-life protections. Blaming Texas’ abortion ban misrepresents the truth and distracts from holding hospitals accountable for neglecting women in crisis.

    Thurman’s case, detailed in a complaint filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, underscores the dangers of ectopic pregnancies, which account for up to 10% of first-trimester maternal deaths nationwide. Her initial visit showed low hormone levels and a blocked fallopian tube, but staff sent her home with a miscarriage pamphlet. Only after her OB-GYN’s urgent pleas on a third visit did the hospital act, too late to prevent the rupture.

    Pro-life groups argue that Texas’ abortion ban, enacted after the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, includes clear exceptions for ectopic pregnancies and other medical emergencies. They contend that fearmongering by abortion advocates has sown confusion among providers, leading to hesitation in cases where treatment is legally permitted.

    Hospitals must train staff to follow the law and prioritize women’s lives. Pro-life laws protect both the mother and her unborn child, and ectopic pregnancy treatment aligns with that mission.

    The CMS report noted multiple hospital deficiencies, including failure to consult an OB-GYN during Thurman’s initial screening. Ascension Seton Williamson issued a statement denying the allegations but offered no further comment.

    For pro-life advocates, Thurman’s ordeal reinforces the need for accountability in healthcare, not the dismantling of laws protecting unborn life.

    The post Hospital Failures, Not Abortion Ban, Caused Failure to Treat Woman’s Ectopic Pregnancy appeared first on LifeNews.com.

  37. Site: LES FEMMES - THE TRUTH
    1 day 8 hours ago
    Author: noreply@blogger.com (Mary Ann Kreitzer)
  38. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 8 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Staked Ethereum Hits All-Time High As ETH ETF Inflows Surge

    Ethereum surged to a four month high this morning, just shy of $2800 (a key resistance zone) as ETF inflows and Staking have reignited interest in the smart contracts ecosystem.

    BlackRock's ETH ETF has become a major focal point in Ethereum investment, and its recent activity is nothing short of impressive. For nine straight trading days, the fund has attracted over $490 million of fresh capital - a streak that has drawn attention from investors and analysts alike.

    As themerkele.com's Will Izuchukwu reports, a wider embrace of Ethereum by institutions is reflected in the inflows to Ethereum ETFs, which have notched up a 14-day winning streak— the longest streak yet in 2025.

    These inflows are coming when Ethereum is returning to prominence among blockchain networks for fee generation, which is a really important indicator of network activity and demand.

    CoinTelegraph's Martin Young notes that staked Ethereum has clocked a new record as the asset’s price reclaimed a 12-day high amid major institutional accumulation. 

    The amount of Ether staked on the Beacon Chain reached a record high of 34.65 million ETH on Sunday, eclipsing the previous high on Nov. 10, 2024. 

    The amount of Ether staked has been relatively stable, above 33 million for the past year. However, it started to tick up again in June, according to the network explorer Beaconcha.in.

    The higher staking level indicates that more holders are not prepared to sell at current levels, preferring a yield from staking instead. 

    Almost 30% of supply staked 

    A Dune Analytics dashboard confirmed the record figure, reporting that 34.8 million ETH was staked as of Monday, while Ultrasound.Money reports 34.7 million staked. 

    The analytics platform also reports that the current amount staked is equivalent to 28.7% of the current circulating supply of Ether, which is 120.8 million, as issuance returned to inflationary in February. 

    ETF staking coming soon?

    The milestone also comes as the industry anticipates the approval of spot Ether ETF staking by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 

    Analysts have suggested that staked Ether ETFs could debut “within the next few weeks,” following a recent filing by ETF provider REX Shares that used “regulatory workarounds.”

    Finally, the last few weeks have seen Ethereum significantly outperform Bitcoin...

    ...after bouncing off the 2019/2020 ratio low support.

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 15:00
  39. Site: AsiaNews.it
    1 day 8 hours ago
    Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are investing billions in artificial intelligence and data centres in a two horse race followed with attention and some fear in Washington and Beijing who are trying to boost their partnerships. Gulf states have energy and money, but still lacks qualified talents and brilliant minds. In the first quarter, Saudi GDP boomed, driven by the non-oil sector.
  40. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 8 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    'Invest Now Or Learn Russian Later': NATO Chief Wants 400% Increase In Europe's Air Defense Spending

    NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday urged the European allies to make a "quantum leap" in military spending to deter Russia, which affirms Trump's own longtime message, as the NATO chief called for a whopping 400% increase in the Continent’s air and missile defense budget.

    "The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defense," Rutte said before an audience of the London-based think tank Chatham House. "The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defense plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends."

    The comments came days after he stated provocatively that Europe must invest heavily in defense now, or learn Russian later.

    "If we don't act now, the next three years, we are fine, but we have to start now, because otherwise, from three, four or five years from now, we are really under threat," he had said. "I really mean this. Then you have to get your Russian language course out, or go to New Zealand."

    NBC reviews that all of this is happening just ahead of a key NATO meeting later in June:

    Trump's call for NATO allies to up their minimum defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP was once seen as outlandish; but last month Rutte too backed this idea and said he expected it to be adopted at NATO's June 24-25 summit.

    On Monday he made a similarly ambitious call. He asked for a "400% increase in air and missile defense" and added that "militaries also need thousands more armored vehicles and tanks, millions more artillery shells, and we must double our enabling capabilities, such as logistics, supply, transportation, and medical support."

    Canada is already seeking to demonstrate to Washington and NATO that it is taking significant strides to meet the challenge:

    Canada, under pressure to spend more on its military, vowed on Monday to boost funding for the armed forces and hit NATO's 2% military spending target this fiscal year, five years earlier than promised.

    Prime Minister Mark Carney also said Canada was likely in future to devote a greater percentage of GDP on defense, given the need to replace outdated equipment and reduce its heavy reliance on Washington.

    Canada just committed $60 billion in defense spending to meet NATO’s 2% of GDP target.

    That’s based on an estimated $3 trillion GDP for 2025.

    New jets, vehicles, drones, and Arctic surveillance are coming — but how will we afford it with rising debt and a slowing economy? pic.twitter.com/1ee30Olw7o

    — Marc Nixon (@MarcNixon24) June 9, 2025

    NATO defense ministers are further expected to soon formalize the following increase in spending policies:

    • They’ve agreed that 3.5% of GDP would be used for "core defence spending" - such as heavy weapons, tanks, air defence.
    • 1.5% of GDP per year will be spent on defense- and security-related areas such as infrastructure, surveillance, and cyber. However, the full list of flexibility has not yet been negotiated. 
    • "These targets describe exactly what capabilities Allies need to invest in over the coming years," Rutte told journalists. 

    Washington could step back from Ukraine support...

    If #NATO allies fail to meet the defense spending target, the #US could scale back support for #Ukraine, says @TalaMichelIssa, Chief Business Reporter. #WNewsExtra pic.twitter.com/DBRqVwakAs

    — Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) June 9, 2025

    This is being collectively pushed for amid heightened Cold War-style rhetoric regarding Moscow's intentions. 

    "The threats facing NATO are growing and our adversaries are certainly not waiting for us to re-arm or be ready for them to make the first move," Rutte has also said. "We would prefer our allies move out urgently on reaching the 5%."

    Kremlin officials grab popcorn, set for more inter-NATO turmoil over the future of the alliance...

    'NATO in a very deep crisis' over the 5% spending hike — Lavrov

    'At the same time the US is switching focus to Asia-Pacific while leaving Europe to deal with its problems on its own' pic.twitter.com/Sqdz8NjwcC

    — RT (@RT_com) June 9, 2025

    But this assumes that Moscow's war in Ukraine is fundamentally expansionist in nature, and this has not been demonstrated - it is simply assumed. It remains that President Putin has shown no interest even in some kind of outright military occupation of Kiev.

    So the idea that he's ready to invade Poland or anywhere else on NATO's 'Eastern flank' next is a huge assumption. Moscow has all along pointed out that it's the NATO alliance which expanded itself right up to Russia's doorstep.

    Unhinged fear-mongering... engaged:

    Stupendously idiotic stuff here from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. pic.twitter.com/X46yZULWNL

    — Daniel DePetris (@DanDePetris) June 9, 2025

    * * *

    A note from Rabobank:

    It’s unclear how much chickening out there is in geopolitics. Ukrainian drones just hit another Russian military target, destroying two fighter jets, as Germany’s outgoing spy boss and NATO chief Rutte both warned Russia could launch an attack against it within five years.

    “Let’s not kid ourselves, we are all on the eastern flank. There is no east or west, there is just NATO,” Mr Rutte said, and the danger “will not disappear when the war in Ukraine ends.” Rutte specifically told the UK: “Spend more or learn to speak Russian.”

    To help Brits appalled at the idea of learning a foreign language, and those who believe it might be better than vast state spending when fiscal deficits and public debt are sky high: “Когда мне снизят центральную банковскую процентную ставку?” (‘When do I get my rate cut?’ – that’s all that matters, right?) Even Canada is moving its Coast Guard to national defence and PM Carney will announce defence spending will be NATO’s 2% of GDP target this fiscal year - just in time for it to rise to 5% at its upcoming summit.

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 14:45
  41. Site: Zero Hedge
    1 day 8 hours ago
    Author: Tyler Durden
    Nation's 2nd-Largest Wine And Spirits Distributor Exits California Market Over Costs, Suppliers

    Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Wine and spirits distributor Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) is leaving the California market.

    RNDC cited increasing costs and changes among suppliers as one of the reasons it has decided to stop operating in the state.

    “This decision follows years of increasing costs, industry headwinds, and supplier shifts that have made it difficult to operate sustainably in the state,” its leadership said in an emailed statement to its customers on June 4. “We are incredibly proud of our California team and all of their hard work over the years. Please know that our commitment to you during this transition remains unwavering.”

    RNDC has lost several significant distribution partnerships in California in recent years. The company’s announcement comes just months after two major suppliers, Tito’s Vodka and Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman, departed from their California distribution relationship with RNDC in favor of its competitor, Reyes Beverage Group.

    E. & J. Gallo Winery, which owns the High Noon brand, also ended its relationship with RNDC in the state in 2025, opting instead for Reyes Beverage Group.

    In 2023, Sazerac ended its longtime relationship with RNDC in California. The bourbon and whiskey maker moved its brands including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, and Fireball Whisky, to the Reyes Beverage Group.

    RNDC did not return a request for comment.

    Other companies such as Chevron, Tesla, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, have in recent years moved their headquarters from California to states like Texas or Nevada. Unlike RNDC, which also plans to cease servicing the state, these companies continue to operate in California’s sizable economy.

    RNDC joins a list of national companies—many of them insurance providers—that have fully exited the California market.

    Farmers Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Company withdrew from the California homeowners insurance market in 2023. That same year, American National also announced it would stop offering homeowners insurance in the state, a move that affected more than 36,000 policies. In addition, Merastar Insurance stopped renewing homeowners and car insurance policies in California beginning in 2024.

    Some other companies still operating in California have made moves to limit their operations in the state. State Farm and Allstate announced they would no longer be accepting new applications for homeowners insurance, citing rising costs and wildfire risks.

    A Farmers Direct Property and Casualty Insurance spokesperson previously told The Epoch Times the company made its decision to increase efficiency and mitigate risk exposure.

    Berkshire Hathaway’s AmGUARD, a division of the firm’s GUARD Insurance company, informed the California Department of Insurance in July 2023 of its plan to cancel the homeowners and personal umbrella policies it holds in the state, which followed through on two months later. AmGUARD’s notice came the same day that the small insurance firm Falls Lake Insurance submitted a letter indicating it would also be canceling policies in the state.

    A 2022 report by the Hoover Institution found that 352 companies relocated from California to other states between 2018 to 2021, primarily due to the state’s high operating costs.

    Tyler Durden Tue, 06/10/2025 - 14:40
  42. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 day 8 hours 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 BarnabasSeen here with Saint Paul contesting with pagansFrom the Golden Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  43. Site: 4Christum
    1 day 9 hours ago

     Gay activism in the diocese of apostate Timothy Dolan


    Archdiocese New York: Apostate Parish Celebrates Homosexual March – Gloria.tv


    The Apostate Parish Priest is Brian Jordan, OFM

    St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Manhattan plans to celebrate its annual "United In Love Pre-Pride Festive Mass" on June 28.



    This homosexual propaganda Eucharist coincides with a so-called "WorldPride" event in the city that weekend.




    The Catholic parish is notorious for homosexual activism. The prelate responsible for the scandal is "conservative" Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.




    Across state lines, in Hoboken, New Jersey, Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church is planning to celebrate its seventh annual homosexual propaganda Eucharist on the same weekend.







    Gay activism in the diocese of apostate Joseph Tobin




    Hoboken's apostate church, Our Lady of Grace, engages in gay activism in rebellion against God's natural law and Catholic moral doctrine, using Bergoglio's photo.

    Apostate and gay activist Alexander M. Santora





    The names of the apostate churches St. Francis of Assisi and Our Lady of Grace are on the list of dissident gay activists New ways Ministry






  44. Site: AsiaNews.it
    1 day 9 hours ago
    The Asian Development Bank is investing US$ 1.5 billion to promote more efficient farming that increases productivity while reducing the environmental impact of growing the main staple in the Asian diet. Rice farming alone generates 1.5 per cent of greenhouse gases. New irrigation systems and the use of drones are among the tools to cut the amount of methane released into the atmosphere.
  45. Site: Catholic Conclave
    1 day 9 hours ago
    Images of Marko Rupnik's mosaics have been removed from the Vatican news site Vatican news. The decision represents a first sign of acceleration by the Holy See on the case of the former Jesuit accused of having abused, over a period of thirty years, numerous religious women during his career as a world-renowned artist and theologian. His was a particularly controversial case, not least because Catholic Conclavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06227218883606585321noreply@blogger.com0
  46. Site: LifeNews
    1 day 9 hours ago
    Author: Steven Ertelt

    A North Texas man faces capital murder charges after slipping abortion drugs into his pregnant girlfriend’s drink, resulting in the death of her unborn child and her hospitalization.

    The case has sparked outrage among pro-life advocates, who say it underscores the sanctity of unborn life and the dangers of unregulated abortion drugs.

    Justin Anthony Banta, 38, an information technology staffer for the U.S. Department of Justice, was arrested June 6, 2025, by the Parker County Sheriff’s Office following a months-long investigation. According to a sheriff’s office press release, Banta intentionally added “Plan C,” a commonly known abortion drug known as mifepristone, to his girlfriend’s drink without her knowledge or consent in September 2024. The incident occurred at a Tarrant County coffee shop, where the victim, whose identity remains confidential, met Banta and later suspected he had tampered with her beverage.

    The victim, who was six weeks pregnant, informed Banta of her pregnancy and expressed her desire to keep her baby, authorities said. Despite her wishes, Banta allegedly encouraged an abortion, offered to cover the cost, and suggested ordering the drugs online.

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    When she refused, he took matters into his own hands, purchasing the abortion pills and secretly adding them to her drink, according to investigators. The act led to the loss of her unborn child and required her hospitalization for medical complications.

    Banta faces additional charges of tampering with physical evidence, and the Texas Rangers have filed the capital murder charge in Tarrant County. If convicted, he could face life in prison or the death penalty, reflecting Texas’ legal recognition of the unborn as victims in cases of intentional harm.

    Pro-life advocates point to this case as evidence of the risks posed by the availability of abortion drugs like mifepristone, often marketed as “Plan C.” They argue that such drugs, accessible online with minimal oversight, can be misused to harm women and end unborn lives against a mother’s will.

    The victim’s condition remains undisclosed, but her ordeal has drawn sympathy from pro-life communities across the state.

    Banta is being held in the Parker County Jail. His arraignment is pending, and the investigation remains ongoing as authorities review additional evidence.

    The post Texas Man Faces Murder Charge After Killing His Girlfriend’s Unborn Baby appeared first on LifeNews.com.

  47. Site: Mises Institute
    1 day 10 hours ago
    Author: Wanjiru Njoya
    Marxism has infected not only our body politic but also most of our institutions from higher education to religious organizations, as Marxists insist that human action is determined by class and racial affiliations. Ludwig von Mises had a more accurate understanding of how humans act.
  48. Site: AsiaNews.it
    1 day 10 hours ago
    South Korea's new president and the Chinese leader spoke on the phone for about 30 minutes. China insists on the importance of 'multilateralism' against the backdrop of Trump's tariffs. South Korea calls on Xi to play a 'constructive role' in the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
  49. Site: LifeNews
    1 day 10 hours ago
    Author: Alliance Defending Freedom

    Free speech and religious freedom advocates, groups speaking out on the harms of radical gender ideology, and 22 states have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of two Vermont families who had their foster-care licenses revoked by Vermont because of their religious beliefs. On May 30, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing the families filed their opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Wuoti v. Winters.

    Despite a track record of success and high praise from social workers who knew Brian and Katy Wuoti and Bryan and Rebecca Gantt, Vermont’s Department for Children and Families revoked their foster-care licenses after the couples expressed their religiously inspired and widely held belief that girls cannot become boys or vice versa. The state applies this policy categorically—prohibiting families with these views from caring for any child, even if they sought to care for a relative, provide respite care for an infant for just one day, or care for a child who shared their faith.

    “Vermont’s foster-care system is in crisis: There aren’t enough families to care for vulnerable kids,” said ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse. “As numerous states have attested, religious families play a critical role in the foster-care system. Yet instead of inviting families from diverse backgrounds to help care for vulnerable kids, Vermont is shutting the door on them, putting its ideological agenda ahead of the needs of suffering kids. When it comes to finding kids a loving home, everyone should be able to recognize that the needs of kids should come first. And even Vermont agrees that the Wuotis and the Gantts are loving and caring parents willing to open their door to any child.”

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    The state’s foster-care system has more kids in need than families willing to care for them, and officials have had to place some kids in institutions and unlicensed placements, including hospitals and police stations, to fill the gap. To help meet this need, the Wuotis became foster parents in 2014 and adopted two brothers from foster care. The Gantts became foster parents in 2016 and focused on caring for kids born with drug dependencies or with fetal alcohol syndrome. The Gantts have since adopted three kids.

    Vermont officials described the couples as “amazing,” “wonderful,” “kind,” and “welcoming.” Yet the state revoked both families’ licenses when they expressed their religious belief that a person should live consistent with their sex and marriage is the union of one man and one woman. According to the state, that made them “unqualified” to parent any child regardless of the child’s age, beliefs, or identity. Vermont will not license these families to provide any type of foster care or even respite care. ADF attorneys say this exclusion burdens constitutional rights as much as it needlessly deprives kids of loving homes.

    “Foster parents represent the best of society: local citizens who give back to their community by helping the State raise children that have fallen into its care,” explains the multi-state brief led by Florida and the Arizona legislature. “Unfortunately, foster-care systems are in crisis across the nation as states deal with a shortage of foster homes. Vermont’s brusque approach to foster care has only exacerbated that crisis…States like Florida, Oklahoma, and Idaho, whose foster systems are highlighted in this brief, employ foster-care programs that achieve the same interests through means that do not disqualify scores of good-hearted citizens with genuinely held religious and political views: by matching like-minded parents with like-minded children.”

    In a brief filed by The Conscience Project on behalf of prospective foster families in Vermont, attorneys further detail the discrimination by state officials. “Despite the clear desire and ability to provide a safe and loving home for children in need, the Crams were denied a license to foster. According to the denial letter sent to the Crams in June of 2021 by Vermont’s Department for Children and Families, the Crams’ ‘fundamental belief’ of ‘God’s plan for all of us,’ would ‘not meet the emotional or developmental needs of children.’”

    The post 22 States Support Couple Who Lost Foster Care License in Vermont Because They’re Christians appeared first on LifeNews.com.

  50. Site: LifeNews
    1 day 10 hours ago
    Author: Melissa O'Rourke

    A George Soros-backed political action committee (PAC) is launching a multimillion-dollar effort to flip Texas blue, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

    Democrats haven’t won a statewide election in the Republican stronghold in decades. However, Texas Majority PAC, which has received millions of dollars in funding from Soros, hopes to change that trend with its new “Blue Texas” initiative, according to the WSJ.

    Soros and his network of political spending outfits have poured hundreds of millions into supporting Democratic candidates and causes in recent election cycles. Soros donated $2.1 million to Texas Majority PAC in 2024 and $1 million in April, WSJ reported.

    The Blue Texas initiative aims to boost candidate recruitment, organize volunteers, and increase voter turnout, with the goal of turning Texas into a battleground state by 2032, according to the WSJ. Texas Majority, along with state and county Democratic parties, spent about $35 million during the 2024 election cycle, and the new initiative’s price tag is expected to surpass that amount.

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    In addition to backing state and national Democrats, the Soros family has poured millions into local races and initiatives to push a left-wing agenda. Soros-backed groups spent heavily in 2022 and 2024 to pass ballot measures enshrining abortion as a right in state constitutions, and have routinely supported soft-on-crime prosecutors and judges in major American cities.

    The group is particularly focused on the 2026 Senate race, in which former Democratic Rep. Colin Allred — who lost to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024 — is expected to run again. On the Republican side, Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton are vying for the GOP nomination.

    A recent Texas Southern University poll showed Cornyn with a 4-point lead over Allred in a hypothetical general election matchup, and Paxton with just a 2-point lead.

    “If a win is on the table in 2026, we don’t want to leave it there by not being organized,” Katherine Fischer, the deputy executive director of Texas Majority PAC, told WSJ.

    Democrats have funneled massive sums into Texas in recent elections. Allred raised nearly $100 million, while former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s failed 2018 bid to unseat Cruz brought in over $80 million compared to Cruz’s $38 million.

    Despite significant spending in the state in 2024, Democrats failed to win key races. Former Vice President Kamala Harris lost Texas to President Donald Trump by nearly 14 points, and Cruz defeated Allred by 8.5 points.

    The flight for the White House in 2032 will be particularly consequential in Texas given that the state is expected to add electoral votes after the 2030 reapportionment, while Democratic strongholds such as California and New York are projected to lose them, The American Redistricting Project estimated in December 2023

    “There is no choice for Texas or for anyone else in the country who wants to see a Democrat in the White House after 2032 but to find a pathway through Texas,” Fischer told the WSJ.

    Texas Majority did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

    LifeNews Note: Melissa O’Rourke writes for Daily Caller. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience

    The post George Soros Group Spending Millions to Try to Make Texas a Blue State appeared first on LifeNews.com.

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