The Daily Dose Recap is our way of providing to you an overview of all the news that was covered during the show. Here you will have easy access to everything that was talked about that day.
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Key Player in Biden Documents Removal Was Caught Up in Bill Clinton-Era Chinagate Scandal
The custodian of Joe Biden’s vice presidential records, a key witness in his classified documents probe, was caught up in another documents scandal while working at the Commerce Department during the Clinton administration, court records reveal.
Longtime Biden aide and gatekeeper Kathy S. Chung, who has been interviewed by federal prosecutors and congressional investigators in the Biden case, was part of a team sanctioned for withholding and even destroying key documents in the federal case that sought sensitive records from a central figure in the so-called Chinagate fundraising investigation of the late 1990s, RealClearInvestigations has learned exclusively.A special prosecutor is now investigating whether Biden unlawfully handled top secret materials in early 2017, when he tasked Chung with removing boxes containing classified documents from the White House and storing them at various private offices in D.C., including the Chinatown neighborhood. Some of the highly sensitive papers also ended up at his home in Wilmington, Del.
Noting that Chung came into Biden’s orbit through working with the president’s son, Hunter, during the 1990s, congressional investigators want to know if the Biden family dealings in China have anything to do with the stockpiling of classified documents. They note that the mishandling of White House papers took place during the 14-month period in 2017-2018 when the Chinese were wiring almost $6 million in payments to Hunter and his uncle Jimmy Biden without providing any known legitimate services. They have expressed concern that the payments, which were flagged by the U.S. Treasury Department, were part of a Chinese intelligence-gathering operation.
Chung is central to the Justice Department’s investigation of Biden’s breach of classified documents.
On Jan. 4, federal agents interviewed Chung while working with an investigative team led by U.S. Attorney John Lausch, who was tasked to conduct a preliminary probe of the security breach. Alarmed by what his investigators reported back to him about Chung's role in the possible illegal removal and retention of state secrets, Lausch urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel. The following day Garland complied, naming veteran federal prosecutor Robert K. Hur to take over the criminal case as special counsel. Hur's office reportedly has obtained more than 100 pages of documents from Chung, including emails and text messages.
While Donald Trump and Mike Pence are also under investigation for removing classified documents from the White House and storing them at their private residences, GOP congressional investigators say comparisons to Trump and Pence miss the point. In interviews with RCI, they insisted that Biden's document scandal is potentially more serious than just mishandling state secrets. They suspect it could mushroom into a counterespionage case involving China and national security, though the White House dismisses such speculation as “baseless.”
Chung’s lawyer Bill Taylor did not return a request for comment. But in an earlier statement, he scolded Republicans for “suggesting someone is a traitor without any evidence."
Chung’s dual role – as an aide to Joe Biden when he was vice president and a friend of Hunter Biden, who emails show received sensitive information from Chung from his father’s office – further highlights the murky ethics that exist between the Biden family’s public service and business interests.Hunter Biden and Chung have a long history dating back to their days working together at the Commerce Department during Bill Clinton’s presidency. It was there that Chung – a longtime Democrat working in the federal bureaucracy – became a witness in a case involving convicted Chinagate fundraiser Jian-Nan “John" Huang, who was a top Commerce official.
In 1993, President Clinton named Huang, a China-born banker friend from Little Rock, deputy assistant secretary of international economic affairs at Commerce, where he was responsible for Asian trade matters. Within a month, Huang was given a top secret security clearance and received twice-weekly intelligence briefings by CIA analysts. At the same time, it was later revealed, he was meeting regularly with Chinese diplomats and other officials tied to Beijing.
Watchdog group Judicial Watch sought documents concerning Huang’s access to trade secrets and his trips to China. Chung was one of the administrators responsible for producing such documents under the Freedom of Information Act.-Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations
They are running out of ammunition, and they can no longer keep up. They are losing the information warfare.
Nasdaq to Buy Adenza for $10.5 Billion
Nasdaq is tapping the Andrew Carnegie playbook on vertical integration.
On Monday, the financial market that operates stock exchanges in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, agreed to purchase software company Adenza for $10.5 billion. It marks not only Nasdaq's most expensive deal in its 52-year history, but also the latest move by stock exchanges to diversify beyond transaction services to offer data and risk management as well.
Adenza -- a merger of Calypso Technology and AxiomSL -- makes treasury management systems. We won't bore you explaining terms like "end-to-end trading" and "regulatory compliance solutions." In layman's terms: It keeps track of money and makes sure companies are reporting it properly and not spending it stupidly so that they can earn even more money.
Nasdaq's purchase of Adenza from private equity group Thoma Bravo wasn't the first of its kind, and it likely won't be the last. In 2020, the Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, purchased mortgage software specialist Elli Mae -- another former Thoma Bravo company -- for $11 billion. A year after that, the London Stock Exchange acquired Refinitiv, one of the world's largest providers of financial markets data, for a whopping $27 billion. It's easy to see why stock exchanges are going on a fintech shopping spree:
By nature, exchanges and the individual stocks within them are going to experience volatility. Whether it's a regional bank bubble, a worldwide pandemic, or OPEC slashing its oil production, nothing on the markets is guaranteed safe. Exchanges view financial management services as more stable ways of generating revenue.
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said she wants to bolster the company's software endeavors, which now accounts for more than a third of its annualized recurring revenues, Bloomberg reported.
"We're trying to make sure we're buying the best-in-breed companies to solve and serve clients so that we can really be the best partner we can be to banks and brokers around the world," Friedman told Bloomberg.
Will it Pay Off? But even these seemingly safer ventures can be a crapshoot. When markets closed last Friday, Nasdaq's own share price was down roughly 6% year-to-date. Following the announcement of the Adenza deal, its share price fell another 11% on the day at market close. It was investors' way of saying they weren't immediately thrilled by the news, even if Adenza is expected to generate $590 million of revenue this year.
-The Motley Fool
CPI Set For "Historic" Drop Over "Next Two Months"
Earlier today, we said that tomorrow's CPI print is "the event of the week in terms of potential vol as it could impact final pricing for the FOMC and impact terminal pricing as well" (a full preview is coming shortly). And while the actual inflation number may come in fractionally below or above expectations, what markets are focusing instead on - and the reason for today's frenzied market meltup which sent risk assets to a fresh 52-week high, is what traders expect will happen not just tomorrow but over the next 2 months. That's because according to calculations by Credit Suisse chief strategist Jonathan Golub, while tomorrow's CPI print may come in just above the median consensus forecast, at 4.2%, it is next month's number that will be the shocker. According to Golub, the June number (which will be released on July 12) will print at 3.2%.
Should this play out as expected, Golub writes, "this would represent one of the greatest drops experienced in a 2-month period over the past 70 years. Historically, similar declines have only occurred during periods of economic upheaval, such as the onset of COVID, the Great Recession, and in 1975 during the Great Inflation."
There is, however, one big caveat: this particular drop will not indicate some economic calamity has been unleashed, instead it merely represents a favorable base effect. As Golub explains, "it is important to note that this expected decline is the result of base effects, rather than a shift in incoming inflation, and should not be extrapolated into the future." As a result, the now defunct Swiss bank whose research division will soon become part of UBS, does not believe that "this likely decline will result in any shift in Fed policy."
-Tyler Durden, Zerohedge
Poll: Americans don’t want a central bank digital currency
A poll from the Cato Institute indicates that, while about half of Americans do not have an opinion regarding whether the Federal Reserve should “begin offering a government-issued digital currency, called a ‘central bank digital currency’ (CBDC),” among those with an opinion on the matter over twice as many — 34 percent of poll participants — oppose the prospect as support it — 16 percent.
(Article by Adam Dick republished from RonPaulInstitute.org)
This result of the poll conducted from February 27 through March 8 in collaboration with YouGov is promising for Americans concerned about the threat a CBDC, which the Federal Reserve and big financial companies have been testing in preparation for its potential introduction, poses to freedom and privacy in America.
The poll results further indicate that, if Americans can be educated about the abusive government powers a CBDC can advance, many Americans currently undecided regarding the introduction of a CBDC will see good reason to oppose it. Emily Ekins and Jordan Gygi wrote in their May 31 in-depth Cato Institute article concerning the poll results:
Overwhelming majorities would oppose the adoption of a CBDC if it meant that the government could control what people spend their money on (74%), that the government could monitor their spending (68%), that a CBDC would abolish all U.S. cash (68%), that a CBDC would attract cyberattacks (65%), that the government could charge a tax on those who don’t spend money during recessions (64%), or that the government could freeze the digital bank accounts of political protesters (59%). Americans were marginally opposed (52%) if a CBDC could cause some people to stop using private banks, resulting in some banks going out of business.
The candidates now in second place in the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries — Ron DeSantis and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — appear to be in the anti-CBDC camp. Hopefully, we will see more and more politicians joining them over the coming months in standing up against this threat posed by the Federal Reserve and US government.
Meanwhile, it is also important that Americans across the country educate the people they come into contact with about why a CBDC in America is unacceptable. The new poll from the Cato Institute suggests that many people will be receptive to this message.
-Natural News
France strong-arms big food companies into cutting prices
French shoppers should pay less for their food from next month, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday, after he secured a pledge from 75 food companies including Unilever (ULVR.L) to cut prices on hundreds of products.
The companies, which together make 80% of what the French eat, could face financial sanctions if they don't follow through, Le Maire said.
The government is furious that supermarket prices have hit record levels in recent months even though the costs of many raw materials used by food producers have been declining.
Improved harvest prospects have helped push the United Nations' index of world food commodity prices to a two-year low.
France's finance minister has previously threatened to claw back what he described as "undue" profits from food companies with special taxes if they did not pass on their own lower costs to consumers already struggling with high energy bills.
"As soon as July, prices of certain products will go down," Le Maire told BFM TV on Friday, after meeting food industry representatives a day earlier.
"There will be checks and there will be sanctions for those who don't abide by the rules."
Le Maire said pasta, poultry and vegetable oil were among products on which prices will be cut. The costs of beef, pork and milk would not be affected by the move, he said.
While the pace of food price rises has been slowing across the euro zone, it is the main factor keeping inflation high. The European Central Bank, which is expected to raise interest rates again next week even though growth is very weak, has said high corporate profit margins are also an inflation risk.
Euro zone inflation fell more than expected in May but is still more than three times the ECB's 2% target.
High food prices are a concern for European governments from Britain to Italy, but France has been among the most aggressive in pushing price cuts. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has imposed mandatory price cuts on some basic food items.
Supermarket chains across Europe say shoppers are voting with their feet and opting for cheaper private label alternatives to branded food products.
France's Carrefour has an "anti-inflation button" on its website that shows customers cheaper alternatives to products, often pointing them to own-brand groceries.
According to a survey by Euromonitor, 22% of Europeans said they plan to increase their purchase of private label products in 2023, up 5 percentage points from last year.
Le Maire said if the food companies do not live up to their promise to cut prices, he could publicly "name and shame" them.
-Benoit Van Overstraeten and Leigh Thomas, Reuters
This is socialism at work.
“ESG Is the Devil”: Elon Musk Sounds Off on Woke Business Practices
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk gave his thoughts on the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) phenomenon sweeping through boardrooms worldwide. Musk slammed ESG, calling it “the devil.”
The comment stems from a series of tweets on Call of Duty’s recent decision to remove its partnership bundle with a popular professional gamer over his tweet about a violent LGBT-related protest in California. The popular right-wing Twitter account End Wokeness tweeted, “Call of Duty removes popular content creator for tweeting “leave little children alone.” Conservative commentator James Lindsay replied to the tweet with a screenshot of a section from Activision’s website where it discusses their ESG policies.
Elon Musk replied to the series of tweets stating, “ESG is the devil.” The image James Lindsay tweeted was of Activision BIizzard’s ESG reporting. The image featured the text, “We are excited to share key highlights of our ESG efforts across this website. To read about all our ESG efforts in detail, we invite you to download our 2022 ESG report.”
Furthermore, Activision’s website features an expansive section dedicated to its DEI efforts. The page details the company’s commitment to being diverse and inclusive. It states, “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) is essential to our mission to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We produce our best work when our people reflect the diversity of our players, and when our people can show up as their authentic selves. We are building a workplace that embraces, values, celebrates, and welcomes our differences to help us innovate and succeed in our mission.”
Additionally, a section brags about good ratings from the LGBT activist organization The Human Rights Campaign. It continues, “We are proud of the progress we have made and are honored that Activision Blizzard was named as one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace is an ongoing journey, and we are committed to focusing on our people, culture, and content so that we can continue delivering epic experiences for our global player community. “
The recent Call of Duty controversy started over a short tweet from professional gamer Nickmercs, discussing the violent California protest over a school board voting on whether to recognize pride month officially. The American Tribune reported that Nickmercs stated, “They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue.” Following his statement, Call of Duty removed custom skins in the game that were designed for Nickmercs.
However, Dr. Disrespect, a legendary figure in the gaming community, spoke out against Activision and Call of Duty for its action against Nickmercs. Dr. Disrespect uninstalled Call of Duty on one of his recent live streams and demanded that Activision publicly apologize to Nickmercs and reinstate his bundle back into the game before he would reconsider playing it again. Dr. Disrespect called the move a terrible PR decision. He additionally claimed that the current Call of Duty video game is the worst in the franchise’s history.
It’s unclear why Elon Musk thinks ESG is “the devil,” but he does understand how to run a company given he is the CEO of several massive companies. It has become apparent that a woke corporate agenda is bad for business, shown by Target and Anheuser-Busch who have lost billions in market value.
-Ellis Robinson, American Tribune
Jeffrey Epstein Trafficking Ring: JPMorgan Chase Bank Settles With ‘Jane Doe’ Victim – Value Is Said to Be $290 Million
Another page in the seemingly never-ending Epstein saga was written today, as JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay $290 million to settle the lawsuit with ‘Jane Doe’ victim, who alleges that the bank knowingly benefited from former client Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking.
Bloomberg reports:
“JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging it knowingly benefited from former client Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking.
The firm reached an ‘agreement in principle’ to settle the proposed class action filed by an unnamed Epstein victim late last year, JPMorgan said in a statement Monday.
[…] ‘We all now understand that Epstein’s behavior was monstrous, and we believe this settlement is in the best interest of all parties, especially the survivors, who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of this man,” the New York-based bank said. “Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes’.”
The move by US’ biggest bank was widely expected, after Deutsche bank had already settled with another trafficking victim represented by the same lawyers to the tune of $75 million.
“‘Taken together or individually, the historic recoveries from the banks who provided financial services to Jeffrey Epstein speak for themselves’, said David Boies, one of the attorneys for Doe. ‘It has taken a long time — too long — but today is a great day for Jeffrey Epstein survivors, and a great day for justice’.”
The settlement means to stop the reputational damage that the bank is suffering, since among other disturbing revelations, it has been stated in court docs that one of its executive (later revealed to be Jes Staley) is accused of brutally raping the anonymous plaintiff ‘Jane Doe’ in Epstein’s Island.
In fact, JPMorgan Chase decided to sue Staley via a ‘third-party complaint’, accusing him of misleading the bankinto maintaining Epstein as a client.
The settlement, which still has to be approved by the judge overseeing the case, will not completely extinguish the Epstein-related problems for the company, since it is also being sued by the US Virgin Islands territory.
As we reported before here in TGP, JPMorgan Chase is arguing in court that the USVI can’t seek damages, because they have ‘unclean hands’.
“New York courts have long applied the maxim that one who comes to equity must come with clean hands, and that no relief will lie for parties who ‘have committed some unconscionable act that is directly related to the subject matter in litigation’.
[…] USVI did not simply fail to prosecute Epstein or protect his victims. Worse, USVI actively worked with Epstein, reaping the benefits of his wealth while lending official services in aid of his crimes.”
-Paul Serran, Gateway Pundit
'End Of Great Uncertainty': UBS Completes Takeover Of Credit Suisse, Creating Swiss Banking Giant
We have noted "Massive Layoffs On Deck At Credit Suisse" and "UBS Reportedly Re-Starts Layoffs" following the news of UBS Group AG's historic takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG in late March.
Bloomberg reported that UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti told Swiss public broadcaster SRF on Monday that 10% of Credit Suisse's workforce has departed the bank in recent months.
Our note earlier detailed that UBS "completed" the acquisition of Credit Suisse on Monday. The $3 billion deal, brokered by the Swiss regulators, prevented Credit Suisse from a collapse that would've sparked another global financial crisis.
Ermotti wouldn't comment on future job cuts. He said last Friday, "That's the toughest part of the task," though it needs to be done to reduce costs.
"I'm sure that with early retirement, the fluctuation we will see and also a generous social plan, we will be able to bring this situation under control, but it will still be painful," he said.
Recall Ermotti was recently brought back as CEO to supervise the historic acquisition of Credit Suisse. He said today after the merger was completed, "It's the start of a new chapter — for UBS and the global financial industry."
Now comes the hard part, as the full integration of Credit Suisse could take three to five years.
* * *
UBS Group AG announced Monday it "completed" the acquisition of Credit Suisse Group AG, about three months after Swiss banking regulators arranged an emergency deal to combine the country's two largest banks to prevent Switzerland's financial sector from a catastrophic meltdown that would've spread worldwide.
"UBS has completed the acquisition of Credit Suisse today, crossing an important milestone.
"Credit Suisse Group AG has been merged into UBS Group AG and the combined entity will operate as a consolidated banking group," a statement from UBS read.
Today is the final trading day for Credit Suisse shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange and Credit Suisse Group AG ADS on the New York Stock Exchange. Credit Suisse shareholders will receive one share in UBS for every 22.48 in stock.
UBS previously announced the following governance model pending further integration of the two banks:
• UBS Group AG will manage two separate parent banks – UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG. Each institution will continue to have its own subsidiaries and branches, serve its clients and deal with counterparties.
• The Board of Directors and Group Executive Board of UBS Group AG will hold overall responsibility for the consolidated group.
UBS agreed to purchase Credit Suisse in March for $3.25 billion in a rescue deal after a regional banking sector meltdown in the US.
Switzerland's financial regulator FINMA said, "The legal consummation of the merger between UBS Group and Credit Suisse Group marks the end of a phase of great uncertainty." The regulator added, "This creates clarity and stability."
UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti, recently brought back to supervise the historic acquisition of Credit Suisse, said, "It's the start of a new chapter — for UBS and the global financial industry."
The merger of the two global banks has created a behemoth in Switzerland, with $1.7 trillion in total assets and a nearly 40% market share of the country's loans and deposits.
With the merger completed, UBS has already said job cuts are coming as restructuring efforts will save it billions of dollars. The two banks employ 37,000 people, about 18% of the financial sector's workforce.
"Today, we welcome our new colleagues from Credit Suisse to UBS. Instead of competing, we'll now unite as we embark on the next chapter of our joint journey," Ermotti said.
UBS said full integration of Credit Suisse could take three to five years.
-Tyler Durden, Zerohedge
Venezuela’s Secret Weapon: A “Dark Fleet” Of Oil Tankers
Dark fleet is a term used to describe the assortment of tanker vessels which conceal their locations so as to enable the transportation of illicit cargoes of crude oil and derivative products. This is done using a variety of deceptive techniques to prevent the tanker from being identified or tracked. These include turning off the vessel’s ID system, spoofing its location and using multiple flags of convenience over short periods. While this has been a long-running practice that emerged to cloak the transportation and sale of U.S.-sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iraq it exploded after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To penalize Moscow for the attack on Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies sanctioned Russia’s economically crucial petroleum exports. This caused the volume of vessels evading identification to surge. A substantially larger dark fleet is extremely beneficial for Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela, which only two years ago was a near-failed state on the verge of collapse but has since seen its economy return to growth.
The dark fleet first emerged as U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela were ratcheted up to prevent those pariah states from exporting their crude oil to key markets without incurring hefty penalties. The volume of tankers clandestinely shipping petroleum to Iran and Venezuela has surged over the last three years. According to a Reuters investigation, there was a fleet of 300 vessels clandestinely shipping Iranian crude oil by March 2023 compared to 70 in November 2020. The news agency also stated earlier this year that Venezuela’s national oil company PDVSA had leased 41 tankers in 2022 to ship Venezuela crude oil, paying roughly double the market rate. In an earlier Reuters article, it was estimated that there were more than 200 tankers, including over 80 supertankers, shipping Iranian and Venezuelan crude oil.
Latest estimates from a variety of sources put the number of vessels in the dark fleet at a far higher number. According to maritime AI company Windward there are 1,100 vessels in the dark fleet, with around 32% crude oil tankers, another 20% being oil product vessels, and the remainder comprised of chemical as well as other types of tankers. Analysts from other data broker firms put the number of vessels at around 700, but given the fleet’s opaque nature, it is difficult to determine the correct number. While PDVSA has its own fleet of 22 tankers, a recent internal report claimed that at least half of them are in such poor condition, they are unfit to ship crude oil. It is for that reason, along with growing oil production, that a larger dark fleet will be beneficial for Venezuela.
A combination of endemic corruption and malfeasance, sharply weaker oil prices, a lack of skilled labor and strict U.S. sanctions saw Venezuela’s economic backbone, its petroleum industry, almost collapse. Against all odds, with the assistance of Russia, China and Iran, the national oil company PDVSA was able to rebuild some corroded energy infrastructure and bolster oil production. According to data supplied by Caracas to OPEC, Venezuela pumped an average of 810,000 barrels per day during April 2023, which was not only 7% higher than a month prior but 4.5% greater year over year. This is nearly triple the record low of 390,000 barrels per day during July 2020, when petroleum production plunged because of sharply weaker prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reconstruction of Venezuela’s heavily corroded oil industry is crucial to returning the economy to growth. Every year from 2014 until 2021, Venezuela’s gross domestic product contracted, plunging by 80% or $171 billion. This has been labeled as the modern world’s worst economic collapse to occur outside of war which saw over seven million Venezuelans flee the country, which was once the wealthiest in Latin America. Surprisingly, for 2021 Venezuela’s economy had returned to growth, expanding by 0.5% that year and then by a notable 8% in 2022. Key to this remarkable development was Venezuela restoring oil production and securing access to crucial energy export markets, which is where access to the dark fleet is pivotal. While U.S. sanctions had constrained Venezuela’s economy for some time, it wasn’t until President Donald Trump enacted his policy of maximum pressure that cut Caracas off from global energy and capital markets that it crashed.
It was Teheran that provided the skilled technicians, critical parts and crucial condensate that were essential to rebuilding heavily corroded oil infrastructure and thereby boosting petroleum production. Ongoing reliable supplies of condensate are especially important to PDVSA, particularly since U.S. supplies ended with Trump’s January 2019 sanctions. The very-light high API hydrocarbon is a vital ingredient for processing and upgrading Venezuela’s heavy and ultra-heavy crude oil to exportable grades. It was the provision of a reliable supply from Iran that was key to PDVA growing oil production.
While Iran’s condensate is still crucial to PDVSA’s operations, energy supermajor Chevron, which was permitted by the U.S. Treasury to recommence lifting petroleum in Venezuela in November 2022, is sourcing U.S.-supplied naphtha for heavy oil upgrading. Chevron is required to do this because of U.S. sanctions on Iranian crude oil and related products because U.S. sanctions block Chevron from making any payments to Caracas. As a result, all petroleum lifted by the U.S. energy supermajor will be utilized in an oil-for debt swap, with Chevron seeking to recover $3 billion in outstanding debt with PDVSA by the end of 2025.
This emphasizes just how important the dark fleet, including Iranian tankers, is to PDVSA to ship oil to global energy markets in order to receive urgently required cash payments. Asia is the main destination for Venezuelan crude oil, with China believed to be receiving the bulk of those exports. A larger dark fleet makes it easier for PDVSA to not only ship oil to buyers undetected, in contravention of U.S. sanctions but also to ramp up export volumes which are vital for boosting income and sustaining Venezuela’s economy’s return to growth. In fact, higher oil production and exports saw the IMF predict that Venezuela’s GDP will expand by 5% in 2023.
-Matthew Smith, Oil Price
Biden Cancels Whole Day After Sudden Dental Procedure
President Joe Biden rescheduled his entire day after undergoing a sudden root canal Monday.
The president had his first dental appointment for his lower right premolar on Sunday after experiencing discomfort, Physician to the President Kevin O’Connor said in a statement. The White House announced Monday morning he would be getting the second part of the procedure completed later in the day and that he was experiencing “further discomfort.” (RELATED: Biden Gets Root Canal At The White House)
The dental procedure appeared to be a last-minute decision, since Biden’s entire public schedule was either postponed or modified.
The White House added that “the President will not be put under anesthesia and the 25th amendment will not be invoked.”
Biden was placed under anesthesia in 2021 while undergoing a routine colonoscopy and briefly transferred power to Harris. His last medical procedure was in February when he had a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest.
-Diana Glebova, Daily Caller
Watch video here:
Scoop: Fox sends Tucker Carlson cease-and-desist letter
Fox News has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tucker Carlson as he ramps up a competing series on Twitter that drew a combined 169 million views for its first two episodes, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The contract battle between Fox and its former top host — who was taken off the air in April, after the network's historic Dominion settlement — has mighty repercussions for the conservative media ecosystem.
With "Tucker on Twitter," Carlson and his growing production team are working to elevate Elon Musk's social media site as a news platform.
Details: The cease-and-desist letter has "NOT FOR PUBLICATION" in bold at the top.
What's happening: Fox is continuing to pay Carlson, and maintains that his contract keeps his content exclusive to Fox through Dec. 31, 2024.
Carlson is making a First Amendment argument for posting on Twitter, and asserts that Fox has committed material breaches of his contract.
Behind the scenes: Carlson's first two Twitter episodes were straight-to-camera monologues. He plans to keep iterating with longer, more varied episodes and the addition of guests, Axios is told.
We hear some big names have been lined up.
Justin Wells, Carlson's executive producer, tweeted yesterday: "Next Episode of Tucker on Twitter coming Tuesday: Tucker’s response to the indictment of President Donald Trump."
What they're saying: Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer who represents Carlson along with Bryan Freedman, said in a statement to Axios: "Fox News continues to ignore the interests of its viewers, not to mention its shareholder obligations."
"Doubling down on the most catastrophic programming decision in the history of the cable news industry, Fox is now demanding that Tucker Carlson be silent until after the 2024 election," the statement continued.
"Tucker will not be silenced by anyone ... He is a singularly important voice on matters of public interest in our country, and will remain so."
Fox News didn't comment.
-Mike Allen, Axios News
US to propose major UN Security Council reform – WaPo
Diplomats in Washington are developing a proposal for “overhauling” the UN Security Council, which may be presented at the September meeting of the General Assembly, the Washington Post reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources.
President Joe Biden’s envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield is currently consulting with member states to “solicit feedback about a potential expansion” of the council, the Post said, adding that US officials hope this will “restore confidence in the world’s preeminent governance body by recognizing today’s diffuse map of global power.”
The Security Council consists of five permanent members – Russia, China, France, the UK and the US – and ten rotating members, elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Under the current rules, two of those seats go to Latin America, five combined to Africa and Asia, one to Eastern Europe, and two to Western Europe and “other.”
The US proposal is “evolving” but is expected to include adding six more permanent members, who would not have veto power. Officials who spoke to the Post mentioned Germany, Japan and India as possible candidates, while Britain and France want Brazil and at least one African country.
Expanding the Security Council to “become more inclusive” and limiting veto power to “rare, extraordinary situations” were brought up in Biden’s General Assembly speech last September.
The US proposal seeks to address the frustration of its proteges in Kiev. Last year, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky demanded that the UN declare Russia an aggressor and “remove” it from the Security Council, or “dissolve yourself.” Washington sees the second option as going too far.
“We want these institutions to work so that we can debate and try to resolve international conflicts,” one anonymous US official told the Post. “We have to be clear-eyed about the success or lack of success that we’ve had over the years, but there’s no question that we’re better off with these institutions than without them.”
Russia, too, believes the Security Council needs reform. During an April session on “effective multilateralism,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the “current massive over-representation of the West in this crucial UN body undermines the principle of multipolarity,” and argued that the council needs “expansion of the representation of Asian, African and Latin American countries in it.”
Reforming the Security Council requires changing the UN Charter, however, and would need the approval of at least 128 of the 193 member states – as well as all five permanent UNSC members. Getting the current US Senate to ratify the proposal is unlikely at best, the Post noted.
“Any reform of the Security Council may well reduce the weight of the West. So this is a reality,” a UN diplomat told the outlet. “And the question is, are we really pushing for that now? Is it just nice rhetoric that we want to do this, or are we really serious when we say we want to do it now?”
-RT News
NATO begins unprecedented air drill in ‘show of strength’
NATO began its largest ever air force deployment exercise in Europe on Monday, in a display of unity toward partners and potential threats such as Russia.
The German-led “Air Defender 23” will include some 250 military aircraft from 25 NATO and partner countries including Japan and Sweden, which is bidding to join the alliance. It will run until June 23.
Up to 10,000 service members are to participate in the drills intended to boost interoperability and preparedness to protect against drones and cruise missiles in the case of an attack within NATO territory.
“The significant message we’re sending is that we can defend ourselves,” Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz of the German Luftwaffe told public television.
“Air Defender” was conceived in 2018 in part as a response to the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine four years before, though Gerhartz insisted it was “not targeted at anyone”.
He said the exercise would not “send any flights, for example, in the direction of Kaliningrad,” the Russian enclave bordering alliance member states Poland and Lithuania.
“We are a defensive alliance and that is how this exercise is planned,” he said.
The first flights began in the late morning at the Wunstorf, Jagel and Lechfeld air bases, a Luftwaffe spokesman confirmed to AFP.
Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered at Wunstorf in northern Germany on Saturday against the drills, under the banner “Practice peace — not war”. Protesters called for a “diplomatic solution” to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire.
US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann said the exercise would show “beyond a shadow of a doubt the agility and the swiftness of our allied force” and was intended to send a message to countries including Russia.
“I would be pretty surprised if any world leader was not taking note of what this shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, which means the strength of this alliance, and that includes Mr Putin,” she told reporters, referring to the Russian president.
“By synchronising together, we multiply our force.”
Russia’s war on Ukraine has galvanised the Western military alliance set up almost 75 years ago to face off against the Soviet Union.
Finland and Sweden, which long kept an official veneer of neutrality to avoid conflict with Moscow, both sought membership in NATO after Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
Under NATO’s Article Five, an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
The exercise includes operational and tactical-level training, primarily in Germany, but also in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia, with a total of around 2,000 flights.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit pilots based at the Jagel airfield in northern Germany on Friday.
General Michael Loh, director of the US Air National Guard, said NATO’s duties were at an “inflection point”.
“A great deal has changed on the strategic landscape throughout the world, especially here in Europe,” he said.
The exercise will focus on “supplementing the permanent United States presence in Europe” as well as providing training “on a larger scale than what was usually accomplished on the continent”, Loh added.
He said many of the alliance pilots were working together for the first time.
“It’s about fostering the old relationships that we have but also building new ones with this younger generation of airmen,” he said.
“And so this is about now establishing what it means to go against a great power in a great power competition.”
Gutmann said that while there were no plans to make “Air Defender” a recurring exercise, she added: “We have no desire for this to be the last.”
Asked about potential disruption to civilian air transport during the exercise, Gerhartz said the planners would do “everything in our power” to limit flight delays or cancellations.
German authorities and industry groups have warned that flight schedules could be impacted, particularly at major hubs such as Frankfurt and Berlin-Brandenburg due to their proximity to drill zones.
-AFP, Insider Paper
Space Force to launch network of SPY SATELLITES to counter growing Chinese and Russian space capabilities
The Space Force, U.S. Armed Forces’ space service branch, recently announced that it is set to launch new spy satellites later this year to counter the satellites being launched by Russia and China.
The satellite network, known as the Silent Barker, is a constellation of spy satellites set to be the first of its kind network that will compliment ground-based sensor systems and low-orbit satellites, according to Space Force statements and independent analysts. The satellites are set to be placed 22,000 miles above the Earth and at the same speed it rotates, known as a geosynchronous orbit.
“This capability enables indications and warnings of threats against high-value U.S. systems and will provide capabilities to search, detect and track objects from space for timely threat detection,” said the Space Force in a statement.
Sarah Mineiro, a former lead staffer on the House Armed Services Committee strategic subcommittee that oversees space programs, stressed that the cluster will dramatically increase the Space Force’s ability “to track on-orbit, adversary satellites that could be maneuvering around or in proximity to our satellites.”
She added that Silent Barker also addresses the limitations of ground and lower-orbit surveillance systems and allows the U.S. to “really figure out what is going on up there in space,” she said.
The Space Force has refused to divulge how many satellites would make up the Silent Barker constellation. All it said was “multiple space vehicles” were involved.
According to the National Reconnaissance Office, which is developing the satellite network with the Space Force, the satellite constellation is scheduled for launch on board an Atlas V booster operated by the United Launch Alliance, a joint private space venture by Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Its launch date, which is not yet known, will be announced 30 days in advance via social media platforms.
The Space Force’s announcement came as a response to growing efforts by Russia and China to develop systems capable of being launched into orbit to take out adversarial satellites and space systems.
This also came after the publication of this year’s annual threat assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The report claimed that China already has weapons intended to target satellites owned by the U.S. and its allies, and “counter-space operations will be integral to potential People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military campaigns.” (Related: China has put hundreds of satellites in orbit to target U.S., as Space Force commander reveals Beijing’s horrific plan for America.)
Bloomberg cited China’s SJ-21 satellite as an example. This was launched in 2021 and later successfully pulled a defunct Chinese satellite several hundred miles into a higher orbit. Another Chinese satellite, the Sijian-17, is equipped with a robotic arm that could be used to grapple other satellites and take them out of commission.
“[The SJ-21] could clearly serve in a counter-space role and hold our geosynchronous satellites at risk,” warned Space Command Commander Gen. James Dickinson during a testimony before the House of Representatives.
The Space Force added that the SJ-21 is the type of satellite that Silent Barker is specifically meant to track as it seeks ” to detect or discover new objects” that could pose a threat to America’s space infrastructure.
-Belle Carter, Natural News
US draws up plans to evacuate Americans from Taiwan – media
Amid rising tensions with China, the US is preparing evacuation plans for its citizens in Taiwan, The Messenger reported on Monday. Should a conflict break out on the island, tens of thousands of Americans could become trapped.
The planning process has been underway for at least six months, but has “heated up over the past two months or so,” a “senior US intelligence official” told the news site. The official added that a “heightened level of tension” had driven the preparations.
Another source said that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine had forced the US to consider its arrangements in Taiwan, which would likely be the flashpoint for any confrontation between the US and China.
The US evacuated most of its embassy staff from Kiev two weeks before Russian troops entered Ukraine, after warning American citizens for several months to leave the country by commercial means.
The US State Department has not warned Americans against traveling to Taiwan, and currently designates the island with the lowest of its four travel advisory levels. According to The Messenger’s sources, the drawing up of evacuation plans is being kept quiet “because it is a sensitive subject for the Taiwanese government.”
While the State Department did not comment on the report, a department official said that the secrecy was not unusual, as “even talking about an [evacuation plan] starts people thinking something may be going on even if it is just prudent planning.”
As of 2019, more than 80,000 Americans are living in Taiwan. Geographical factors would make evacuating these people difficult, one source said, explaining that many points on the island are connected by single routes passing through tunnels, and that evacuation vessels would have to weave their way through military fleets steaming toward Taiwan.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has adopted an increasingly hostile stance toward Beijing since 2021, repeatedly labeling China as America’s top competitor while expanding US military activity in the region. In addition to signing new military and economic agreements with Asian allies, the president has sent US warships through the Taiwan Strait on a near-monthly basis since taking office. China considers these so-called “freedom of navigation” exercises to be provocations, and typically responds with military drills of its own.
Biden has also said on four separate occasions that he would respond with military force if Beijing attempted to forcibly reunify Taiwan with the Chinese mainland. Beijing vehemently condemned these statements as violations of the US’ long-standing policy of recognizing, but not endorsing, its sovereignty over the island.
-RT News
North Korea’s Kim offers ‘full support’ to Putin on Russia Day
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered his country’s “full support and solidarity” to Moscow in a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, state media reported.
Kim sent the message of congratulations on the national day of Russia, one of a handful of nations that maintain friendly relations with Pyongyang.
His message, published by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), did not directly mention the invasion of Ukraine or Moscow’s involvement in an armed conflict, but praised Putin’s “correct decision and guidance… to foil the hostile forces’ escalating threats.”
The North Korean people, it added, extend “full support and solidarity to the Russian people in their all-out struggle for implementing the sacred cause to preserve the sovereign rights, development and interests of their country against the imperialists’ high-handed and arbitrary practices.”
This is the latest message of support from Pyongyang to Moscow since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
North Korea has described that conflict as a U.S. “proxy war” to destroy Russia, and condemned Western military aid to Kyiv.
In January, the United States accused North Korea of supplying rockets and missiles to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Pyongyang denied that allegation.
And in March, Washington claimed to have proof that Moscow was looking to Pyongyang to supply weapons for its offensive in Ukraine, in return for food aid for impoverished North Korea.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia has long held the line against increasing pressure on North Korea, which is under multiple UN and Western sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
-AFP, Insider Paper
UN chief worried over Russia possibly quitting grain deal in July
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday (June 12) that he had concerns that Russia will quit the Black Sea grain deal on July 17. The deal allows the safe wartime export of Ukrainian grain and fertilisers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
The deal, called Black Sea Grain Initiative, was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July last year. Russia has been threatening to walk away from the deal if obstacles to its own grain and fertiliser shipments are not removed.
"I am concerned and we are working hard in order to make sure that it will be possible to maintain the Black Sea initiative and at the same time that we are able to go on in our work to facilitate Russian exports," Guterres told reporters.
To convince Russia to agree to the Black Sea grain deal, a three-year memorandum of understanding was struck at the same time under which UN officials agreed to help Russia with its own food and fertiliser exports.
Russian food and fertiliser exports are not subject to Western sanctions which were imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. However, Moscow says payment restrictions, logistics and insurance have created obstacles.
On Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said that Russia "cannot be satisfied with how this memorandum is being implemented," TASS news agency reported. Vershinin was speaking after his meeting with Rebeca Grynspan, the top UN trade official. The meeting took place in Geneva on Friday.
Among the demands made by Russia are the resumption of its ammonia exports via a pipeline to Ukraine's port of Pivdennyi and the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT international payment system.
The United Nations has helped boost Russian exports of food and fertilisers, facilitating a steady flow of ships to its ports and lower freight and insurance rates, a UN spokesman said on Friday.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year. Due to its grain exports, Ukraine is often regarded as the "breadbasket of the world". Russian invasion made it difficult for grain export to continue and this raised the spectre of a global food crisis. The existence of a safe passage for grain shipments was thus deemed important. The United Nations and Turkey brokered the grain deal between Russia and Ukraine. The deal, even after being struck, has almost always faced uncertainty.
-United Nations, WION
US Denies Claims That China Struck Deal With Cuba to Build Spy Base
The United States on Thursday denied a report that China had struck an agreement with Cuba to build an electronic surveillance facility on the island, which is some 100 miles from Florida and home to U.S. military installations.
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the Defense Department was “not aware of China and Cuba developing any type of spy stations separately” but that it will continue monitoring the countries’ relations.
“Certainly, we know that China and Cuba maintain a relationship of sorts, but when it comes to the specific activities outlined in the press reporting, again, based on the information we have, that is not accurate,” he told reporters.
The spy base deal was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed U.S. officials familiar with highly classified intelligence. It alleged that China agreed to pay billions of dollars for the facility.
Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio dismissed the report as “totally untrue and unfounded information,” according to a statement released by the Cuban Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
De Cossio perceived the report as a fabrication by U.S. officials, referring to previous falsehoods such as the alleged presence of Cuban troops in Venezuela, which the Cuban government has strongly denied.
“All of them are fallacies promoted with the malicious intention to justify the unprecedented reinforcement of the economic blockade, destabilization, and aggression against Cuba and to deceive public opinion in the United States and around the world,” he said.
De Cossio said that notwithstanding Cuba’s sovereign rights in the area of defense, the country is a part of the Declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean, which rejects all foreign military presence there, including “the military base that illegally occupies a portion of our national territory in the province of Guantanamo.”
“U.S. hostility against Cuba and the extreme and cruel measures that provoke humanitarian harm and punish the people of Cuba cannot be justified in any manner,” he added.
The U.S. government and communist Cuba have had a tense relationship for 60 years. The Trump administration tightened U.S. sanctions on the island. The Biden administration has eased some restrictions on travel to Cuba, though it told Congress in May that the island remained on the list of countries “not cooperating fully” in its fight against terrorism.
U.S. officials have raised concerns over the alleged China–Cuba spy base deal, saying it would allow Chinese intelligence services to garner electronic communications from the southeastern United States, potentially including emails, phone calls, and satellite transmission data.
It followed the discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed the continental United States earlier this year before it was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet on Feb. 4.
-Aldgra Fredly, The Epoch Times
Lula calls for ‘mobilization’ to defend Assange
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has described the detention of Julian Assange as an attack on democracy and freedom of the press. The WikiLeaks co-founder is set to make a “final” appeal to the High Court in the UK, after his latest motion to block a US extradition request was rejected.
“I look with concern at the imminent extradition of journalist Julian Assange. Assange has done an important job to denounce the illegal actions of one state against another,” Lula said in a tweet on Saturday.
Assange’s wife, Stella, said on Thursday that her husband would seek another “public hearing before two new judges at the High Court,” adding that “we remain optimistic that we will prevail.”
“It is important that we all mobilize in his defense,” the Brazilian leader added, emphasizing that the prolonged detention of the WikiLeaks co-founder “goes against the defense of democracy and freedom of the press.”
After attending the coronation of King Charles III in London last month, Lula denounced Assange’s detention as an “embarrassment” and a “crazy thing.” The Australian national, who has been languishing in London’s Belmarsh high security prison since 2019, recently wrote in a letter to King Charles that “as a political prisoner, held at Your Majesty’s pleasure on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign, I am honored to reside within the walls of this world-class institution,” inviting the monarch to visit the facility.
Assange was arrested after Ecuador revoked his asylum status and allowed police to remove him from the country’s embassy in London. On the day of his arrest, the US Department of Justice served Assange with 17 charges under the Espionage Act, which could potentially see him sentenced to 175 years in prison.
The charges stem from his publication of classified material obtained by whistleblowers, including classified documents alleging US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although Assange did not personally hack the materials, he was still charged for his role in publishing them.
His defense team is currently fighting a US extradition request, but a previous appeal of the June 2020 extradition order was rejected earlier this week. On June 6, Justice Jonathan Swift of the High Court of England and Wales rejected all eight grounds for his motion, giving the WikiLeaks publisher a five-day deadline to make his case to a two-judge panel.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), next week’s appeal will be Assange’s last opportunity to fight extradition in the UK, unless he brings his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
-RT News
Watch video here:
California Bill Treats Non-Affirmation of a Child’s ‘Gender Identity’ as Against the Child’s ‘Best Interests’ in Custody Disputes
A proposed California bill treats a parent’s refusal to affirm their child’s “gender identity” as against the child’s health, safety, and welfare in custody disputes.
The bill, AB-957, states that “in making a determination of the best interests of a child in a [custody dispute], the court shall, among any other factors it finds relevant and consistent with [the law], consider the following: the health, safety, and welfare of the child” and that those factors “include[s] a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity.”
The legislation’s text, which was updated earlier this week to specifically include parental affirmation of gender identity as part of the “health, safety, and welfare” of a child, has already passed the State Assembly. Opponents of the bill are concerned the wording would open the door to “non-affirmation being treated as abuse,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
“When you say that gender affirmation is in the child’s best interest for health, safety, and welfare, it takes nothing to say [non-affirmation] is now abuse—because you’re not taking care of the health, safety, and welfare if you’re not affirming them,” Erin Friday, a San Francisco attorney and co-lead of the parent coalition Our Duty told the outlet.
State Sen. Scott Wiener (D) co-authored the bill with Assemblywoman Lori Wilson (D). Wiener is notably responsible for advancing another bill that would require foster parents to pledge to “affirm” children who believe they are transgender, according to the report. Weiner also introduced a “first-in-the-nation” law making California a “sanctuary state” for out-of-state minors seeking sex change procedures and puberty blockers without parental consent.
A spokesman for Wilson “disputed that the latest revision changes” the bill, saying it only pertains to family law, not criminal law, according to the report.
“It’s not saying [affirmation] is the most important factor or determining factor,” spokesman Taylor Woolfork said. “It’s one of many factors that the judge should consider while working out a custody agreement.”
The bill passed the Assembly at the end of March with the support of 51 Democrats; however, 16 Democrats declined to vote. The changes to the bill were announced on Tuesday ahead of the legislation’s First Senate committee hearing next week, according to the report.
-Katherine Hamilton, Breitbart News
Video: High School Kids Threatened With Detention For Booing LGBT Video
A video shows high school students laughing at and booing an ‘LGBT Pride Month’ video they were shown in math class, before being threatened with detention.
The incident took place at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California.
The video clip, which was released publicly by concerned parents, shows a video called ‘Pride Month’ being shown to the classroom as a rainbow flag flies in the wind.
Students react with a mixture of groans, boos and mocking laughter, as one says, “turn it off!”
Another student asks, “Why are you showing this to kids?” as two women kissing are shown on screen and the boos and laughter continue to ring out.
The teacher, apparently infuriated with the reaction, then threatens the kids with punishment unless they show respect to what’s being played on the television.
“Hey I’ll warn you guys now, if you’re gonna be inappropriate, I will have to provision down and give all of you Saturday school for next year, so knock it off!”
Apparently, the clip wasn’t just shown to one class.
“Some 10th grade students came forward to tell me that this video was played in ALL classes that day, not just math class,” conservative activist Robby Starbuck tweeted. “They’re upset about it and want the school to refrain from playing videos like this.”
Despite being admonished by their teacher, the kids’ reaction to the indoctrination session is a heartening sign that such social engineering is beginning to be firmly rejected.
Over the weekend, the Biden administration faced accusations of disgracing the US flag after the White House flew a gay pride flag in a more prominent position than Old Glory.
-Joseph Watson, Summit News
Watch here:
More Say Birth Gender Should Dictate Sports Participation
A larger majority of Americans now (69%) than in 2021 (62%) say transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that conform with their birth gender. Likewise, fewer endorse transgender athletes being able to play on teams that match their current gender identity, 26%, down from 34%.
These results are based on Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, conducted May 1-24.
The issue has sparked debate at all levels of competitive sports, particularly around transgender women’s ability to play on women’s teams. Sports governing bodies and schools have adopted a range of policies on the issue, some more inclusive of transgender participation than others.
Transgender sports participation has also become a major political flashpoint, and elected officials in conservative-leaning states have enacted laws to ban transgender athletes who were born male from competing against female athletes. At least 20 U.S. states now have such laws, and the Republican-led U.S. House recently passed a national ban. The federal ban is unlikely to pass the Senate, and President Joe Biden has promised to veto it. The White House recently released a proposed set of guidelines that would govern decisions surrounding transgender individuals’ participation in gender-segregated sports.
The shift toward greater public opposition to transgender athletes competing on the basis of their current gender identity has occurred at the same time that more U.S. adults say they know a transgender person. Thirty-nine percent of Americans, up from 31% in 2021, say someone they know personally has told them they are transgender.
But both Americans who know and do not know a transgender individual have become less supportive of allowing transgender athletes to play on the team of their choice. Currently, 30% of those who know a transgender person favor allowing athletes to play on teams that match their current gender identity, down from 40% in 2021. Among those who do not know a transgender person, support is now 23%, down from 31%.
Republicans, Democrats and independents are all modestly less supportive of transgender athletes playing on current gender identity teams today than two years ago. The result of these changes is that Democrats are now divided on allowing transgender athletes to play on either male or female teams, while in 2021 more were in favor than opposed. Large majorities of independents (67%) and Republicans (93%) remain opposed to giving transgender athletes a choice of competing on male or female teams.
-Jeffery M. Jones, Gallup News
UK National Health Service bans puberty blockers for gender transitions for minors
The United Kingdom’s National Health Service announced on Friday it plans to ban puberty blockers outside of the use of clinical trials as well as increasingly to regulate gender transition treatments for minors.
“We have previously made clear … the intention that the NHS will only commission puberty suppressing hormones as part of clinical research,” the NHS announcement said.
The 25-page document for U.K. practitioners specifies that the NHS “will adopt a holistic, multi-disciplinary integrated approach to assessing and responding to an individual’s needs” and will center on “fully involving the child or young person and their family.”
“A significant proportion of children and young people who are concerned about, or distressed by, issues of gender incongruence experience coexisting mental health, neuro-developmental and/or personal, family or social complexities in their lives. The relationship between these presentations and gender incongruence may not be readily apparent and will often require careful exploration,” the report reads.
The NHS also acknowledges the “increased prevalence of mental health needs” and “neurodevelopmental disorders” among youth that have been identified as comorbidities of gender dysphoria. The new protocols now require “expertise for the direct assessment of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other forms of neurodiversity” to be included in a minor’s treatment plan when addressing gender dysphoria.
Children who have already been treated with puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones will be assessed on a case-by-case basis by their medical providers, but the NHS “strongly [discourages] sourcing puberty suppressing or gender affirming hormones from unregulated sources or from on-line providers that are not regulated by UK regulatory bodies.”
Republicans in Missouri, Louisiana, and Florida have taken steps in recent months to enact similar bans on gender-transitioning medicine for minors, and the issue has become a central feature of the 2024 presidential election campaign season.
-Gabrielle M. Etzel, Washington Examiner
Russia Blows Up 15% of US Bradley Fighting Vehicles Joe Biden Sent to Ukraine in First Days of Offensive – LIVE VIDEO OF EXPLOSION
Russia is posting video of US Bradley Infantry fighting vehicles being blown up in Ukraine.
Via Intel Slava.
During the first few days of the offensive, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost 16 American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles
This is 15% of all such vehicles transferred by Washington to Kyiv, CNN reports, citing Yakub, an expert at the Dutch military analytics website Oryx.
Russia even posted video of a US HMMWV being blown up by a mine.
The moment when an American HMMWV armored car under the control of a Ukrainian crew was blown up on a mine during one of the recent attacks on the positions of the Russian Armed Forces.
-Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit
The Real Matrix: Physicist Says Our Universe Is Likely a Neural Network
In a thought-provoking research paper titled “The World as a Neural Network,” available on arxiv.org, the author explores the possibility of our universe existing as a neural network. This article will delve into the details of the research and discuss its potential implications for our understanding of the cosmos
The research paper “The World as a Neural Network” provides a unique perspective on the nature of the universe. The author suggests that the universe can be modeled as a neural network, a type of artificial intelligence (AI) system that has become increasingly popular in recent years. Neural networks are often used to process and analyze large volumes of data, making them well-suited for tackling complex problems in various fields, including physics.
The research paper establishes a theoretical framework by connecting the principles of physics, specifically quantum mechanics and general relativity, with the principles of artificial neural networks. The author proposes that the universe’s structure can be represented by a neural network, with space and time serving as the network’s nodes and links, respectively. These nodes and links can then store and transmit information, much like neurons in the brain.
The paper also explores the notion that the universe’s evolution can be understood as a learning process, with the neural network continually updating and refining its understanding of the world. This learning process would be guided by fundamental physical laws, which the network would “learn” over time.
If the universe is indeed a neural network, this could have profound implications for our understanding of the cosmos. One of the key implications is that the universe may be inherently “intelligent,” with its structure and evolution being guided by a form of cosmic intelligence.
This idea could also potentially bridge the gap between quantum mechanics and general relativity, two of the most significant theories in modern physics that have, thus far, remained incompatible. By modeling the universe as a neural network, it may be possible to reconcile these theories and develop a more unified understanding of the cosmos.
While the idea of the universe as a neural network is undoubtedly intriguing, it should be noted that the research paper is largely theoretical and speculative in nature. Many questions and challenges remain, such as the difficulty of empirically testing the neural network model and the potential limitations of the AI analogy.
Critics argue that the neural network model may be too simplistic to fully capture the complexity of the universe and that other, more sophisticated models could yield a more accurate representation of reality.
The research paper “The World as a Neural Network” offers a fascinating and thought-provoking perspective on the nature of the universe. While the idea of the universe as a neural network remains speculative, it provides an intriguing avenue for future research and discussion. As our understanding of both physics and AI continues to advance, it will be interesting to see whether the neural network model gains traction and contributes to a more unified understanding of the cosmos. Only time will tell if we are indeed living in a “real matrix” governed by a cosmic neural network.
-Physics-Astronomy
The research paper: