# entry

guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747676589
title: Pope Leo XIV meets US VP JD Vance
hash: �Sᣢ��n�r1ؼϞ
tags: #Show Types
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
Pope Leo XIV met with US Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican, a day after his in

link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2025/5/19/pope-leo-xiv-meets-us-vp-jd-vance?traffic_source=rss


guid: 1031846 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: US Leading Economic Indicators Tumble Most In Over 2 Years
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/us-leading-economic-indicators-tumble-most-over-2-years
hash: �u�6���U��iQ�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">US Leading Economic Indicators Tumble Most In Over 2 Years</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Since <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/trump-effect-us-leading-economic-indicators-positive-first-time-feb-2022">December's Trump-optimism-driven surge</a> in Leading Economic Indicators (the first since last February), The Conference Board's headline index has decelerated rapidly with April data released today <strong>plunging 1.0% MoM - the biggest drop since March 2023...</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/bfm59DA.jpg?itok=0IIMHdnB" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bfm59DA.jpg?itok=0IIMHdnB"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="08d25bef-995e-443f-9e7e-a94b1ee1eb27" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="326" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/bfm59DA.jpg?itok=0IIMHdnB" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Source: Bloomberg</p>

<p>Once again, <strong>Consumer Sentiment (cough UMich Democrats) and Stock Prices were the biggest negative contributors</strong>, while New Manufacturing orders (hard data) and Credit were the biggest positive contributors...</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/bfm1028.jpg?itok=9gmv6W6H" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bfm1028.jpg?itok=9gmv6W6H"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="abdd609d-01ac-4279-9caa-7658519393da" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="132" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/bfm1028.jpg?itok=9gmv6W6H" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Source: Bloomberg</p>

<p>That dragged the total index level down to its<strong> lowest since February 2016...</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/bfm4DD5_0.jpg?itok=5iT4V6hG" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bfm4DD5_0.jpg?itok=5iT4V6hG"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e760958c-fbea-40c7-8d36-5427b6e69ad4" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="276" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/bfm4DD5_0.jpg?itok=5iT4V6hG" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Source: Bloomberg</p>

<p><strong>“The U.S. LEI registered its largest monthly decline since March 2023, when many feared the US was headed into recession, which did not ultimately materialize,” </strong><a href="https://www.conference-board.org/topics/us-leading-indicators">said Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, Senior Manager, Business Cycle Indicators, at The Conference Board.</a></p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>“Most components of the index deteriorated. Notably, consumers’ expectations have become continuously more pessimistic each month since January 2025, while the contribution of building permits and average working hours in manufacturing turned negative in April. </em></p>

<p><em>Widespread weaknesses were also present when looking at six-month trends among the LEI’s components, resulting in a warning signal for growth. </em></p>
</blockquote>

<p><em><strong>However, while the six-month growth rate of the LEI went deeper into negative territory, it did not fall enough to trigger the recession signal. </strong></em></p>

<p><em>The Conference Board currently forecasts US real GDP to grow by 1.6% in 2025, down from 2.8% in 2024, with the bulk of the impact of tariffs likely to hit the economy in Q3.</em></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_09-02-17.jpg?itok=hdjea3du" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_09-02-17.jpg?itok=hdjea3du"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e91c09e8-55d4-4b73-879e-85450a183122" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="262" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-19_09-02-17.jpg?itok=hdjea3du" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Source: Bloomberg</p>

<p>So the economy is doomed (ish) because stocks and sentiment are down... because investors are pricing in a doomed economy...? </p>

<p><em><strong>Perhaps the word 'leading' in this index is misleading...</strong></em></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T18:00:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 14:00</span>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307220
title: Watch live: NTSB to hold briefing on Mexican ship’s crash into Brooklyn Bridge
link: https://thehill.com/video-clips/5307220-watch-live-ntsb-brooklyn-bridge/
hash: �W��p=���P�Qa�
tags: #Administration #News #Video
content:
The National Safety Transportation Board on Monday will hold a press briefing at 3 p.m. to discuss the Mexican navy training ship that crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, an incident that left two people on the ship dead and others injured. NTSB member Michael Graham will brief the media during an appearance from…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307180
title: Watch live: Melania Trump to join husband for bill signing
hash: �b �ey;0˖��
tags: #Administration #News
content:
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are scheduled to take part in a bill signing Monday afternoon for legislation aimed at protecting people from non-consensual sexualized content posted online. The first lady has been active in pushing the Take it Down Today Act, which would punish those who post deepfakes, among other content. It…

link:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5307180-watch-live-trump-melania-sign-bill-protect-online-content/

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307779
title: ‘Dilbert’ creator Scott Adams reveals same cancer diagnosis as Biden, says he has months to live
author: ;Michael Bartiromo
hash: W^U��:k�N���5
tags: #News
content:
Scott Adams, the creator of the ‘Dilbert’ comic strip, has revealed he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones, he revealed Monday.

link:
https://thehill.com/homenews/5307779-dilbert-creator-scott-adams-reveals-same-cancer-diagnosis-as-biden-says-he-has-months-to-live/

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307763
title: Majority of Americans have concerns about Trump’s Qatar jet plan: Poll
author: ;Julia Manchester
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5307763-trump-jet-gift-ethical-concerns/
hash: u~ߌ��@3�YG���
tags: #Administration #Campaign
content:
A majority of voters say they have concerns about President Trump’s acceptance of a Qatari jet plane, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll released Monday.  Sixty-two percent of voters polled said the president’s acceptance of a $400 million luxury Boeing 747 from the Qatari government “raises ethical concerns about corruption,” while 35 percent said…

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{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Trump_AirBase_05152025.jpg?w=900","type":"image/jpeg","length":104125}]}


guid: 1031844 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: The FBI Washington Headquarters Won't Be Missed
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fbi-washington-headquarters-wont-be-missed
hash: bMR@�N^����emm
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The FBI Washington Headquarters Won't Be Missed</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://amgreatness.com/2025/05/19/the-fbi-washington-headquarters-wont-be-missed/"><em>Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,</em></a></p>

<p>Current FBI Director Kash Patel is closing down the agency’s Washington, DC, mothership office and moving at least 1,500 employees out of the DC area to regional offices.</p>

<p><strong>The decision was not just Patel’s.</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_08-49-03.jpg?itok=0bDqvTMK" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_08-49-03.jpg?itok=0bDqvTMK"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="34b24d15-7768-4c39-adc4-448c6233f105" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="288" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-19_08-49-03.jpg?itok=0bDqvTMK" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><strong>During the Biden Administration, it was determined that the 50-year-old Hoover building headquarters was structurally decrepit.</strong> More germanely, no prior FBI director had ever explained why nearly a third of the FBI workforce was centered in offices in Washington, far from where most of the serious crime in America occurs.</p>

<p>The news is welcome for reasons well beyond the safety of agents in an apparently unsafe headquarters.</p>

<p><strong>It is no exaggeration to state that most of the FBI scandals of the last decade were born in the Hoover building headquarters, suggesting that the agency had long become top-heavy, politically weaponized, and deeply embedded in and compromised by the Washington apparat.</strong></p>

<p>Former FBI Director, later appointed as special counsel, Robert Mueller ran a media-driven, 20-month, 40-million-dollar legal circus chasing the unicorn of “Russian collusion.” His left-wing legal team—replete with political conflicts of interest and scrubbed cell phones—was dubbed by the obsequious, giddy left-wing media as the “army,” “untouchables,” “all-stars,” “dream team,” and “hunter-killer teams.”</p>

<p><strong>When called to testify about his investigation that had found no Russian-Trump collusion, Mueller implausibly denied any knowledge of the Steele dossier or FusionGPS. </strong>Yet they were arguably the very catalysts for his own special counsel appointment.</p>

<p>Two of his Washington FBI investigators were fired—the amorous Peter Strzok and Lisa Page—who had co-texted a deep personal antipathy toward Trump, the object of their investigations, and a desire to see him not become president, referred to as an “insurance policy.” </p>

<p>Note that either the FBI or Mueller’s team also mysteriously lost the requested recorded texts and calls on the duo’s phones.</p>

<p><strong>Mueller’s successor, James Comey, outdid his predecessor’s congressionally sworn amnesia. </strong>Now in the news yet again for allegedly threatening the president with an “8647” tweet, Comey, while under oath to a congressional committee, stonewalled questioning by claiming he did not remember or could not answer on some 245 separate occasions.</p>

<p>Somehow in 2016, Comey—suddenly acting as both an investigator and a de facto federal prosecutor, despite clear conflicts of interest—managed to interfere in the 2016 campaign by finding Hillary Clinton likely guilty of, but somehow not indictable for, a number of felonies, from unlawfully transmitting classified files to destroying subpoenaed evidence.</p>

<p>Comey also lied to the president that he was not a subject of his own ongoing FBI-directed investigation of Trump.</p>

<p>Comey hired Christopher Steele as an informant and thereby helped to birth Steele’s fabrications.</p>

<p>Comey, through a friend, leaked to the New York Times his own private conversations with the president, recorded on his own FBI device no less.</p>

<p>He set up National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and bragged about how easily the naive and ambushed Flynn foolishly spoke to his FBI investigators without an attorney.</p>

<p><strong>His successor, interim director Andrew McCabe, was a kindred leaker and political partisan. </strong></p>

<p>He was fired for lying to federal investigators on four occasions, three times while under oath.</p>

<p><strong>McCabe’s successor, Christopher Wray, infamously oversaw FBI agents spying on parents at school board meetings and supposedly also monitoring “radical traditionalist” Catholics.</strong></p>

<p>Wray’s FBI conducted the now equally discredited Mar-a-Lago SWAT team raid on ex-President Trump’s personal residence. The performance-art operation was supposedly designed to find rumored mountains of improperly stored classified files. Despite all the leaks and fake news about troves of secret and classified dossiers, in the end, agents carted away 13,000 documents to find a mere 102 that were deemed classified—some .007 percent of what they confiscated.</p>

<p>In a now-infamous photo of the document trove released by the FBI, Trump’s classified papers were haphazardly strewn across the floor with nearby covers emblazoned “Secret” in red rubrics.</p>

<p><strong>Agents later admitted the photos did not reflect the actual position of the documents when they had arrived, but were scattered over the floor and photographed by the FBI, along with the covers that they had brought along to the raid as photo props.</strong></p>

<p>The FBI then showed far less interest in investigating Joe Biden’s three-decade-long illegal possession of classified documents, stored in at least three unsecured locations—and only revealed when the Biden White House had appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump for what Biden himself had done for far longer, with less security and with continued impunity.</p>

<p><strong>Washington FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith was indicted and convicted of doctoring a FISA application document in order to deceive the federal court into granting surveillance over an innocent but framed Carter Page.</strong></p>

<p>FBI chief counsel James A. Baker, likewise Washington-based, allegedly was deeply involved in trying to shop the spurious Steele dossier to the media on the eve of the 2016 election.</p>

<p>In general, the Washington FBI sought to warp both the 2016 and 2020 elections and might arguably have affected either outcome. Besides finding Hillary Clinton likely culpable and then improperly exonerating her, later in 2020, the FBI sat tight and silent on the Hunter Biden laptop after authenticating it as genuine.</p>

<p>Yet almost at the same time, kindred ex-intelligence authorities—the now notorious “51 former intelligence officials” —rounded up by former CIA interim director Mike Morrell at the prompt of then Biden aide and soon-to-be Secretary of State Antony Blinken—brazenly lied to the public that the laptop was a likely creation of Russian intelligence.</p>

<p><strong>This disinformation campaign, launched by the 51 “former” intelligence agents, included some who were still on the federal payroll as contractors. </strong>Their intent was to arm Joe Biden in the upcoming October 2020 presidential debate with the lie that the incriminating laptop (again confirmed in secret by the FBI as genuine) was fabricated by the Russians. And the ruse worked perfectly in deceiving the American people on the eve of the election.</p>

<p>Note as well that the FBI embedded agents in social media concerns like Facebook and Twitter to partner in censoring news by deeming it “misinformation” and “disinformation.” Yet, in truth, their jobs in the so-called “Twitter Files” scandal were better defined as suppressing any news considered problematic to the then-2020 Biden campaign.</p>

<p>Many FBI agents later rotated over to high-paying social media companies after their collaboration, among them former FBI general counsel Baker, who was then subsequently fired by the new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk.</p>

<p><strong>The list of ethical, moral, and legal misadventures at the top-heavy Washington FBI office could be easily expanded.</strong></p>

<p>But suffice to say, the closure of the J. Edgar Hoover building and the dispersal of the toxic Washington-centric FB hierarchy is welcome news.</p>

<p><strong>Hopefully, this historic closure will also mark the end of the most sordid and decade-long chapter in the history of a once-great agency.</strong></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T18:20:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 14:20</span>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5306710
title: Bring back the wild horse adoption incentive program
author: ;Tate Watkins; opinion contributor
link: https://thehill.com/opinion/5306710-wild-horse-adoption-program-appeal/
hash: �{�j��D�]�&����
content:
The Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Incentive Program, which has helped place over 15,000 animals into private homes and ranches and saved taxpayers $400 million, should be reinstated to address the crisis of wild horses and burros on public lands and reduce the strain on rangelands.

tags:
#Energy and Environment #Opinion #Adoption Incentive Program #BLM #Rangelands #taxpayers #Wild Horses and Burros

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guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747678979
title: British presenter Gary Lineker steps down over anti-Semitism row
hash: �@ _v~�� ��G�S
tags: #Show Types
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
British presenter and former England football captain Gary Lineker has stepped down from his role at the BBC.

link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2025/5/19/british-presenter-gary-lineker-steps-down-over-anti-semitism-row?traffic_source=rss


guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2166070/postes-canada-syndicat-negociations-commission
title: Postes Canada : le syndicat a l’intention de déclencher une grève vendredi
content: <p>Le conflit de travail menace de paralyser de nouveau le service postal dès jeudi.</p>
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2166070/postes-canada-syndicat-negociations-commission
hash: vPJ� 5�_n��[��
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://images.radio-canada.ca/q_auto,w_635,h_357/v1/ici-info/16x9/employe-postes-canada-boite-aux-lettres.JPG","type":"image/jpeg","length":0}]}


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307908
title: Key Senate Democrat backing stablecoin legislation
author: ;Julia Shapero
link: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5307908-sen-mark-warner-backs-stablecoin-act/
hash: JOm-� d��^��bx
tags: #Business #Technology #crypto #GENIUS ACT #stablecoins
content:
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) backed legislation Monday establishing a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, as Senate leadership prepares to bring the bill to the floor once again.  Warner represents a key Democratic voice of support for the GENIUS Act ahead of a procedural vote to move forward with consideration of the bill, which is expected…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307926
title: Johnson: ‘Almost there’ on Trump agenda bill, but more work to do
author: ;Mike Lillis
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5307926-mike-johnson-trump-agenda-bill-republicans/
hash: ���\%8 ��qES��fC
tags: #House #News
content:
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Monday that Republicans are nearing an agreement on President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” of domestic priorities, but he suggested it will take two more days of internal discussions before the deal is sealed.  “We’re almost there, and I’m very optimistic that we will find the right equilibrium point to get…

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guid: 1031852 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Guess Who Democrats Blame For The Mexican Pirate Ship Smashing Into Brooklyn Bridge...
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: 1'��p�44Q-2�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Guess Who Democrats Blame For The Mexican Pirate Ship Smashing Into Brooklyn Bridge...</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://modernity.news/2025/05/19/guess-who-is-to-blame-for-the-mexican-pirate-ship-smashing-into-brooklyn-bridge"><em>Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>As we highlighted yesterday, a bizarre accident caused a Mexican Naval vessel to hit the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge while crowds looked on from a pier and traffic drove overhead on the bridge.</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Ship-1.jpg?itok=VyRkNSOW" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Ship-1.jpg?itok=VyRkNSOW"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="26cda067-d1bb-4142-b111-9a67038a0487" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Ship-1.jpg?itok=VyRkNSOW" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Scores of Mexican naval cadets were standing on the masts and rigging of the Cuauhtémoc training ship, as part of a ceremonial tradition during the ship’s departure from New York Harbor.</p>

<p>On tall ships like the Cuauhtémoc, it is customary for sailors, especially cadets, to climb the masts and stand on the yardarms (horizontal beams) when entering or leaving a port. This practice, known as “manning the yards,” serves both ceremonial and training purposes.</p>

<p><iframe data-secret="kefoKbsJSl" frameborder="0" height="500" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" scrolling="no" security="restricted" src="https://modernity.news/2025/05/18/pandemonium-sailors-go-flying-as-mexican-navy-smashes-into-brooklyn-bridge/embed/#?secret=kefoKbsJSl" title="“‘Pandemonium’: Sailors Go Flying As Mexican Navy Smashes Into Brooklyn Bridge” — modernity" width="600" data-sanitized-class="wp-embedded-content" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></p>

<p>It showcases naval discipline, honors the host port, and allows cadets to demonstrate their skills in managing sails and rigging, which are integral to their training on such vessels.</p>

<p>The ship was in New York as part of a global goodwill tour, and the cadets were positioned aloft to perform this traditional display for spectators.</p>

<p><strong>The ship reportedly lost power, causing it to drift under the bridge which was too low for it, resulting in the masts holding the sails snapping and sending cadets, and debris flying.</strong></p>

<p>Many were caught up in the ropes and their own harnesses, left dangling with serious injuries, with two of them tragically dying.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="https://siphox.zhstore.com/" data-image-href="https://siphox.zhstore.com/" data-link-option="2" href="https://siphox.zhstore.com/"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="da4415bc-3e70-44e3-bdce-63d68c42548e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="141" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/SiPhox_19.png?itok=8gwi3f3V" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>The NTSB announced an immediate investigation to find out what went wrong.</p>

<p>Chuck Schumer, however, wasted no time in attempting to politicize the tragic accident.</p>

<p><strong>Taking to X, the Senate Minority Leader insinuated that the Trump Administration is to blame.</strong></p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">With the Brooklyn Bridge strike last night:<br><br>
I’m fighting for answers about whether Trump and DOGE have impacted water traffic control.<br><br>
We know they’ve been meddling with U.S. Coast Guard staffing.<br><br>
Trump relieved Admiral Linda Fagan as Commandant of the USCG, and that position…</p>
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSchumer/status/1924192523087384764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>The rest reads…</p>

<p>We know they’ve been meddling with U.S. Coast Guard staffing.Trump relieved Admiral Linda Fagan as Commandant of the USCG, and that position is still vacant.And the hiring freeze has limited the ability for the USCG to staff up the Vehicle Traffic Service, that’s their traffic control operation that acts like Air Traffic Control but on water.We need action for our national security, infrastructure protection, and public safety.</p>

<p><strong>TDS addled Democrats will blame Trump for anything.</strong></p>

<p>Homeland Security responded to the allegations, noting they are entirely false.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Minority Leader Schumer’s accusations that a hiring freeze led to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Services not being adequately staffed are FALSE. The US Coast Guard has been fully supported and been exempt from hiring freezes. Additionally, this incident had nothing to do… <a href="https://t.co/BR4iJX2oX9">https://t.co/BR4iJX2oX9</a></p>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1924206927338262558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>The rest...</p>

<p>Additionally, this incident had nothing to do with Vessel Traffic Services— when a ship loses propulsion in a high current area, the vessel needs to engage all capabilities to stop and ideally tugs are nearby to support. We encourage Minority Leader Schumer to get his facts straight before he misleads the American people.</p>

<p>The backlash against Schumer was swift:</p>

<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">You're such an idiot.</p>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1924243330335961513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">I don't recall Chuck having any concerns with this bridge mishap <a href="https://t.co/gvRekPUUuz">pic.twitter.com/gvRekPUUuz</a></p>
— Kevin Peacock (@kevin_peac64157) <a href="https://twitter.com/kevin_peac64157/status/1924241748026347735?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">How about the fact that not one single reporter questioned him about his outrageous/ conspiracy theory statements at the press conference.</p>
— Shawn Dooley (@vote4dooley) <a href="https://twitter.com/vote4dooley/status/1924365437384454290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">The answer is No.<br><br>
This was an issue on board Cuauhtémoc, the decision to have only one tug, and a wind and current setting them down on the bridge.<br><br>
The USCG was not involved.</p>
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴‍☠️ (@mercoglianos) <a href="https://twitter.com/mercoglianos/status/1924232832529899880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">How long before you blame Joe's prostate cancer on Trump?</p>
— Retard Finder (@IfindRetards) <a href="https://twitter.com/IfindRetards/status/1924226278259106053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Update: Still Trump's fault. 🤡 <a href="https://t.co/GCvhsterxN">pic.twitter.com/GCvhsterxN</a></p>
— myangels7 (@BeeLeever7) <a href="https://twitter.com/BeeLeever7/status/1924232589637795862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">It’s definitely Trump’s fault that a Mexican navy ship experienced a mechanical failure and lost propulsion.<br><br>
It’s definitely not the Mexican navy’s fault for not maintaining their own ships.</p>
— Storm (@stormrobinson) <a href="https://twitter.com/stormrobinson/status/1924246551272341881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Grasping for irrelevant and misleading accusations directed at President Trump only demonstrates how desperate the Democrats are right now. Just when will Schumer realize that this approach is no longer working.</p>
— Wooden Wizard (@Timothy50835184) <a href="https://twitter.com/Timothy50835184/status/1924296125915283919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="qme" xml:lang="qme"><a href="https://t.co/YI2e19EpCp">pic.twitter.com/YI2e19EpCp</a></p>
— Kyle Mann (@The_Kyle_Mann) <a href="https://twitter.com/The_Kyle_Mann/status/1924197521573990771?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://jonathanturley.org/2025/05/19/and-i-have-a-bridge-in-brooklyn-to-sell-you-schumer-bizarrely-suggests-that-the-administration-caused-the-mexican-ship-collision/">As Jonathan Turley succinctly concludes</a>,<strong> the hair-trigger attacks after these tragedies only deepen the public’s distrust.</strong> </p>

<p>Polling shows that the public’s confidence in Democrats in Congress is at a record low of 25%.</p>

<p>On the day of Schumer’s comment, a new poll from the Associated Press (AP) and NORC at the University of Chicago found that <strong>only 35 percent of Democrats are optimistic about the party’s future.</strong></p>

<p>That makes sense when your Senate minority leader is trying to sell the public a bridge story that treats them like moronic marks who will buy anything.</p>

<p>*  *  *</p>

<p><em>Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/support">Locals</a> or che</em><em>ck out our unique <a href="https://www.modernity.news/shop">merch</a>. Follow us on X <a href="https://x.com/modernitynews">@ModernityNews</a></em>.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T19:00:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 15:00</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/guess-who-democrats-blame-mexican-pirate-ship-smashing-brooklyn-bridge


guid: https://www.whitehouse.gov/?p=12736
title: WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Pass the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
author: ;The White House
link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/what-they-are-saying-pass-the-one-big-beautiful-bill/
hash: ����I���U�fa³
tags: #Articles
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div><img src="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/WH47-Social-Share-Card.jpg" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>President Donald J. Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make good on the promises Republicans have made — and that’s why advocacy groups and other stakeholders are coming out in droves to urge Congress to immediately pass the landmark bill.</p>
<p><strong>Here’s what they’re saying about the One, Big, Beautiful Bill:</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://axpc.org/education-resource/axpc-urges-house-republicans-to-pass-the-budget-reconciliation/"><strong>American Exploration &amp; Production Council CEO Anne Bradbury</strong></a>: “On behalf of America’s leading independent producers of oil and natural gas, AXPC urges all House Republicans to pass the budget reconciliation and advance President Trump’s agenda to unleash American energy. This legislation takes decisive steps towards improving our nation’s energy landscape by repealing the Biden-era menthane tax, unlocking oil and gas development on federal lands, and alleviating regulatory pain points that have stymied the build out of American energy. Passing this bill is essential to secure America’s energy dominance through smart, durable reforms.”</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/NumbersUSA/status/1923434141728538662"><strong>NumbersUSA</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “For decades Congress has promised to secure the border and failed to deliver. The House Reconciliation bill delivers on the promise of building the border wall, 10,000 ICE officers, detention beds, historic funding for Customs and Border Patrol and a tax on money illegal aliens send out of the country. The Trump Administration needs this funding to deport illegal aliens, millions of whom entered the country over the last four years. The American people voted in mess this last election to secure our borders and return law and order to our immigration system. Congress must not fail them.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.airlines.org/news-update/a4a-encourages-house-to-pass-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/"><strong>Airlines for America</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “A4A strongly supports the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and applauds the inclusion of a critical investment of $12.5 billion in modernizing the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic facilities, systems and infrastructure. For years, A4A has been sounding the alarm about ATC staffing shortages and antiquated equipment, such as copper wires and floppy disks. Given the challenges facing the air traffic system, these funds are a vital down payment on updating the technology that guides 27,000 flights, 2.7 million passengers and 61,000 tons of cargo every day—all while driving five percent of our nation’s GDP. The legislation also makes smart, strategic investments in Customs and Border Protection personnel and training for the aviation workforce of tomorrow while supporting American energy dominance in aviation fuel production. We encourage the House to pass this legislation and deliver on the Department of Transportation’s plan to help keep our skies safe and efficient. Modernizing our National Airspace System is necessary, and passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will help ensure the United States has a world-class aviation system.”</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1924484625008558493"><strong>National Federation of Independent Business SVP for Advocacy Adam Temple</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “On behalf of NFIB, the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, I write in support of the Committee’s legislative proposal to comply with reconciliation instructions contained within the concurrent resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, H. Con. Res. 14. As written, this is one of the most pro-small business pieces of tax legislation in recent history.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ctia.org/news/ctia-statement-on-one-big-beautiful-bill-act"><strong>CTIA—The Wireless Association President and CEO Ajit Pai</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “The wireless industry urges swift passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The critical spectrum and tax provisions in this legislation will allow the wireless industry to invest, create jobs, propel economic growth, and secure America’s edge in innovation.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jobcreatorsnetwork.com/press_releases/job-creators-network-calls-on-house-to-pass-republican-reconciliation-bill/"><strong>Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “House Republicans’ big, beautiful reconciliation bill is exactly what the country needs to jumpstart the economy and guarantee the safety and prosperity of Americans for decades to come. It helps people of all backgrounds but especially small businesses, the backbone of our economy, by making permanent and expanding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It increases the small business tax deduction used by 26 million entrepreneurs annually from 20% to 23% — a tax cut Job Creators Network has long been the leading voice for. The bill also restores 100% immediate expensing, allowing businesses to write off investments, expansion, and modernization. It will empower Main Street to expand, hire, raise wages, and reinvest in their communities, while also providing significant tax relief for ordinary folks. All Republicans should unite to support this historic reconciliation bill. We need Tax Cuts Now.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.businessroundtable.org/business-roundtable-urges-house-budget-committee-passage-of-reconciliation-bill"><strong>Business Roundtable President &amp; COO Kristen Silverberg</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Business Roundtable strongly supports the House budget reconciliation bill. This important legislation ensures a more competitive, pro-growth tax system, secures our borders and takes the necessary step of raising the debt ceiling. We urge members of the House Budget Committee to swiftly pass this measure.”</p>
<p><a href="https://sbecouncil.org/2025/05/18/sbe-council-statement-of-support-for-the-one-big-beautiful-reconciliation-bill/"><strong>Small Business &amp; Entrepreneurship Council President &amp; CEO Karen Kerrigan</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “SBE Council strongly supports the One Big, Beautiful Bill and urges every member of the U.S. House to vote in support of this economically powerful package. The One Big, Beautiful Bill provides entrepreneurs and small businesses with the tools and policy environment they need to invest in their businesses and workforce, to innovate and strengthen their firms, and to lead America’s economic resurgence.”</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1924451524798734611"><strong>Associated Equipment Distributors SVP Daniel B. Fisher</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “This legislation will spur economic growth and job creation, incentivize capital investment, and ensure AED members, which supply and maintain the equipment needed to build, feed and fuel America, remain competitive for years to come. We urge support for the bill and look forward to working with the entire House of Representatives to approve it as soon as possible.”</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1924451155163185168"><strong>National Stone, Sand &amp; Gravel Association Interim CEO Michele Stanley</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “NSSGA appreciates that ‘The One, Big, Beautiful Bill’ includes aggregates industry priorities, such as bonus depreciation, the Research and Development Tax Credit, small business deductions, keeping the corporate tax rate at the status quo and protecting percentage depletion and estate taxes. Additionally, we appreciate the committee’s commitment to safeguarding associations’ tax-protected status. NSSGA thanks the committee for introducing this bill and encourages the Ways and Means Committee and the House of Representatives to pass this package in a timely manner.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.60plus.org/americas-seniors-support-the-one-big-beautiful-bill/"><strong>60 Plus Association Chairman Jim Martin</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “It’s a win for seniors across the country. The President and House Republicans are providing much needed tax relief to middle and low-income seniors.”</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/AMACAction/status/1923027511845224769"><strong>Association of Mature American Citizens Action SVP Andrew J. Mangione, Jr.</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “This bill is a win for seniors, for taxpayers, and for the future of our country. We urge swift passage and full support from lawmakers who value liberty, accountability, and the financial security of AMAC members across the country.”</p>
<p><a href="https://ratecoalition.com/rate-coalition-urges-swift-passage-of-tax-reform-legislation/"><strong>RATE Coalition Executive Director Dan Combs</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “This legislation is a clear step toward preserving a tax code that spurs job creation, boosts wages, and builds on the legacy created by President Trump and Congress under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Now is the time for Congress to come together, finish the work, and deliver a strong, stable economic foundation for American workers and businesses. A competitive corporate tax rate is key to keeping the U.S. ahead and a top destination for investment in the global economy. This bill goes a long way towards making that possible.”</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/dkhos/status/1922734631696179458"><strong>Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “We’ve said from the start: No Tax on Tips should include @Uber drivers &amp; couriers. Grateful the new House Ways &amp; Means bill does just that. Thanks to @POTUS and @RepJasonSmith for backing all tipped workers—no matter how they work. Let’s get this done!”</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/t_xu/status/1922851238254657774?s=12"><strong>DoorDash CEO Tony Xu</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Thanks to @POTUS and @RepJasonSmith, millions of Dashers may soon get a tax break on their hard-earned tips. Following advocacy from 40K Dashers, including dozens in DC last week, the House’s budget bill is an important step in making #NoTaxOnTips a reality.”</p>
<p><a href="https://americansforprosperity.org/press-release/afp-to-lawmakers-time-to-advance-tax-cuts-and-secure-long-term-growth/"><strong>Americans for Prosperity Chief Government Affairs Officer Brent Gardner</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “The Republican Party has an incredible opportunity to put the country on the right track for long-term economic growth by making the Trump Tax Cuts permanent and avoiding the largest tax hike in American history. This bill is smart pro-growth policy that would provide certainty for American businesses and lead to sustained prosperity for millions of working Americans. This legislation also takes meaningful action to cut billions in special interest giveaways, reforming broken programs, and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse –   ensuring that taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars are spent wisely. It’s about making government work better for the people it serves. We’re encouraged by the foundation laid in the House and stand ready to work with Senate lawmakers to get this measure across the finish line. The moment for action is now. We urge all Members to support this legislation and put our economy on the path to growth and opportunity.”</p>
<p><a href="https://cv4a.org/news-media/cva-urges-congress-to-advance-tax-cuts-for-americas-prosperity/"><strong>Concerned Veterans for America Executive Director John Vick</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Failing to extend President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would impose the largest tax hike in U.S. history on American families and businesses. Congress must seize its opportunity to protect our long-term prosperity while improving the lives of middle-class Americans. The American people sent a clear message last November: they are tired of massive tax hikes, higher prices, reckless government spending, and Biden-era “Green New Deal” giveaways. Congress must answer this call by moving budget reconciliation forward. As veterans, we fought for a better future for our fellow Americans. We also understand that a strong economy is the bedrock of American strength at home and abroad. Today, CVA calls on Congress to act to protect the promise of long-term economic growth and prosperity for all Americans.”</p>
<p><a href="https://thelibreinitiative.com/press-releases/the-libre-initiative-statement-its-time-to-protect-tax-cuts-and-grow-the-economy/"><strong>The LIBRE Initiative Executive Director Sandra Benitez</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “We commend the House Budget Committee for taking a positive step to ensure that we continue extending tax relief to middle-class families and job creators, including Latinos who cannot afford a tax hike. Now it is critical that the House of Representatives have a full House vote as quickly as possible and approve this pro-growth legislation to help unleash prosperity and opportunity for all. The LIBRE Initiative looks forward to educating and activating the Latino community on the benefits of this critical legislation.”</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/A1Policy/status/1923449871291343322"><strong>America First Policy Institute</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Conservatives must deliver to the American people! The One, Big, Beautiful Bill cuts taxes for ALL Americans, secures the border, stands up to the woke mob by empowering parents and protecting women and children, and much more!”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.iwv.org/2025/05/independent-women-on-big-beautiful-bill-the-stakes-are-high/"><strong>Independent Women Center for Economic Opportunity Director Patrice Onwuka</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Passing the Big, Beautiful Bill is an imperative. The stakes are high. If Congress fails to pass this bill, average Americans face a massive 22% tax increase, 40 million families will see their Child Tax Credit slashed in half, and 26 million small businesses face a 43.4% top tax rate. Republicans should not hold up tax relief for American families and small businesses to bail out high-tax blue states.”</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/FamBizCoalition/status/1923812906224775449"><strong>Family Business Coalition</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Family Business Coalition supports the ‘One, Big, Beautiful Bill’ which includes tax relief that will help family businesses expand, upgrade equipment, and hire more workers. FBC urges the House to take action now to move this process forward in Congress.”</p>


guid: https://www.whitehouse.gov/?p=12742
title: ICYMI: New projection signals good news for families, workers in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
author: ;The White House
hash: 1�Z��L��}်��
tags: #Articles
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div><img src="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/WH47-Social-Share-Card.jpg" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>President Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill will raise take-home pay by as much as $13,300 and wages by as much as $11,600, according to a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Preserving-and-Expanding-Low-Tax-Rates-to-Create-American-Economic-Prosperity.pdf">new report</a> from the Council of Economic Advisers.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-projection-signals-good-news-families-workers-trumps-big-beautiful-bill"><strong>From Fox News</strong></a><strong>:</strong></p>
<p><em>“A key U.S. economic agency is projecting that President Donald Trump’s tax policy in his ‘one big, beautiful bill’ will lead to increased take-home pay for American families and higher wages for U.S. workers.</em></p><p>The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), which advises the White House on economic policy, released a report on Monday morning that said, ‘Taken as a whole, the CEA estimates that the tax cuts in the President’s proposals and the One Big Beautiful Bill will substantially boost investment and GDP relative to if expiring provisions from the [Tax Cuts and Jobs Act] are not extended.’ […]</p><p>‘For workers and families, the CEA forecasts that wages will be about $6,100 to $11,600 higher, with family take-home pay $7,800 to $13,300 higher because of the increase in wages and reduction in tax obligations,’ the new analysis said.</p><p>The CEA said the added deduction for seniors, meanwhile, would increase the average take-home pay for qualifying seniors by approximately $400 to $450 per year.</p><p>If passed, the policies would also boost U.S. investment in the long run from 4.9% to 7.5%, according to the projection, and could save or create as many as 4.2 million full-time equivalent jobs in the long run.</p><p>It also estimated that Trump’s ‘no tax on tips’ proposal alone would increase tipped workers’ pay by an average $1,675 per year, while eliminating the tax on overtime wages ‘will cause overtime workers to increase their overtime hours by 4.7 percent, leading to a 0.2 percent increase in aggregate labor supply while the provision is in effect.’</p><p>‘As a result, the level of GDP increases by 0.1 to 0.2 percent in the short run. The average overtime worker receives a tax cut of between $1,400 and $1,750 per year,’ the projection said.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-projection-signals-good-news-families-workers-trumps-big-beautiful-bill"><strong>Click here to read the full story</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p>

link:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/icymi-new-projection-signals-good-news-for-families-workers-in-trumps-big-beautiful-bill/


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307632
title: 7 of 10 New Orleans inmates still at large: What to know
author: ;Elizabeth Crisp
hash: д��`��Bm�9-z�\
content:
Seven inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail over the weekend remain at large, with the FBI and other agencies offering up to $20,000 for information leading to their capture, while Gov. Jeff Landry has ordered an investigation into the jailbreak.

link:
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5307632-new-orleans-jailbreak-inmates-prison-escape-louisiana-landry/

tags:
#State Watch #Antoine Massey #ATF #Corely Boyd #Crimestoppers New Orleans #Derrick Groves #Gary Price #Governor Jeff Landry #Jermaine Donald #Lenton Vanburen #Leo Tate

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/neworleansprisonescape_05172025ap.jpg?w=900","type":"image/jpeg","length":832271}]}


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5306785
title: Pakistan’s actions should be called state-sponsored terrorism
author: ;Jos Joseph; opinion contributor
link: https://thehill.com/opinion/5306785-pakistan-terror-groups-nuclear-rivals/
hash: VZ����]Kk�}�s �
content:
Pakistan has been accused of providing safe havens for terrorist groups, including the Taliban, which has led to a complex geopolitical situation that the United States and other nations must address.

tags:
#International #Opinion #Donald Trump #india #Inter-Service Intelligence #Marco Rubio #Pakistan #Taliban #united states

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/AP25136666370654.jpg?w=900","type":"image/jpeg","length":295574}]}


guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747677745
title: Former President Bolsonaro’s coup trial opens in Brazil
content: More than 80 witnesses are expected to testify via videoconference over the next two weeks.
hash: �>Q�hh��"��%�
tags: #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/19/former-president-bolsonaros-coup-trial-opens-in-brazil?traffic_source=rss


guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747674021
title: Europe’s political centre holds in weekend of elections
content: The results will reassure a European Union seeking respite from a rise in populism.
hash: �=��hM��+� 
tags: #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/inside-story/2025/5/19/europes-political-centre-holds-in-weekend-of-elections?traffic_source=rss


guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5698688
title: Une nouvelle ère de ténèbres
author: ;Chris Hedges
link: https://www.mondialisation.ca/une-nouvelle-ere-de-tenebres/5698688
hash: �, �u ���}� �
tags: #Francais @fr #Mobile
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p><strong>LE CAIRE, Égypte</strong> — Je suis au Caire, à 320 km de la frontière avec Gaza, à Rafah. Dans le nord du Sinaï égyptien, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7225ll1429o" rel="">2 000 camions</a> chargés de sacs de farine, de réservoirs d’eau, de conserves, de fournitures médicales, …</p>


guid: 1031841 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: ZH At The White House: Epstein, Clinton Body Count &amp; Proxy Wars
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/zh-white-house-epstein-clinton-body-count-proxy-wars
hash: ��������4;WXj
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">ZH At The White House: Epstein, Clinton Body Count &amp; Proxy Wars</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>ZeroHedge White House correspondent Liam Cosgrove was in the "new media" seat during Monday's press briefing, where he asked several questions related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, the 'Clinton body count,' and whether the US will continue funding proxy wars overseas.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/liam%20on%20cam.JPG?itok=TteyWdH2" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/liam%20on%20cam.JPG?itok=TteyWdH2"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1621332c-02ad-4c29-acc8-0694d98e239f" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="291" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/liam%20on%20cam.JPG?itok=TteyWdH2" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<h2>Proxy Wars</h2>

<p>We then asked about the US funding proxy wars overseas.</p>

<p>"The president has made several moves towards peace in multiple fronts; India-Pakistan, with the Houthis, talking with Iran, talking with Putin. Biden didn't even talk to Putin during the entire span of the war which is crazy, considering two nuclear powers were engaged in a proxy war. So I do admire these moves by the current president - I'll be honest, however, <strong>as of today we are still funding Israel's and Ukraine's wars. So can Americans expect to finally be done financing foreign wars at some point? Do you consider that one of the president's goals?"</strong></p>

<p>To which Leavitt replied: "I can summarize the president's foreign policy agenda with two words: <strong>America First, </strong>and that means putting the American people and the American taxpayer first. And that's why the president is moving as quickly as he possibly can, and working overtime to end these conflicts in both Israel and in Gaza and also the Russia-Ukraine war. As you all know, the president will be speaking with Putin at 10:00. He plans to call President Zelensky when that call concludes.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lXx9rOW4uyc?si=SxyNX5IKxIsi8yvi&amp;start=4" title="YouTube video player" width="560" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></p>

<h2>Clinton Body Count &amp; Epstein Intelligence Links</h2>

<p>Cosgrove then dove into the weekend discussion about a Truth Social post by President Trump about the so-called '<a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/vince-voster-james-mcdougal-seth-rich-trump-posts-wild-clinton-body-count-clip">Clinton body count</a>' - a spate of mysterious deaths over the past several decades linked to Bill and Hillary Clinton.</p>

<p>"Trump posted to Truth Social a video highlighting what most people call the Clinton body count," asked Cosgrove, who described a "strange number of suicides that seem to happen in circles" - citing a Saturday headline from the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/17/trump-clinton-false-conspiracy-theories/"><em>Washington Post</em></a> suggesting that Trump's recent Truth Social post was a 'conspiracy theory.'</p>

<p>"President Trump posted Truth Social,  a video highlighting what most people call the Clinton body count, which is the strange number of su*cides that seem to happen in Clinton circles," said Cosgrove. "I have a headline here from the Washington Post that said, 'Trump peddles false conspiracy theories tying the Clintons to several deaths.'</p>

<p><strong>Cosgrove then noted the death of Mark Middleton,</strong> "who was a former Clinton White House aide, who was found dead on a Clinton Foundation property. I'll just quote from the Arkansas Times. Middleton apparently shot himself in the chest with a sh0tgun and also hung himself from a tree with an extension cord. So <strong>I have no idea how somebody commits suicide that way, but if the Washington Post is here, maybe you can enlighten us as to how that was actually a suicide.</strong></p>

<p>"That's just a lead into my question about the most famous Clinton-related su*cide, which is that of Jeffrey Epstein. There's still a lot of questions around that case," Cosgrove continued. "You've released phase one of the Epstein files.<strong> What was missing from that is any connection to his ties to intelligence agencies. And that's really the whole story</strong>, that not just trafficking young girls, but doing it on behalf of intelligence agencies, <strong>and even potentially as part of a blackmail ring with potential ties to the Israeli government.</strong></p>

<p>"<strong>For phase two, when can we expect it? Will it have  information pertaining to those aspects of the Epstein case?</strong>"</p>

<p>Leavitt deflected, responding: "I know the Attorney General has committed to releasing those files. I would defer you to the Department of Justice on her timeline, but when she has made a promise in the past, she has kept it, and I'm certain that she will in this case as well."</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">🚨 HOLY CRAP: ZEROHEDGE is in the White House and brings up the Clinton Body Count... tells the Washington Post in the room to explain to him how the d*ath of Mark Middleton, a former Clinton WH aide, was actually a su*cide 👀<br><br>
"President Trump posted Truth Social, a video… <a href="https://t.co/MpKjOvJeln">pic.twitter.com/MpKjOvJeln</a></p>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1924459130908971127?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<h2>Ties to Israel</h2>

<p>While Epstein's ties to Israel are numerous and not necessarily conclusive, there is perhaps no better deep dive than <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6J262GICBhXl8qiKtzzcJ3">Martyr Made's 5-hour podcast</a> into the topic. Highly recommended if you have a long trip planned. If not, here are the core pieces of evidence:</p>

<blockquote data-media-max-width="560" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Bongino says, 'some country in the middle east has the Epstein tapes'. <a href="https://t.co/P3NjOWZi1v">pic.twitter.com/P3NjOWZi1v</a></p>
— Adam Green - Know More News (@Know_More_News) <a href="https://twitter.com/Know_More_News/status/1661075766858379264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
<ul><li>Trump's current Deputy Director of the FBI <strong>Dan Bongino</strong> said during an episode of the Tim Pool podcast that a "absolutely sure" that<strong> Epstein was</strong> <strong>"an intelligence asset for people in the Middle East."</strong></li>
	<li>Ghislaine Maxwell's father, Robert Maxwell, was a Mossad asset. This comes from several sources but one of high-integrity is storied journalist <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/08/19/hersh-wins-apology-from-british-papers/20d629f9-ddef-4bee-ba75-afc6256b24b7/">Seymour Hersh</a>.</li>
	<li>In 2007, Southern Florida Attorney Alex Acosta chose to not press charges against Epstein despite numerous young girls alleging abuse. Acosta reportedly did so because he was told that Epstein "belonged to intelligence" and that it was "above his paygrade" and to "leave it alone".</li>
	<li>Epstein's lawyer who brokered this deal with Acosta was Alan Dershowitz who <a href="https://x.com/realnikohouse/status/1638159994045562881">self-admittedly</a> has been "working for the state of Israel" for decades and <strong>was <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210509045007/https://mediamonitors.net/what-did-israel-know-in-advance-of-the-911-attacks/">key in negotiating the release</a> of the Mossad agents rounded up after 9/11 caught photographing and celebrating the World Trade Center attacks..</strong>. <strong>thus the lawyer has a history of brokering  non-prosecution deals on behalf of Mossad.</strong></li>
	<li>Epstein's chief financier, Leslie Wexner, founded the Mega Group which was a collection of billionairs with the <a href="https://unlimitedhangout.com/2019/08/investigative-series/mega-group-maxwells-and-mossad-the-spy-story-at-the-heart-of-the-jeffrey-epstein-scandal/">explicit aim</a> of promoting Israeli interests.</li>
</ul><p>Cosgrove was formerly with Max Blumenthal's Grayzone outlet and can be found on X with the handle <a href="https://x.com/cosgrove_iv">@Cosgrove_iv</a>.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T23:44:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 19:44</span>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307999
title: Scalise: GOP eyeing Medicaid work requirements for ‘early 2027’
author: ;Sarah Fortinsky
hash: :�Q ��#�Rb6��
content:
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Monday that Republicans are eyeing early 2027 as the target date for the new Medicaid work requirements in the large budget package intended to advance and solidify President Trump’s agenda. The timeline for the bill’s new work requirements remains up in the air, as Republican leadership continues to…

link:
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5307999-scalise-gop-budget-bill-medicaid-work-requirements-trump-agenda/

tags:
#Health Care #House #State Watch #&quot;One Big Beautiful Bill Act&quot; #Medicaid #work requirements

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308016
title: Trump to attend House GOP meeting at Capitol on Tuesday
author: ;Brett Samuels
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5308016-trump-meets-house-republicans-over-budget/
hash: ��������T�x�Y
tags: #Administration #House
content:
President Trump is slated to attend a House Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday at the Capitol as the party charts the path forward on a massive reconciliation package containing key pieces of his agenda. A White House official confirmed to The Hill that Trump will head to the Capitol. The meeting was first reported by…

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/the-latest-putin-trump-chat-and-other
title: The Latest Putin-Trump Chat &amp; Other Issues
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/the-latest-putin-trump-chat-and-other
hash: L�mJa�_�!0�~�
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<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F437583ac-afe0-454a-b353-8c12ac52ebe8_940x580.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F437583ac-afe0-454a-b353-8c12ac52ebe8_940x580.jpeg" width="940" height="580" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/437583ac-afe0-454a-b353-8c12ac52ebe8_940x580.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":580,"width":940,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"Statement for the media following a telephone conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump.","title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false,"align":null}' alt="Statement for the media following a telephone conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump." title="Statement for the media following a telephone conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump." fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>President Putin provided <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76953">a synopsis</a> for the Media after his chat with Trump:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>: Good evening!</p><p>My colleagues asked me to say a few words about the results of our telephone conversation with the President of the United States.</p><p>Indeed, this conversation took place, lasted more than two hours. I would like to note that it was very informative and very frank. And in general, in my opinion, it is very useful in this regard.</p><p>First of all, I thanked the President of the United States for the support of the United States in resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on the possible conclusion of a peace agreement, on the resumption of negotiations that were interrupted by the Ukrainian side, as you know, back in 2022.</p><p>The President of the United States expressed his position on the cessation of hostilities, the truce, and I, for my part, also noted that Russia also supports a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.<em><strong> We simply need to identify the most effective ways to move towards peace.</strong></em></p><p>We have agreed with the President of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace treaty, defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible conclusion of a peace agreement, and so on, including a possible ceasefire for a certain period of time <em><strong>if the relevant agreements are reached.</strong></em></p><p>By the way, contacts between the participants of the meeting and negotiations in Istanbul have resumed, and this gives reason to believe that we are on the right track in general.</p><p>I would like to emphasize once again that the conversation was very constructive, and I appreciate it very much. The question, of course, <em><strong>is that the Russian and Ukrainian sides show maximum desire for peace and find compromises that would suit all parties.</strong></em></p><p>At the same time, I would like to note that in general, <em><strong>Russia's position is clear</strong></em>. <em><strong>The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.</strong></em></p><p>If anything needs to be clarified, Press Secretary Peskov and my assistant, Mr. Ushakov, will explain a little later some details of our telephone conversations with President Trump today. [My Emphasis}</p></blockquote><p>Much of what Putin revealed was anticipated by many even before the chat. For example, that Putin would thank Trump for getting the Ukrainians to talk and that Russia’s primary position would be to deal with the root causes. The problem with dealing with the root causes is Ukraine had nothing to do with generating them—the Outlaw US Empire and its NATO tool are the responsible parties as noted here many times. The one thing Ukraine can do is capitulate, which clearly isn’t agreeable to the Nazis because they are Nazis whose aim is to kill as many Russians as possible even if they (Nazis) all die in the process—that’s Nazism, their religion. </p><p>Earlier today during<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DaOv-PdyWo"> the chat</a> between Ray McGovern and Judge Napolitano a clip of the interview by Russian media with head Russian negotiator Medinsky was shown starting at 12:00 and running for just over three minutes with English voice over that’s a must see. Most of their chat was about the negotiations and phone chat and is well worth to roughly 21-minutes to watch. Listen carefully to discover how many times the British and French intervened in negotiations as they are now doing to the detriment of the natio they were supposedly trying to help. One of the two is a little-known example from 1940 and provides very important context as to the British government’s actual position toward the USSR that IMO demonstrates their “alliance” was a sham—a marriage of necessity; so, we now see the British having returned to its historical norm regarding War with Russia along with the French. What’s demonstrated is the reversion to the European historical norm when it comes to conflict with Russia. It took almost 300 years to learn that “looking to the West” was the wrong policy to pursue. Russia now has a new strategic strategy that currently being fruitful and looks very promising for the future in defeating the Mackinderite  geopolitical strategy employed by the Collective West.</p><p>Into this stew we need to inject the West Asian crisis and the key additional insight provided by Alastair Crooke’s documentation of Hebrew media at his Conflicts Forum substack, “<a href="https://conflictsforum.substack.com/p/israel-is-in-moral-meltdown">Israel is in Moral Meltdown”</a>, which was also the title of <a href="https://conflictsforum.substack.com/p/israel-in-moral-meltdown">today’s chat</a> with Judge Napolitano. IMO, it’s not enough to watch the chat; the written material he amassed is very hard to read through but try to get as far as you can and then watch the chat. What’s even more mind-boggling is the sentiments revealed in Congress about the refusal to allow Iran its legal right to enrich uranium for its civilian nuclear program and what it told to the Zionists about the inability to stomach any more child burning and starving—what Crooke uses as part of his evidence that the West is morally eating itself in its entire West Asian policy from supporting ISIS/Al-Ciada terrorists as legitimate government in Syria to enabling genocide in Palestine, and the completely illegal stance against Iran while letting the Zionists get away with their illegal nukes. Clearly, some of this outrageous immorality is seeping through Western BigLie Media containment because pushback is happening. And then there’s the economic factor that’s underscores both conflicts.</p><p>Crooke has also written a key critical essay about what’s afoot globally in the economic and also leadership paradigms, “‘<a href="https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/05/19/transition-to-new-world-order-beyond-most-in-west/">Transition’ to a new world order is beyond most in the West</a>,” and by new world order he doesn’t mean that set by WEF Globalists; what he means is the death of TINA and the rise of an alternative that will become the new multipolar world order. Yes, Crooke still holds to his idea that “Trump is in the process of blowing up the world trading system so as to re-set it,” but he at least admits, “That does not mean, of course, that Trump’s solution to the problem will work. Possibly, Trump’s particular form of structural rebalancing could make matters actually worse.” The linked essay provides a good synoptical review of how the Western world got into its mess at the end of which Crooke says:</p><blockquote><p>Put plainly, the West cannot transition to an alternate economic structure (such as a ‘closed’, internal-circulation model) precisely because it is so heavily invested ideologically in the philosophical underpinnings to the present one – that to question those roots seems tantamount to a betrayal of European values and of the foundational libertarian values of America (drawn from the French Revolution).</p></blockquote><p>So, in the West, everything is going to hell in a hand basket as the saying goes. It’s morality, its philosophy, and its religious underpinnings (rising knowledge of the Vatican’s very unchristian behavior and responsibility for the debt crisis) all being eroded at a rather quick pace, which encourages the rising level of denial and related subversion of reality along with the fanaticism that war is the answer—which historically is how this entire mess began about 1700 years ago, then again 1000 years ago. (Much of all that is provided in a Michael Hudson discussion, “<a href="https://michael-hudson.com/2025/05/when-usury-became-doctrine/">When Usury Became Doctrine</a>”.) So today we have a massive tumult globally thanks to Trump’s Trade War where most nations followed China’s lead and stood their ground against the bully and saw Trump backdown because of the blowback. That blowback continues for the Outlaw US Empire because it still has a 30% tariff on China. So, while many retailers within the Empire jumped and placed massive orders when the 90-day period of lower (30%) tariffs were announced, that’s still going to cause a very large rise in domestic inflation despite Trump’s efforts to bully retailers like Walmart to eat the tariff cost. Of course, the longer-term uncertainty still exists as do similar issues with the Capital Markets. The recent, well overdue, downgrading by Moody’s is yet another message being discarded by those Crooke mentioned who are hooked like addicts on the West’s debt-built economic model that is now more unsustainable than ever. Locally, another retailer is closing—Rite-Aid—and I predict its space will go unfilled for many years. And so it goes.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>           </p>

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guid: 1031861 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Why Keynesians Got Inflation And Growth Wrong
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/why-keynesians-got-inflation-and-growth-wrong
hash: � M=AG D��Ȭ��
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Why Keynesians Got Inflation And Growth Wrong</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://www.dlacalle.com/en/why-keynesians-got-inflation-and-growth-wrong"><em>Authored by Daniel Lacalle,</em></a></p>

<p><em><strong>Inflation is not soaring, and economic growth is solid...</strong></em></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/12UP-Keynes-superJumbo.jpg?itok=4d_AAkbc" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/12UP-Keynes-superJumbo.jpg?itok=4d_AAkbc"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e1a01e28-15f9-441a-b0fd-7a6aee0719fb" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="388" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/12UP-Keynes-superJumbo.jpg?itok=4d_AAkbc" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>The <strong>Tariff Tantrum</strong> has proven that consensus was wrong about soaring inflation and an economic slump. Why? The exaggerated perception of tariffs’ economic impact stemmed from the belief that American consumers would bear the full burden of tariffs. Why were they wrong?</p>

<p><strong>The first reason was that most analyses relied on a simplistic calculation of tariffs, treating supply chains as if they only involved buyers and sellers. </strong>Supply chains are very complex, and most exporters must deal with overcapacity challenges and working capital problems. Thus, the impact of tariffs is likely to be absorbed by numerous links in the supply chain, including transport, storage, distribution, manufacturing, retailers and purchasing chains.</p>

<p>Furthermore, most exporting companies face a significant problem of overcapacity and working capital; if they don’t sell their products fast and effectively, their debt soars, and the losses at warehouses can lead to a chain of bankruptcies.</p>

<p>Ignoring that the world of exporter businesses, particularly in China, has a structural overcapacity problem and mounting financial challenges due to working capital build was one of the mistakes made by excessively pessimistic analysts. Therefore, there is no sign of inflation soaring anywhere. The Export Price Index rose only 0.1% in April and 2.0% year on year, while the Import Price Index rose a modest 0.1% in the month and 0.1% year on year. Prices dropped by 0.5% in the final demand PPI (producer price index) for April. On a year-over-year basis, headline and core April PPI declined versus previous readings.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="340" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3mZJ85MB-6w" title="U.S. TRADE DEAL with CHINA. What to Expect" width="604" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></p>

<p><strong>United States retail sales rose by 0.1% in April, up 5.2 % from April 2024,</strong> and following a large 1.7% increase in March 2025. Inflation hit a four-year low in April, a month that should have reflected a massive increase due to tariffs, according to consensus estimates, while wage growth rose to a four-year high.</p>

<p><strong>Inflation in April slowed to the slowest pace since 2021.</strong> Egg prices fell by 12%, and prices for bakery items, meat, and poultry also decreased. Americans are not suffering the apocalyptic inflation that interventionists predicted. The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.2% compared to the expected 0.3%—an annualised rate of 2.3%—and the lowest in four years. Furthermore, core CPI rose only 2.8%, showing no sign of inflationary pressures.</p>

<p><strong>The first quarter’s gross domestic product was positive. Despite a 0.3% decline, the private sector increased by 1.6% annually. </strong>Government spending declined 5.1%. In the past week, JP Morgan has removed its call for a recession and the Atlanta Fed Nowcast shows a healthy 2.4% GDP growth for the second quarter, an estimate shared by Goldman Sachs and Capital Economics.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="340" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LS8ac8Htopg" title="US TRADE TARIFFS. FEWER DOLLS?" width="604" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></p>

<p>The key to understanding the lack of inflation is to look at monetary aggregates. <strong>Tariffs do not cause inflation. </strong>There are other reasons we can use to criticise tariffs, but not inflation causation. Market participants have realised that tariffs are a tool for negotiating better trade deals and facilitating the opening of markets rather than being used solely as a protectionist measure. The same reason why you need nuclear weapons to avoid a nuclear war: tariffs are required to force better trade deals.</p>

<p>The cause of inflation is the soaring government spending, which leads to an increase in both the money supply and money velocity. Deficit spending is down 35% between February and April 2025 compared to the same period last year. While money supply is rising, albeit at a modest pace, velocity of money is gradually declining. <strong>The public sector is slowly shrinking and the private sector is strengthening; hence, there is no real inflation risk.</strong></p>

<p>The only thing that can make aggregate prices rise, consolidate, and continue is the debasement of the purchasing power of the currency due to uncontrolled government spending. Thankfully, government spending is starting to moderate.</p>

<p>The United States economy is stronger than it appears, and the negotiating power of importers is larger than estimated due to two factors: the previously mentioned overcapacity challenge of most exporters and the global relevance of the U.S. market. Exporters cannot substitute their U.S. sales with other markets. Even the European Union is relatively weak as a market.</p>

<p><strong>In the following months, we will likely see more trade deals, and most concerns from market participants will probably vanish or at least be significantly reduced.</strong> Ultimately, the Tariff Tantrum has proven that Keynesian analysis is wrong and that successful trade deals were the goal of the administration.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T19:40:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 15:40</span>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308000
title: Pentagon touts major defense partnership with United Arab Emirates
author: ;Ellen Mitchell
link: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5308000-pentagon-major-defense-partnership-united-arab-emirates/
hash: �*70��9Ϸ�ԯ��
tags: #Defense #Policy
content:
The Trump administration plans to establish a “Major Defense Partnership” with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), bilateral cooperation that could mean joint weapons development and closer military collaboration between the United States and the wealthy Gulf nation. The letter of intent, signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and UAE Defense Minister Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei…

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title: Chronique | Les Maple Leafs, l’histoire d’une équipe brisée psychologiquement
hash: 5��(��`��J3�v�+
guid:
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/2166097/chronique-martin-leclerc-maple-leafs-equipe-brisee-psychologiquement

content:
<p>Ils feraient un bon cas d'étude sur la perpétuation des traumatismes dans le sport, écrit Martin Leclerc. </p>

link:
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/2166097/chronique-martin-leclerc-maple-leafs-equipe-brisee-psychologiquement

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308025
title: At least 50 migrants sent to El Salvador prison entered US legally, Cato Institute finds
author: ;Rebecca Beitsch
hash: �]�r �Hr��r��y�\
tags: #Administration #International #Latino #National Security
content:
At least 50 Venezuelan men who were sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison by the Trump administration had immigrated to the U.S. legally, a review by the Libertarian Cato Institute found.  The Monday report reviewed data for just a fraction of the men sent to the prison for whom immigration records are available.  “The government calls them…

link:
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/5308025-venezuelan-migrants-el-salvador-prison-legal-migration-cato-institute-southern-border/

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308019
title: Biden team scripted Cabinet meetings, used multiples cameras to cover flubs: Book
author: ;Jared Gans
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5308019-biden-cognitive-decline-cover-up-book/
hash: �iB%" ��]���
content:
Members of former President Biden’s White House staff scripted Cabinet meetings and used multiple cameras to cover flubs he had, according to a new book obtained by The Hill.  The excerpts from “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson, reveal…

tags:
#Administration #Campaign #Alex Thompson #biden white house #Cabinet meetings #Jake Tapper #Original Sin

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308029
title: Schumer proposes ban on foreign-owned aircraft from serving as Air Force One
author: ;Al Weaver
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5308029-schumer-air-force-one-trump-qatar/
hash: 9g:��`���@~wؔ
tags: #News #Senate
content:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday rolled out a new bill aimed at President Trump’s potential acceptance of a Qatari luxury jet to serve as the next Air Force One.  The Democratic leader unveiled a new bill barring a foreign-owned aircraft from being used as Air Force One. It would specifically prohibit taxpayer…

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guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747682518
title: After Putin call, Trump says Russia, Ukraine will start ceasefire talks
hash: �(D@���ȭ�m
tags: #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
US president says two sides will 'immediately' start talks to reach a truce, as Putin says efforts on 'right track'.

link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/19/after-putin-call-trump-says-russia-ukraine-will-start-ceasefire-talks?traffic_source=rss


guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747684697
title: Eyewitness video shows Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis
hash: 5=Lτ��=���p�GF
tags: #Show Types
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
Eyewitness video captured an Israeli airstrike hitting west Khan Younis in Gaza as people flee tents amid gunfire.

link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2025/5/19/eyewitness-video-shows-israeli-airstrike-on-khan-younis?traffic_source=rss


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307837
title: Arizona judge sends 2020 Republican electors’ case back to grand jury
author: ;Ella Lee
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5307837-arizona-judge-returns-election-case/
hash: �p�� �����P��s�
content:
An Arizona judge on Monday ordered state prosecutors to return their 2020 election subversion case against Republican allies of President Trump to a grand jury, a significant setback for the high-profile case. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam J. Myers agreed with the Republicans who had argued that the Electoral Count Act, a law explaining…

tags:
#Court Battles #News #State Watch #2020 election #Arizona fake electors #Donald Trump #Electoral Count Act

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307956
title: Walz: ICE agents ‘modern-day Gestapo’
author: ;Elizabeth Crisp
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5307956-minnesota-gov-tim-walz-gestapo-trump/
hash: �������ص�g����
content:
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz compared federal law enforcement agents carrying out President Trump's immigration crackdown to the Nazi police force, while the Department of Homeland Security responded with a statement condemning the comparison.

tags:
#News #State Watch #Department of Homeland Security #Governor Tim Walz #Immigrations and Customs Enforcement #Kamala Harris #President Donald Trump #The New York Times #University of Minnesota Law School

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308119
title: Energy Department now says gas export environmental impacts ‘outside’ its authority
author: ;Rachel Frazin
hash: �W� :��x�g9#S�
tags: #Administration #Energy &amp; Environment #International
content:
The Energy Department said Monday that the environmental impacts of natural gas export terminals fall outside of its authority — signaling that the Trump administration may not give significant consideration to these impacts as it evaluates gas export projects going forward. The statement comes in response to a 2024 draft study published at the very end…

link:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5308119-energy-department-gas-exports-lng-biden-trump/

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guid: 1031865 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: "...The Entire Profession Sold Out The Country To Act As The Democrats' Damage Control Agency..."
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: ��qm��`�j �C�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">"...The Entire Profession Sold Out The Country To Act As The Democrats' Damage Control Agency..."</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://www.kunstler.com/p/swamp-fever-0b0"><em>Authored by James Howard Kunstler,</em></a></p>

<h2><strong>Swamp Fever</strong></h2>

<blockquote>
<p><em>“Don’t misunderstand me. I want Biden to get better and live many more years, so he can watch his family go broke from running out of influence to sell.” </em></p>

<p><em>- Oilfield Rando on X</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>If the slithering denizens of Okefenokee-on-the-Potomac were nervous about their fates before Sunday — and I’d say they’ve been rather jumped-up since Nov. 4 — then <strong>Maria Bartiromo’s Sunday morning session with FBI top dawgs Patel and Bongino must have been a near-death experience for them. </strong>Something Roto-rooterish this way comes, officialdom must be thinking, if you can call utter hysteria “thinking.”</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2812%29_7.jpg?itok=Xc5abFpS" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2812%29_7.jpg?itok=Xc5abFpS"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9786e26d-af12-4617-91ad-032be5cb1d23" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="266" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2812%29_7.jpg?itok=Xc5abFpS" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><strong>Washington is nervous because there have been zero leaks from the agency, a condition heretofore unknown in that haunted, pestiferous, reeking marsh.</strong> There’s plenty of the usual background noise, of course: the insectile hum, the croaking, trilling, buzzing, staccato peeps, chirps, and squeals of the squirming lesser creatures. . . the occasional roar of an ancient gator. . . the guttural cry of the night heron, the sharp yelp of some furry prey meeting its doom, the pulsating, primordial, chthonic cacophony of creatures suffering to mate in the frightful darkness. . . but that’s just the news media doing their thing.</p>

<p>We’ve remarked more than once here in recent weeks about the ominous silence emanating from the FBI leadership amidst all that other noise, and now you know: <strong>a mighty information dump is coming,</strong> bales of documents that Christopher Wray sat on for years will be publicly released un-redacted, spells will be broken, names will be named (with imputations of crimes committed), and abiding mysteries unraveled — like, what was the FBI actually doing around the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and much more.</p>

<p><strong>Prepare for some disappointment. Alas, most non-capital federal crimes (acts short of treason and murder) have a five-year statute of limitations (18 U.S.C. § 3282), so the multitudinous felonious misdeeds of RussiaGate will go unpunished. </strong>Stzrok, McCabe, Rosenstein, Pientka, Ohr (and wife Nellie), Thibault, Baker, Atkinson, Halper, Horowitz, Lynch, Yates, et al., will skate off into the sunset, but not without lasting reputational damage. Mr. Obama’s presidential aura will surely lose a lot of its luster.</p>

<p>But there is plenty to keep the DOJ busy with more recent turpitudes carried out with the election of “Joe Biden,” including perhaps the 2020 election itself in the months before November, 2025, when the statute of limitations kicks in for that caper. <strong>Mainly, what looms is a reckoning over “Joe Biden’s” fake presidency and the momentous question as to who was really running the executive branch of the government,</strong> most particularly who was using the devious “auto-pen” to sign off on executive orders and perhaps even on legislation.</p>

<p>It is a wonder of modern times that this affront to the public trust somehow remains an abiding mystery. <strong>But it shows just how fake Jake Tapper’s new book is</strong> — <em>Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again</em>. Jake blames the whole fiasco on “the White House” without ever stating who in that building was actually acting in “JB’s” place as shadow president. Tapper, allegedly a reporter, apparently never bothered to ask. But neither did anyone else at CNN, the other TV news networks, <em>The New York Times</em>, <em>The Washington Post</em>, <em>The Atlantic</em>, and every other outpost of OG journalism.</p>

<p><strong>Nor does Jake conclude the obvious: that his entire profession sold out the country to act as the Democratic Party’s damage control agency — rather than its traditional duty to act as a powerful check on corrupt, runaway government.</strong> Which is to say that the news media Jake represents is at least as corrupt as the government itself.</p>

<p>It’s for certain now, anyway, that we are going to find out exactly who was behind the fabled auto-pen, and it will probably turn out to be a cabal composed of Chiefs-of-Staff, Ron Klain and Jeffrey Zients, Dr. Jill, NSA Jake Sullivan, Deputy AG Lisa Monaco, Domestic Affairs advisor Susan Rice, and ultimately to some degree former President Obama, holed-up a few blocks away in his Kalorama mansion those four years of “Joe Biden’s” term in the oval office. Why wouldn’t Mr. Obama, now a private citizen, be called to some official forum, say a courtroom or a congressional committee, to answer questions about that? He’s not any sort of God with God-like privileges.</p>

<p><strong>What we’re just beginning to see now is a furious divorce struggle between the OG news outfits and the Democratic Party, both fighting for their very lives.</strong> They are both already mortally wounded, even as they turn on each other, and liable to drop dead in the onslaught behind whatever Patel &amp; Bongino fire at them in the weeks ahead. And even while all those RussiaGaters skate from out-of-date charges, plenty of other officials (and non-officials, like the lawfare ninjas, Eisen, Elias, and Weissmann) could go down for what went on since inauguration day, 2021.</p>

<p>Then there is Ed Martin, lately tossed aside as US attorney for the DC district, doing an adroit lateral arabesque into Main Justice as (simultaneously) the US Pardons Attorney, Director of the Weaponization Working Group, and Associate Deputy Attorney General. We are going to find out whether any of those preemptive pardons signed with the auto-pen in the last hours of “Joe Biden’s” presidency have legal credence. They include the pardons issued for the whole House J-6 investigation committee. House members are not immune from prosecution for crimes committed in connection with their official duties. That means you, Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Jamie Raskin, and Bennie Thompson.</p>

<p>And so, also amidst all that deafening noise roaring across The Swamp, we get the sad news over the weekend that former president, now plain citizen Joe Biden, has got aggressive Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer spreading into his very bones.<strong> Strange to relate, this is one of the very “turbo-cancers” said to be induced by the Covid-19 mRNA “vaccine” shots that “JB” exhorted Americans to take — and supposedly submitted to himself. What can you say, besides boo-hoo?</strong></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T20:20:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 16:20</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/entire-profession-sold-out-country-act-democrats-damage-control-agency


guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747685733
title: Trump tries to jump start peace talks with calls to Zelenskyy, Putin
content: US President Donald Trump spoke with the leaders of both Ukraine and Russia in back-to-back calls.
hash: �yQ�s��!���
tags: #Show Types
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2025/5/19/trump-tries-to-jump-start-peace-talks-with-calls-to-zelenskyy-putin?traffic_source=rss


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308143
title: Trump approval rating holds steady as concerns over economy ease: Poll
author: ;Jared Gans
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5308143-trump-approval-rating-economy-tariffs/
hash: �?�� �P>M]6X|��
content:
President Trump’s approval rating held steady in the latest Harvard CAPS/Harris poll as economic concerns have ticked down a bit.  The poll released Monday showed Trump’s approval rating at 47 percent, just 1 point down from where it was last month. His disapproval rating reached 48 percent, the first time since Trump returned to office…

tags:
#Administration #News #State Watch #economic anxiety #Harvard CAPS/Harris poll #Trump approval rating #Trump tariff policy

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307671
title: Trump signs bill cracking down on deepfake revenge porn
author: ;Miranda Nazzaro
link: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5307671-trump-signs-bill-criminalizing-deepfake-revenge-porn/
hash: 9e:D��/7�$Ur�
tags: #Administration #In The Know #Technology
content:
President Trump signed a bill on Monday criminalizing the publication of nonconsensual sexually explicit “deepfake” images and videos online, marking the first major technology safety bill signed during his second term. The president touted the bill as the “first ever federal law to combat the distribution of explicit imagery posted without subjects’ consent.” “With the…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308127
title: Almost 2 in 3 fear recession is coming: Survey
author: ;Sarah Fortinsky
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5308127-recession-concerns-among-americans/
hash: ?��/b��ݢ�d���
tags: #Administration #Economy #News #State Watch #Recession
content:
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they think a recession is coming, according to a new survey from LendingTree. In the survey, conducted in April, 47 percent of respondents say they think a recession is coming in the next six months, while 15 percent say they think a recession is coming “but not in the next…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308135
title: Voter optimism ticks up on direction of country
author: ;Julia Mueller
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5308135-voter-optimism-country-direction-tick/
hash: ~��9�4�(�ei�
tags: #Administration #News #State Watch
content:
Voter optimism on the direction of the country has ticked up in new polling, signaling attitudes may be bouncing back after President Trump’s controversial tariff moves roiled global markets. A new Harvard CAPS/Harris survey found 42 percent of voters said the country is on the right track, up 3 points from last month and 16…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308083
title: Warren warns against stablecoin bill ahead of floor vote
author: ;Julia Shapero
link: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5308083-warren-stablecoin-bill-trump-crypto/
hash: ���G~;+�\�x��A
tags: #Business #Technology #crypto #GENIUS ACT #stablecoins
content:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is urging her colleagues to vote down updated stablecoin legislation, arguing it fails to sufficiently address concerns related to President Trump’s crypto ties and leaves financial markets and consumers vulnerable.   The GENIUS Act, which would create a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, is expected to head to the Senate floor…

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guid: 1031851 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Script Flipped: Shock Cancer Diagnosis Wipes Biden Autopen-Presidency From Headlines
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: ��u�6T뚫q��K2
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Script Flipped: Shock Cancer Diagnosis Wipes Biden Autopen-Presidency From Headlines</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Former President Biden's <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-diagnosed-aggressive-stage-iv-prostate-cancer">shock cancer diagnosis</a> strains credulity, while conveniently wiping the headlines over the fact that he was essentially a vegetable during his presidency - begging the obvious question of 'who was actually in charge?'</p>

<p><strong><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Biden_5_jpg_92.jpg?itok=n9IWrZbe" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Biden_5_jpg_92.jpg?itok=n9IWrZbe"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c0933e12-22ba-4dd1-a8de-e7aff16eb0c2" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Biden_5_jpg_92.jpg?itok=n9IWrZbe" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></strong></p>

<p>A few weeks ago, many in the mainstream media began framing a half-assed mea culpa over their coverage of Biden's obvious mental decline. We suspect they knew that Axios would be dropping the <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-hur-tape-drops-and-boy-it-rough">Biden-Hur tape</a> - a recording of Joe Biden's October 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur over his mishandling of classified information. Biden couldn't remember key details, such as <strong>when his son Beau died, when he left office as vice president, what year Donald Trump was elected, and why he had classified documents in his possession that he shouldn't have had.</strong></p>

<p>The obvious conclusion is that <strong>Biden wasn't actually running the country</strong>, and his aides <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-autopen-use-increased-cognitive-decline-deepened-analysis-finds">were using the 'autopen'</a> to execute on official actions, <strong>raising questions over the legality of executive actions taken during the last administration. </strong></p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Tapper says here that the footage of Biden freezing on stage was not a "Cheap fake". Exact words.<br><br>
Okay so when he does he pull Brian Stelter on his show and ask him why he called it that, echoing the White house? When does the media pull Karine Jean-Pierre out of hiding and ask… <a href="https://t.co/D0JaXwKv65">https://t.co/D0JaXwKv65</a></p>
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1923428493230211301?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">So is the GOP Congress going to start issuing subpoenas and deposing witnesses to determine who was illegally signing presidential orders while Biden’s medical condition was being hidden, or nah?<br><br>
Seems like we should know if “Biden’s” SCOTUS pick was actually valid or not.</p>
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1924460084781867470?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>

<h2>Questionable Timing</h2>

<p>And so, <strong>assuming insiders knew Axios was about to drop the Biden-Hur tape(s), </strong>one would be right to question the timing of a tidbit of news released six days ago - that a 'small nodule' was found in 82-year-old Biden's prostate after a "routine physical exam," which five days later was revealed as <strong>aggressive stage IV prostate cancer that had fully spread to his bones. </strong></p>

<p>Right on cue is David Axelrod, who insists the media "should be more muted and set aside for now as he’s struggling through this."</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">🚨CNN tees up David Axelrod to say that conversations about Biden’s cognitive issues “should be more muted and set aside for now as he’s struggling through this.”<br><br>
Here we go. <a href="https://t.co/fteQnPeGIk">pic.twitter.com/fteQnPeGIk</a></p>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1924266629132591464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>And while the 'autopen' controversy has successfully been upstaged by this unbelievably-timed cancer diagnosis, <strong>experts are calling bullshit. </strong></p>

<p><strong><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/GrQ4f9wXMAAe2w5_92.jpg?itok=M727TbF2" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/GrQ4f9wXMAAe2w5_92.jpg?itok=M727TbF2"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1bd1d369-6c39-4013-9d01-5c6c75c422ea" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="577" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/GrQ4f9wXMAAe2w5_92.jpg?itok=M727TbF2" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></strong></p>

<p>For starters, how could the President of the United States' <a href="https://x.com/drdrew/status/1924233458978808190">ostensibly qualified medical team</a> have missed a cancer that typically takes years to metastasize into the bone?</p>

<p><strong>On Monday, Dr. Zeke Emanuel</strong> (brother of Democrat operative Rahm Emanuel - Biden's Ambassador to Japan) appeared on MSNBC, where he said that Biden "did not develop it in the last, 100, 200 days. He had it while he was President. He probably had it at the start of his presidency, in 2021."</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">🚨Dr Zeke Emanuel on MSNBC: Biden had cancer while President:<br><br>
"He did not develop it in the last, 100, 200 days. He had it while he was President. He probably had it at the start of his presidency, in 2021."<br><br>
"I don't think there's any disagreement about that." <a href="https://t.co/Vd87jgXvFO">pic.twitter.com/Vd87jgXvFO</a></p>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1924436167333744982?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>Former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson chimed in - saying "The truth is, his physician was more concerned about assisting with the political cover up than providing world class medical care," adding "Sad and unfortunate and I wish the former President the best in his treatment of this cancer. Care at the White House should be second to none. <strong>Unbelievable this was missed...</strong>"</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Sad and unfortunate and I wish the former President the best in his treatment of this cancer. Care at the White House should be second to none. Unbelievable this was missed, but the truth is, his physician was more concerned about assisting with the political cover up than…</p>
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonnyJacksonTX/status/1924215049406578936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>So, obviously, <strong>the Biden team has been lying their asses off for quite some time. </strong>The question is whether it even matters if nothing will be done.</p>

<p>*  *  *</p>

<p><strong><em><a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/anza-knives-1/?utm_source=zerohedge.com&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=store_promo">Anza Knives</a> are made in the USA! </em></strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/rosewood-big-bowie/?utm_source=zerohedge.com&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=store_promo" data-image-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/rosewood-big-bowie/?utm_source=zerohedge.com&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=store_promo" data-link-option="2" href="https://store.zerohedge.com/rosewood-big-bowie/?utm_source=zerohedge.com&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=store_promo"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="13305bd8-f402-4c21-bbff-faea0a378440" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="285" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/big%20bowie1.png?itok=kBILhB_M" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><em>Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back, lifetime guarantee. And if you're looking for a great daily carry, <a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/swat-micarta-blued/?utm_source=zerohedge.com&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=store_promo"><strong>check this one out</strong></a>.</em></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T20:40:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 16:40</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/script-flipped-shock-cancer-diagnosis-wipes-biden-autopen-presidency-headlines


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308256
title: First Trump $1,000 ‘self-deport’ flight conducted by DHS
author: ;Rebecca Beitsch
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5308256-dhs-self-deportation-migrant-charter-flight/
hash: ��(!X�t��:��
tags: #Administration #News
content:
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has conducted its first charter flight for migrants who agreed to “self-deport” after starting a program to give those voluntarily leaving the country a $1,000 stipend. The flight took 64 citizens of Colombia and Honduras to their home country. “This was a voluntary charter flight, not an ICE enforcement…

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/AP25128545528666-e1747245137736.jpg?w=900","type":"image/jpeg","length":7400931}]}


guid: 1031875 at https://www.zerohedge.com
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: ���ݷ�P�X� uH0a�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
title:
Bessent Warns Tariffs Will Go Back Up For Nations That Do Not Negotiate In 'Good Faith', Doesn't "Put Much Credence" In Moody's Downgrade

content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bessent Warns Tariffs Will Go Back Up For Nations That Do Not Negotiate In 'Good Faith', Doesn't "Put Much Credence" In Moody's Downgrade</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/business/bessent-warns-tariffs-will-go-back-up-for-nations-that-do-not-negotiate-in-good-faith-5859800?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge"><em>Authored by Aldgra Fredly and Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on May 18 that reciprocal tariffs could return to the levels set by President Donald Trump on April 2 if trading partners don’t negotiate in good faith.</strong></p>

<p>On April 2, Trump <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-tells-americans-to-hang-tough-amid-tariff-turbulence-promises-historic-outcome-5837348?ea_src=author_manual&amp;ea_med=related_stories">announced</a> a minimum 10 percent tariff on nearly all imports, with higher levies on roughly 60 nations labeled as the “worst offenders” in trade imbalances with the United States as part of an effort to close trade deficits. </p>

<p>He subsequently granted a 90-day pause to most countries to allow time for negotiations, while maintaining a baseline 10 percent tariff.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image%20%2813%29_8.jpg?itok=LWL45VSP" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image%20%2813%29_8.jpg?itok=LWL45VSP"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="8d30f4a0-28c5-488d-a22c-2e5717624cfe" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%20%2813%29_8.jpg?itok=LWL45VSP" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bessent said that the final tariff rate would depend on whether trading partners are willing to engage in good-faith negotiations on trade deals.</p>

<p><em><strong>“Some countries were at 10 percent, some were substantially higher,” </strong></em>he said.<em><strong> “And the negotiating leverage that President Trump is talking about here is if you don’t want to negotiate, then it will spring back to the April 2 level.”</strong></em></p>

<p>Those who fail to negotiate in good faith will receive a letter notifying them of the tariff they will face, Bessent said.</p>

<p><em><strong>“This means that they’re not negotiating in good faith,”</strong></em> he added. <em><strong>“So I would expect that everyone would come and negotiate in good faith.”</strong></em></p>

<p>His remarks followed Trump’s May 16 <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/business/trump-says-us-will-set-new-tariff-rates-for-more-nations-within-weeks-5858951">announcement</a> that Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will start sending letters in the coming weeks to trade partners outlining the tariffs that will be applied to their goods.</p>

<p><em><strong>“I guess you could say they could appeal it, but for the most part, I think we’re going to be very fair,” </strong></em>Trump said during an event in the United Arab Emirates on May 16.</p>

<h2><strong>Trade Talks</strong></h2>

<p><strong>Several nations, including India and South Korea, have engaged in trade talks with the United States in recent months to avert Trump’s tariff hikes before the pause ends.</strong></p>

<p>Earlier this month, Trump<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-announces-full-and-comprehensive-trade-agreement-with-uk-5854353"> announced</a> that he had reached a trade agreement with the United Kingdom and that it would be a “great deal for both countries.”</p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>“The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers,” he said at a press conference in the Oval Office on May 8.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Trump said the UK would be “fast-tracking American goods through their customs process” and that “there won’t be any red tape, things are going to move very quickly both ways.”</p>

<p>Under the deal, U.S. tariffs on British cars fall to 10 percent for the first 100,000 vehicles imported, and tariffs on steel are scrapped completely.</p>

<p><strong>Trump <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/trump-says-india-willing-to-offer-us-zero-tariffs-india-says-nothing-decided-yet-5858859">announced</a> last week that India has offered a zero-tariff trade deal with the United States, though no final decision has been made yet.</strong></p>

<p>Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has emphasized that any trade agreement with the United States must be “mutually beneficial” and serve the interests of both nations.</p>

<p>India has reduced duties on some U.S. products such as bourbon whiskey, motorcycles, information and communication technology products, and metals, while also enhancing market access for U.S. agricultural products and medical devices to secure a trade deal with the United States, according to a Feb. 13 joint <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/02/united-states-india-joint-leaders-statement/">statement</a>.</p>

<p><strong>On May 12, Trump reduced the tariff on Chinese imports to 30 percent after reaching an agreement with China to pause their trade measures. </strong>In turn, China’s rate will be cut by 115 percentage points to 10 percent, and Beijing will lift its countermeasures.</p>

<p>Prior to the agreement, China responded to U.S. tariffs on it with tariffs of its own, causing a back-and-forth that resulted in U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports topping out at 145 percent.</p>

<h2><strong>Moody's Downgrade</strong></h2>

<p><strong>Additionally, Treasury Secretary Bessent said on May 18 that he is not worried about Moody’s recent downgrade of the United States’ Aaa credit rating to Aa1, and defended President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his sweeping tax cut bill.</strong></p>

<p>Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union with Jake Tapper” on May 18, Bessent said Trump’s bill, which would extend the 2017 tax cuts under the president’s first term, would surge a level of economic growth.</p>

<p><strong>Bessent said that growing the economy faster is more important than “the potential growth of the debt.”</strong></p>

<p>“So we’ve been trying to bring down the spending, and we are going to grow the revenue side. So we are going to grow the [gross domestic product] faster than the debt grows, and that will stabilize the debt-to-GDP [ratio],” he said.</p>

<p>Some Republican lawmakers are concerned that the bill does not do enough to address the growing debt. The United States currently owes $36.2 trillion.</p>

<p>The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget <a href="https://www.crfb.org/blogs/house-reconciliation-bill-would-massively-increase-near-term-deficits">projects</a> that the current bill would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt, including interest, or “$5.2 trillion if its temporary provisions are made permanent.”</p>

<p>On May 16, Moody’s Ratings <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/moodys-strips-us-of-final-aaa-rating-over-rising-debt-interest-costs-5859204">downgraded</a> the United States’ long-term credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, citing sustained rising debt, growing interest payments, and a lack of political action to rein in chronic budget deficits.</p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>“Successive US administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs,” it said in its May 16 statement.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Bessent said on May 18 that he does not “put much credence” in the Moody’s downgrade.</p>

<p><em><strong>“[In] the history of rating agencies, by the time they get to a downgrade, everything’s already in the market,”</strong> he said.</em></p>

<p><em>“What I think is important is that President Trump has just come back from this historic Middle East trip, and there’s trillions of dollars coming into the U.S. So we are seeing confidence from investors.”</em></p>

<p><strong>The move stripped the nation of its last perfect credit rating among the three major agencies.</strong></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T21:00:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 17:00</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bessent-warns-tariffs-will-go-back-nations-do-not-negotiate-good-faith-doesnt-put-much


guid: yt:video:wyuPde_R3UM
title: Mainstream Media Doesn't Want You to See These Videos of Actions in Support of Palestine
author: ;The LaRouche Organization
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyuPde_R3UM
hash: ��1*L.���$�&��
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/wyuPde_R3UM?version=3","title":"Mainstream Media Doesn't Want You to See These Videos of Actions in Support of Palestine","description":"Mainstream Media Doesn't Want You to See These Videos of Actions in Support of Palestine\n\nIt was Major weekend of actions for Palestine, taking place on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Israel in 1948, when ¾ million Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their land or fled, and thousands killed in massacres. \nThese actions were all over the world, and were incredibly important. We’re presenting several videos here, to make sure they are seen, as we organize towards the upcoming UN conference on the two-state mandate for Gaza and a reconstruction plan for the region.\n\nFirst, at yesterday’s graduation at George Washington University in Washington DC, commencement speaker Cecilia Culver's called out Israeli genocide\n\nAlso yesterday, Israeli and Palestinian civilians marched to the Gaza border to protest attacks and demand ceasefire. Here’s a statement from one of those on the march.\n\nThere were major demonstrations over the weekend in many cities around the world. In London, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, and Washington DC. We have here two videos:\n\nFirst, 100k people gathered yesterday at The Hague in the Netherlands, a hub of international law and diplomacy. You’ll see a sea of red shirts : \nProtesters walked a 3-mile (5-kilometer) loop around the city center of The Hague, to symbolically create the red line against genocide.\n\nAnd then we will go right to New Haven, Connecticut, where Schiller Institute activist Ben Wesley participated in a Pro-Palestine rally. Wesley was organizing for the LaRouche Oasis Plan for economic development and for dialogue!\n\n\n\nLinks to these videos &quot;stand-alone&quot; for you to share!\n\nFacebook\nHague\nhttps://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1221150239412087\n\nActivist Ben Wesley at a Pro-Palestine rally today in New Haven, Connecticut https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AgoP2ALTT/\n\n\nIsraeli and Palestinian civilians marched to the Gaza border\nhttps://www.facebook.com/share/v/12Jz8aWACAU/?mibextid=wwXIfr\n\nCecilia Culver's GW commencement speech called out Israeli genocide\nhttps://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DceKheNEx/?mibextid=wwXIfr\n\nX\nCecilia Culver's commencement speech at GW University.\n\nHague protests\nhttps://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/1924164411775914122\n\n\nInstagram\nhttps://www.instagram.com/reel/DJzetTLBQNB/\n\n\n\n✅Become a member of the LaRouche Organization ➜ https://laroucheorganization.nationbuilder.com/tlo-membership \n\n✅ Subscribe to EIR News Service ➜ https://eir.news\n\n💥 Follow us on: \nYouTube ➜ https://www.youtube.com/@LaRoucheOrganization\nTwitter ➜ https://twitter.com/HarleySchlanger\nFacebook➜  https://www.facebook.com/LaRoucheOrg\n\n📖 Read the Collected Works of Lyndon LaRouche 👉🏻 https://www.larouchelegacyfoundation.org/collected-works\n\n🚀Donate to the LaRouche Organization ➡ https://laroucheorganization.nationbuilder.com/donate 🚀","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/wyuPde_R3UM/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: yt:video:q_h3Qj4vUXM
title: In this Time of Great Turbulence — Join the Schiller Institute Conference this Weekend
author: ;Diane Sare
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_h3Qj4vUXM
hash: �5H�Q_O��0�~� �(
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/q_h3Qj4vUXM?version=3","title":"In this Time of Great Turbulence — Join the Schiller Institute Conference this Weekend","description":"Don't miss the Schiller Institute conference this Saturday and Sunday, May 24-25! LIVE ONLINE at https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2025/03/01/conference-invitation/","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/q_h3Qj4vUXM/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: yt:video:cSY5bfeVKCo
title: In this Time of Great Turbulence — Join the Schiller Institute Conference this Weekend
author: ;The LaRouche Organization
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSY5bfeVKCo
hash: �����O���۹�
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/cSY5bfeVKCo?version=3","title":"In this Time of Great Turbulence — Join the Schiller Institute Conference this Weekend","description":"Don't miss the Schiller Institute conference this Saturday and Sunday, May 24-25! LIVE ONLINE at https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2025/03/01/conference-invitation/","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/cSY5bfeVKCo/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: 1031880 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: A Third Of Russell 3000 Energy Companies Trade Below Book Value
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/third-russell-3000-energy-companies-trade-below-book-value
hash: F�z+8��MtHcH0d
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">A Third Of Russell 3000 Energy Companies Trade Below Book Value</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Looking at Berkshire's mindblowing $350 billion cash stash...</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/berkshire%20cash%20q1%202025_2.jpg?itok=YgEFJ-mF" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/berkshire%20cash%20q1%202025_2.jpg?itok=YgEFJ-mF"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="719217ec-edf2-40cb-ba75-9e90144c43ae" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="301" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/berkshire%20cash%20q1%202025_2.jpg?itok=YgEFJ-mF" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>... one would think that there is nothing in the market that a value investor would find attractive. One would be wrong: <strong>almost half of all mid- and small-cap oil and gas stocks in the US are now trading below their book values. </strong>That’s the highest level since the pandemic. And according to Bloomberg, it’s a gift for value investors worshiping the gospel of Warren Buffett and his mentor Ben Graham, who referred to these kinds of opportunities as “cigar butts.”</p>

<p><strong>“We’re going to take advantage of a lot of suckers,” </strong>said Cole Smead, CEO of Smead Capital Management, who has been buying additional oil and gas stocks that are trading well below book.</p>

<p>Energy has been the second-worst performing sector in the S&amp;P 500 in Q2, losing roughly 10% since President Donald Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement, as oil prices tumble due to fears of global trade wars sparking economic slowdowns and OPEC member countries boosting production to increase supply. Two weeks ago, West Texas Intermediate crude fell to around $55 a barrel, a level it touched in April and before that February 2021. It has rebounded only modestly since then and remains down about 15% for the year.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/energy%20trading%20below%20book.jpg?itok=JUHxfnrh" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/energy%20trading%20below%20book.jpg?itok=JUHxfnrh"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ff507aa0-9fd8-43d3-bbb7-69af54792c3d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="309" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/energy%20trading%20below%20book.jpg?itok=JUHxfnrh" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Today, shares of oil and gas companies such as Murphy Oil, Crescent Energy and Noble Corp., are <strong>trading for less than what the assets on their books are worth. </strong>That’s the classic definition of value investing, where the stock is priced at less than what the business would be worth if it was stripped and sold for parts. </p>

<p>At this point, 33% of Russell 3000 energy stocks are trading below their book values. The figure rose as high as 40% late last week, before the US and China agreed to a 90-day trade truce, which gave a slight boost to oil prices and energy stocks. <strong>The last time this happened, it preceded off a two-year run in 2021 and 2022 when energy trounced the market and was the top-performing sector.</strong></p>

<p>A similar proportion of large- and small- Canadian oil and gas stocks have also fallen into the same range, Bloomberg calcualtes. </p>

<p>Smead, who is invested on both sides of the border, thinks the stocks are undervalued and poised to at least return to book value, and likely more. “I don’t need to have a rosy picture” for the energy outlook to make money trading energy stocks, Smead said.</p>

<p>Smead isn’t alone in buying energy names cheap. A handful of cash rich oil and gas companies have indicated they’ll repurchase their stock if it has sold off sharply. Cenovus Energy bought back C$62 million ($44 million) of its own shares in the first quarter and has nearly tripled that to C$178 million in the second quarter so far.</p>

<p><strong>“The smartest capital allocation today is to repurchase shares”</strong> rather than paying down debt, Diamondback Energy CEO Travis Stice said on a May 6 conference call. “Buybacks are the right thing at these levels” as crude prices have slipped, Stice said, adding that he expects the Texas-based oil producer to increase its stock repurchase program.</p>

<p>Not everyone will be able to take advantage of their cheaper stock price as they don’t have the available cash. Chevron , for instance, said it will cut buybacks in the second quarter following the drop in crude. It's bigger, and higher quality peer, Exxon, however, continues to repurchase its stock with clockwork regularity as it print money quarter after quarter.</p>

<p>Then there is also a debate about how best to value oil and gas producers. BMO Capital Markets analyst Jeremy McCrea says book value isn’t a useful measurement for the energy sector since it can change quickly and dramatically with commodity prices. He prefers cash flow, Ebitda and reserve values, but says the stocks still are cheap based on those metrics.</p>

<p>“Typically, the best times to invest in the energy sector are when it feels the most uncomfortable,” McCrea said. “And it’s pretty uncomfortable right now just given this uncertainty. That’s historically some of the better times to come into the market.”</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T21:20:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 17:20</span>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308090
title: Trump team tries to thread needle on Biden criticism after cancer news
author: ;Alex Gangitano
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5308090-trump-biden-prostate-cancer-criticism/
hash: �S�x�vА3���l��
content:
President Trump and his allies are trying to thread the needle as they take digs at former President Biden’s fitness for office in the wake of his prostate cancer diagnosis. Biden’s diagnosis comes as a forthcoming book, due Tuesday, is shining a spotlight on his health and painting a dim picture of quick aging. Trump often bashes…

tags:
#Administration #News #Cancer #Cancer diagnosis #Donald Trump (U.S. president) #Joe Biden (U.S. president) #prostate cancer

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{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/11/trump_biden_oval_transition.jpg?w=900","type":"image/jpeg","length":208939}]}


guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5698504
author: ;Brenda Baletti
hash: �����G�#���T
tags: #Francais @fr #Mobile
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
title:
« Ramener le bacon à la maison »: La FDA approuve le projet d’une société biotechnologique britannique de produire des porcs génétiquement modifiés pour les consommateurs américains

content:
Les défenseurs des porcs génétiquement modifiés affirment que les producteurs de porcs industriels n'auront pas besoin d'utiliser autant d'antibiotiques, car les animaux seront plus résistants aux maladies. Toutefois, les critiques s'inquiètent des effets non désirés de cette technologie.

link:
https://www.mondialisation.ca/ramener-le-bacon-a-la-maison-la-fda-approuve-le-projet-dune-societe-biotechnologique-britannique-de-produire-des-porcs-genetiquement-modifies-pour-les-consommateurs-americains/5698504


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307989/
title: Ashli Babbitt’s family to get nearly $5M in government settlement: Reports
author: ;Jeremy Tanner
hash: f����� �V3�.�p�
tags: #Administration #National Security
content:
The U.S. government has agreed to pay nearly $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, the Jan. 6 rioter who was fatally shot by police during the 2021 attack on the Capitol, according to multiple reports.

link:
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/5307989-ashli-babbitt-family-government-settlement-jan-6-capitol-riot/

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guid: 1031915 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Top FDA Official Discloses She Never Received COVID-19 Vaccine
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/top-fda-official-discloses-she-never-received-covid-19-vaccine
hash: � �_��F���pP�S�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Top FDA Official Discloses She Never Received COVID-19 Vaccine</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><em><a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/top-fda-official-says-she-never-received-a-covid-19-vaccine-5859037">Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times</a> (emphasis ours),</em></p>

<p><strong>A top Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official said on May 15 that she never took a COVID-19 vaccine due to concerns about biodistribution.</strong></p>

<p>Dr. Sara Brenner, the FDA’s principal deputy commissioner, said during an event in Washington that she did not receive any of the COVID-19 vaccines.</p>
<a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%2854%29_0.jpg?itok=2QS59Ctv" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%2854%29_0.jpg?itok=2QS59Ctv"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d28450d1-3c67-40c8-99fd-c87c7fa9fa96" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image_92%2854%29_0.jpg?itok=2QS59Ctv" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption><em>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in White Oak, Md., on June 5, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times</em></figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p>Brenner said that she was pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>

<p>“<strong>It was unknown at the time what the biodistribution patterns of those products were, and in my case, in particular, what the excretion would be in breast milk</strong>,” Brenner said. “That was my primary concern, and that exposure I was very concerned about.”</p>

<p>When asked whether the information that has emerged since then validates her choice, Brenner, who said she was not speaking on behalf of the FDA, said she thinks it does.</p>

<p>Researchers <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2796427">reported</a> in a 2022 paper that <strong>messenger ribonucleic acid, which is in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 shots, was detected in human breast milk.</strong> Another paper, <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/scientists-detect-mrna-in-breast-milk-of-70-percent-of-women-following-covid-19-vaccination-5497661">in 2023</a>, detailed similar findings.</p>

<p>Pfizer and Moderna did not return requests for comment.</p>

<p>Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA’s commissioner, has been critical of COVID-19 vaccine boosters. He has indicated that he received a primary series of one of the vaccines.</p>

<p>About 81 percent of the U.S. population received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of the spring of 2023, according to federal data.</p>

<p><strong>Brenner was speaking at an event held by a new group that is seeking to help influence officials such as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and their promotion of an agenda dubbed Make America Healthy Again (MAHA).</strong> The group is called the MAHA Institute.</p>

<p>The comments came on the same day a health official confirmed to <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/hhs-to-stop-recommending-routine-covid-vaccination-for-children-pregnant-women-5858680">The Epoch Times</a> that officials will stop recommending routine COVID-19 vaccination for youth and pregnant women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which, like the FDA, is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, currently recommends that people aged 6 months and older receive at least one dose of the currently available vaccines.</p>

<p>Brenner, who has trained as a preventative medicine doctor and has expertise in nanotechnology, has been with the FDA since the first Trump administration. She was the agency’s chief medical officer for diagnostics during the pandemic and was detailed to support White House efforts to respond to COVID-19 while Joe Biden was president.</p>

<p>Brenner recalled conducting toxicology research while in school, including examining biodistribution. She said that an important part of medicine is looking at the unintended effects, also known as adverse events or side effects. She also said she knew that the lipid nanoparticles used to deliver mRNA in the COVID-19 vaccines could result in unintended effects.</p>

<p><strong>Brenner referred to previous years in the government as a dark time, but described the present day as a new dawn, with fresh leaders such as Kennedy in place.</strong></p>

<p>“We’re moving very quickly to make it such that there will be more transparency, more available data and information, so that people ... can see and evaluate for themselves sort of what the truths are and what’s known and unknown,” she said. “And I'll go ahead and put it that way, because one of the biggest misses, I think, in the previous several years is that there was no acknowledgement of what was unknown, right? There was there were only statements and assertions that were really more like beliefs or things that were desired to be true than they were true knowns.”</p>

<p>Brenner said that a key part of regaining trust from the public is being honest and transparent. She also said she believes that the vast majority of government workers are good people who want to serve their country and try to do their best, and that it will take a long time to figure out how events unfolded during the pandemic.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T21:40:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 17:40</span>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308322
title: Trump questions why Biden’s cancer wasn’t caught sooner
author: ;Brett Samuels
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5308322-trump-joe-biden-prostate-cancer/
hash: ��0�&�@L/�u���(
tags: #Administration #Health Care
content:
President Trump on Monday questioned why former President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis was not caught and disclosed sooner. “I think it’s very sad, actually. I’m surprised that it wasn’t, you know, the public wasn’t notified a long time ago,” Trump said of his predecessor’s diagnosis, which was publicized on Sunday. Trump called a prostate test…

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guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747689084
title: El Salvador arrests prominent human rights lawyer who defends deportees
hash: h�%�2Y�� {��WZމ
tags: #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
Ruth Eleonora López has defended Venezuelan immigrants deported to El Salvador by US President Trump's administration.

link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/19/el-salvador-arrests-prominent-human-rights-lawyer-who-defends-deportees?traffic_source=rss


guid: 1031832 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Vance Abruptly Cancels Israel Visit As IDF Expands Gaza Operations
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: ���i��,���5���
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Vance Abruptly Cancels Israel Visit As IDF Expands Gaza Operations</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>More friction between Israel and the United States has come to light Monday as Vice President JD Vance has canceled a planned official trip to Israel due to the expansion of Israel's military operation in Gaza, according to a senior US official cited in <em>Axios</em>.</p>

<p>The report <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/19/vance-skip-israel-visit-gaza-operation">emphasizes</a> that "The US official said Vance made the decision because <strong>he didn't want his trip to suggest the Trump administration endorsed the Israeli decision to launch a massive operation</strong> at a time when the U.S. is pushing for a ceasefire and hostage deal."</p>
<a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/vanceinrome.jpg?itok=UiAbEuAB" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/vanceinrome.jpg?itok=UiAbEuAB"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fd0872fa-395a-4d20-baeb-76fc7f2deba6" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/vanceinrome.jpg?itok=UiAbEuAB" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption><em>VP Vance in Rome. AFP/Getty Images</em></figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p>Still, Vance sought to downplay this as purely a political pressure move or strong signaling to Israel by saying it comes down to "logistical" issues.</p>

<p>"Logistically, it was just a little bit too hard on basic things like, <strong>who the hell is going to take care of our kids if we take another couple of days overseas?</strong>" he said Monday in response to a question about the trip. "I’m sure we’ll visit Israel sometime in the future, but not today," Vance added. The question of childcare or babysitting is certainly an unexpected reason or explanation, or dubious.</p>

<p>Starting Friday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced an expanded mobilization of troops for operation 'Gideon's Chariots'. Some two million Palestinians are <strong>expected to be forced into a "humanitarian zone" </strong>while most of the enclave is destroyed and flattened.</p>

<p>The policy somewhat contradicts Trump's main messaging during last week's Gulf tour, wherein he emphasized peace through deal-making, and not 'chaos' in the war-torn Middle East. </p>

<p>According to a timeline of the Vance trip cancellation issued by <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/19/vance-skip-israel-visit-gaza-operation">Axios</a>:</p>

<ul><li><em>Additional discussions took place on Sunday between U.S. and Israeli officials to prepare for Vance's visit. Reports soon popped up in the Israeli press that Vance might arrive on Tuesday.</em></li>
	<li><em>Several hours later, a White House official denied the reports in a statement to reporters traveling with the VP. "While the Secret Service has engaged in contingency planning for the addition of several potential countries, no additional visits were at any point decided upon, and <strong>logistical constraints have precluded an extension of his travel beyond Rome. He will return to Washington on Monday</strong>."</em></li>
</ul><p>In the White House press briefing room Monday morning, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to a question by <em>ZeroHedge</em> by saying President Trump <strong>"has made it very clear he wants to see this conflict in the region end."</strong></p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">The good news I suppose is that the right decison was made not to send Vance as it would have validated Israel's expanded ground op. The bad news is the Trump Administration isn't pressing Israel to rethink a campaign Witkoff reportedly described as Israel's pointless war. <a href="https://t.co/hb4IZ4WQk2">https://t.co/hb4IZ4WQk2</a></p>
— Aaron David Miller (@aarondmiller2) <a href="https://twitter.com/aarondmiller2/status/1924468177305567361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>"The president is moving as quickly as he possibly can and working overtime to end these conflicts in both Israel and Gaza and also the Russia-Ukraine war," Leavitt added. "The president made it very clear to Hamas that he wanted to see all hostages released."</p>

<p>Several reports earlier this month pointed to severely strained ties between Trump and Netanyahu; however, the US president has since sought to downplay this. Yet Vance abruptly canceling his Israel trip certainly points to trouble between Washington and Tel Aviv.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T22:00:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 18:00</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/vance-abruptly-cancels-israel-visit-idf-expands-gaza-operations


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5307475
title: Watch: Trump attends Kennedy Center board dinner
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5307475-watch-live-trump-kennedy-center-board-dinner/
hash: �7}�p��,]�7���k
tags: #Administration #News
content:
President Trump participated in a Kennedy Center board dinner on Monday evening. Trump declared in February ousted multiple Kennedy Center board members, making himself the chair of a new board. Later that month, one of his first-term appointees to the board floated a Jacqueline Kennedy-centered fashion show, an associated marina and potentially even franchising the institution.…

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guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5698699
title: Augustin et Donat: l’âme amazigh algérienne au service de la Justice
author: ;Chems Eddine Chitour
hash: ���2�P��y��C�
tags: #Francais @fr
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p><i>« Ils traitent<span data-sanitized-class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>les Algériens de Bougnoules oubliant qu’en cela<span data-sanitized-class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Saint Augustin le maitre incontesté de l’Occident , en serait aussi . Quelle ignorance ! »<span data-sanitized-class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></p>
<p><strong>François Mauriac</strong><i><strong>, </strong>Prix Nobel</i></p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Le 8 mai 2025, le conclave a élu …</p>

link:
https://www.mondialisation.ca/augustin-et-donat-lame-amazigh-algerienne-au-service-de-la-justice/5698699


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308391
title: What to know about Pennsylvania’s primary elections Tuesday
author: ;Jared Gans
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5308391-pennsylvania-voters-primary-elections/
hash: ��Tj��(uT{T�W�
tags: #Campaign #State Watch
content:
Voters are heading to the polls in Pennsylvania on Tuesday for a few hotly contested primaries that could indicate the direction some want for the Democratic Party following its losses in November.  The most notable elections are taking place in the state’s two largest cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Both are battles between progressive incumbents and…

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guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5698672
title: Tout cela va se terminer dans l’autodestruction
author: ;Dominique Muselet
link: https://www.mondialisation.ca/tout-cela-va-se-terminer-dans-lautodestruction/5698672
hash: �ǟ� $"�}l���s9
tags: #Francais @fr #Mobile
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p><strong>Nicolas Bonnal</strong> note dans un de ses derniers articles, <em><a href="https://www.dedefensa.org/article/loccident-et-le-demon-des-organisations" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.dedefensa.org/article/loccident-et-le-demon-des-organisations">L’occident et le démon des organisations</a></em>, que les institutions supranationales ont été créées et sont utilisées par des puissants de ce monde pour dominer et exploiter les populations à leur …</p>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308383
title: Trump says he didn’t bring up ‘Vladimir, STOP!’ plea in Putin call
author: ;Laura Kelly
link: https://thehill.com/policy/international/5308383-trump-plea-ukraine-putin/
hash: �tG�-�r���#Q�
tags: #Administration #International #Russia-Ukraine war #Trump peace talks
content:
President Trump said he didn’t bring up his Easter plea to halt attacks on Ukraine during a phone call Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a post on Truth Social at the time, Trump posted “Vladimir, STOP!” after a particularly devastating attack in which Russian missile strikes against Kyiv killed a dozen civilians and…

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guid: yt:video:U72xE1_Jzv0
title: AMB. Charles Freeman : Why the US Panic Over China?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U72xE1_Jzv0
hash: WI��s\�mγ]����
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guid: yt:video:6V1gWc7Ewj8
title: Patrick Lancaster : LIVE from the India / Pakistan border - Will the ceasefire hold?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V1gWc7Ewj8
hash: ��9���͜�;� Y��#
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guid: yt:video:aCpXRsssHZ0
title: *** SPECIAL *** Ralph Nader - : Who Controls the Government?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCpXRsssHZ0
hash: Q��Ӵً:��wh�
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guid: yt:video:Xw85_UYjHbU
title: COL. Douglas Macgregor : Is War with Iran Inevitable?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw85_UYjHbU
hash: �g�Z� H�Z��y��
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guid: yt:video:nqHFBuSANlU
title: LtCOL. Karen Kwiatkowski : Is Trump in Netanyahu’s Pocket?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqHFBuSANlU
hash: � 8٬%�w0��ۙ��^
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guid: 1031929 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Don't Take The Black Pill
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dont-take-black-pill
hash: ���%� �\/��/ �(
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Don't Take The Black Pill</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/dont-take-the-black-pill-5859877?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge"><em>Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>What kinds of attitudes do you bring to the prospect of political and social change? The answer matters more than we think.</strong> Those with hope and passion for improvement tend to win the day, especially if the other side merely wallows in grievance and despair.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image%20%2814%29_8.jpg?itok=cn0UsWrm" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image%20%2814%29_8.jpg?itok=cn0UsWrm"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4d5d22c0-b84a-4fb6-9e2a-8bf39f12de46" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%20%2814%29_8.jpg?itok=cn0UsWrm" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>This is true for writers and intellectuals too. We are all trying to find our way through in a thicket of confusion in what are truly treacherous times. In the backdrop stands a complex emotional template that can profoundly affect how we see the world and its future.</p>

<p><strong>G.K. Chesterton once wrote that he rejects both optimism and pessimism, preferring to look at reality itself, even in the darkest of times, with hope and not despair.</strong> It is equally important to look at the brightest times with trepidation that something might, alas, be broken underneath the surface and therefore they won’t last.</p>

<p>Those words have stuck with me. A naive optimism is as pointless as the fatalism of a perpetually downcast pessimism that sees every sign of improvement as a delusion.</p>

<p>The times call on all of us to adopt a more Chestertonian attitude toward the world around us, our expectations for the future, and our own role in it. The bias of eschatological certainty can blind in both directions, either by chaining us to dread of a doomed future or by luring us into complacency with visions of an eminently dawning utopia.</p>

<p><strong>Many people are traumatized from the last five years.</strong> We’ve discovered that many of the conspiracy theories are true. There were memes passed around over these years that the wackiest theories last month seem to come true this month.</p>

<p>Elon Musk even confirmed it. When he took over Twitter and got a first-hand look at what was being censored and why, he told interviewers that every conspiracy theory is true and then some. His comment underscores the feeling of betrayal sensed by everyone in public and private life today.</p>

<p><strong>When you go through times like this, the oldest spiritual battles confront all of us. </strong>We can join in the rot while throwing away all standards of decency and honesty. The presumption here is that the system is corrupt so we might as well join in, like rioters when the fires start to burn.</p>

<p>Another response is to throw yourself into being part of the solution in some way at some level. This could be in your own household or it could be in national politics, plus everything in between.</p>

<p>What increasingly concerns me is a different breed that has come to populate the dissident movement, especially these days and in light of all we’ve been through. These are people who have done vast reading and discovered that the problems around us are extremely deep, tracing to classified worlds of darkness and occult influences. They extend this analysis far back in time, even tracing this to the ancient world.</p>

<p>There is nothing wrong with that outlook as such except that it does feed into a conviction that there is no escape under any conditions. <strong>Rather than join in or fly into a hopeful opposition with constructive efforts to change, they construct an ideology of despair.</strong> This says that there is nothing to be done because the bad guys rule all things.</p>

<p>There is no chance for progress, says this view, and anything that looks hopeful is nothing but a sham. All seeming good news or admissions of wrongdoing are nothing but “limited hangouts,” probably pushed by “controlled opposition,” making concessions to distract us from the dark truths of our entrenched and depraved destiny.</p>

<p><strong>In popular parlance, and tracing to the model presented in the movie “The Matrix,” these are people who take the Black Pill.</strong> This is different from the Blue Pill, which is what you take to go along to get along, or the Red Pill, which is what you take to be part of the reality-based solution. <strong>The Black Pill is what you take to wallow in despair and drag everyone around down with you.</strong></p>

<p>I suspect you know someone who has taken the Black Pill. I have variously encountered them for years. Frustrated with such people, the pen name Midwestern Doctor recently <a href="https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/building-coalitions-and-overcoming">wrote</a> that the Black Pill leads people to say: “it’s futile to ever make things better so if you try to, you’re just getting scammed,” “all the things being proposed are actually distractions to keep us from fixing the real problem,” and “the person proposing this terrible proposal is actually an enemy trying to sabotage the movement.”</p>

<p>The Black Pill is seductive because it “It gives you a way to feel in control of your environment (by declaring it’s hopeless to do anything) and superior to others (by knowing a secret truth they don’t know).” Yes, it is easily rendered as a form of Gnosticism, a theory that only a few know the fullness of the esoteric truth while all exoteric knowledge is mere veneer.</p>

<p><strong>The Black Pill is closely related to the problem of purity seeking.</strong> No change in social policy, law, or legislation will ever be enough, of course. For that reason, every hint of progress, even vast progress, is easily presented as a trick designed to hide more fundamental corruption. Nothing is ever good enough, and any attempt to make something better is itself part of the problem because it deceives people into thinking there will ever be a way out of the morass.</p>

<p>It’s inevitable that Black-Pilled purists will be meanest to those they are the closest to. This is because those are the people who will listen to them, and the social set among which they can make a difference. For this reason, they can be toxic to any attempt at community organizing, social cohesion, or basic demands of collegiality. When people figure out the game and block them or stop inviting them, they always have a ready excuse: the leadership of the group is clearly compromised and part of the enemy.</p>

<p>This only scratches the surface of the problems of Black-Pilled purists. Because they rule out the possibility of making a difference for good, they target those who try and put down every effort to improve the world. De facto, they always end up saying that the existing status quo, however bad it is, is actually better than the reformed world given to us by people who are compromised and playing ball with the elites. Perversely, then, the purists in every movement eventually become useful servants of the very elites they claim to oppose.</p>

<p>If you follow what I’ve written above, you can understand why some small minority of people that who worked to bring the Trump administration to power, or at least contributed to raising grave doubts about alternatives, are now putting down every effort at reform, even tangible victories.</p>

<p><strong>The MAGA and MAHA movement has Black-Pilled purists in its ranks who will never be satisfied until condition X is met.</strong> Condition X could be an end to all hormones in livestock, a ban on all GMOs, an end to all foreign aid, a withdrawal and ban of mRNA shots or all vaccines, stopping all trade with China, or whatever other condition you name, which they always deem the top priority.</p>

<p>Nothing less will do. When that condition is met, there will always be more, because the point is not actually betterment but perpetual alienation from the idea of betterment itself.</p>

<p>As you can see, such people do not work and play well with others, make difficult colleagues, and end up as destructive forces within any attempted community of activists or intellectuals. Such people thrive on factionalism in every smaller unit of interest, all with the hope of being the leader of a community of their own creation, even if it is a community of one.</p>

<p>Such people invariably drive people off from any community, displacing productive and hopeful people with more followers of their dark worldview. Sadly, they are rarely blocked before they cause damage because they specialize in playing off the tolerance of others and the fear of leadership in being called censors or hidden assets of the bad guys.</p>

<p><strong>The biggest problem with the Black Pill is spiritual.</strong> It is not possible to wallow constantly in despair and keep it from invading every nook and cranny of the brain, heart, and soul. It becomes an addiction to the point that such people will never be satisfied without the dopamine rush that comes with trashing everything and everybody no matter what.</p>

<p>Don’t take the Black Pill. Again, the attitude of Chesterton is the right one: <em><strong>Even in the darkest of times, hope is better than despair.</strong></em> A naive optimism is as unproductive as a perpetually downcast and paralyzing pessimism that sees every sign of improvement as a delusion.</p>

<p><em>Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.</em></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T22:25:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 18:25</span>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308392
title: Retired 4-star Navy admiral found guilty in bribery case
author: ;Ellen Mitchell
link: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5308392-navy-admiral-burke-guilty-bribery/
hash: R�1 �����>�<�N
tags: #Court Battles #Defense #News
content:
The Navy’s former No. 2 officer on Monday was found guilty of bribery and other counts related to steering work to a company in exchange for a job after leaving the service, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Retired Adm. Robert Burke, former Navy vice chief of naval…

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guid: yt:video:ceWDygWkI6o
title: Washington Today (5/19/25): House GOP leaders want Trump to dissuade some on deeper Medicaid cuts
author: ;C-SPAN
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceWDygWkI6o
hash: N���ybݶ�t�ӆG#
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guid: 1031883 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: House Republicans Press Harvard For Transparency Over Alleged Ties To Chinese Military
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: u~2E��� ��Qdc{
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content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">House Republicans Press Harvard For Transparency Over Alleged Ties To Chinese Military</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Woke elites running Harvard University into the ground faced fresh controversy on Monday morning as House Republicans launched a formal inquiry into the school's reported ties with foreign adversaries, citing serious national security and ethical concerns.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/media/press-releases/lawmakers-demand-answers-harvard-over-ties-chinese-military-sanctioned">House Select Committee on China</a>, joined by the House Committee on Education and Workforce and Chairwoman of House Republican Leadership Elise Stefanik, sent a letter to Harvard demanding transparency and accountability regarding the university's partnerships with foreign adversaries and entities involved in human rights abuses. </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_13-51-25%20copy.png?itok=tGYxW8Ek" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_13-51-25%20copy.png?itok=tGYxW8Ek"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a47f400c-08e2-42db-9ef7-f41ff298b933" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="501" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-19_13-51-25%20copy.png?itok=tGYxW8Ek" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>The investigation focuses on the university's reported partnerships with Chinese military-linked institutions, sanctioned entities, and researchers tied to the Iranian regime.</p>

<p>House Republicans are demanding internal documents and testimony, adding to a growing list of challenges plaguing the university, including recent controversies over campus antisemitism and donor backlash.</p>

<p>Addressed to Harvard President Alan Garber, the letter sent by Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI), Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI), and House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) outlined Harvard's troubling partnerships and activities that raise alarm bells about national security and ethical concerns: </p>

<ul><li>
	<p><em>Harvard's repeated training of members of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC)—a U.S.-sanctioned paramilitary group that plays a central role in the Chinese Communist Party's genocide of Uyghur Muslims </em></p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p><em>Research partnerships funded by the Department of Defense with Chinese military-linked universities, including Tsinghua, Zhejiang, and Huazhong Universities </em></p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p><em>Collaborations with Iranian-government-funded researchers, including projects financed by the Iranian National Science Foundation </em></p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p><em>Organ transplantation research involving PRC-based collaborators, amid mounting evidence of the CCP's forced organ harvesting practices</em></p>
	</li>
</ul><p>Moolenaar stated, "Harvard trained members of a sanctioned Chinese paramilitary group responsible for genocide, and its researchers partnered with Chinese military universities on DoD-funded research and worked with researchers funded by the Iranian regime," adding, "These are not isolated incidents—they represent a disturbing pattern that puts U.S. national security at risk. The Select Committee's investigation will deliver answers, expose the truth, and hold Harvard accountable to the American people."</p>

<p>Chairman Walberg stated, "No American university or college should be assisting the CCP in expanding its influence, oppressing American citizens, or undermining U.S. national security," adding, "Unfortunately, we have found several instances in which Harvard University aided and even collaborated with the CCP – including helping Chinese researchers on military projects funded by the Iranian government. This is unacceptable and President Garber needs to provide answers to Congress for this colossal failure."</p>

<p>And Chairwoman Stefanik stated, "Harvard University must be held accountable. I demand full transparency and immediate cooperation with the Select Committee's investigation. We must ensure that no American institution enables the CCP's military modernization or the Iranian regime's technological ambitions — especially under the guise of academic exchange." </p>

<p>The news of the House Republican investigation into Harvard's questionable foreign ties follows widespread layoffs reported last week following the U.S. government's termination notices for federally funded research projects. </p>

<p>So far, the Trump administration has <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/harvard-hammered-feds-yank-additional-450-million-grants">canceled</a> approximately $2.7 billion in grants, with another nearly $1 billion in funding for Harvard's research partners at risk.</p>

<p>President Garber announced he would soon take a 25% pay cut after losing federal funding. He refused the Trump administration's <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/harvard-professors-sue-trump-admin-over-threat-withhold-nearly-9-billion">simple request</a> to comply with concerns over DEI and antisemitism.</p>

<p>"More than 80 faculty members — from several schools and academic units — have pledged to donate 10 percent of their salaries for up to a year to support the University if it continues to resist the Trump administration," The Harvard Crimson recently reported.</p>

<p>So brave.</p>

<p>Harvard alumnus Bill Ackman commented last week about the school's death spiral.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/Harvard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Harvard</a> is dying from a series of self-inflicted wounds. <a href="https://t.co/gYhQhoxp9k">https://t.co/gYhQhoxp9k</a></p>
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1923503181037748239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">I have reached out to members of the <a href="https://twitter.com/Harvard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Harvard</a> Corporation Board offering to help, but I have received no response.<br><br>
I did the same shortly after October 7th and my offers to help were rejected. At least back then, I got a response.<br><br>
Chair Penny Pritzker and the entire Harvard… <a href="https://t.co/JUpbhVV6I6">https://t.co/JUpbhVV6I6</a></p>
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1923335226320654717?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>We suspect House Republicans won't stop with Harvard. These investigations are likely to expand to other Ivy League schools that have aggressively pushed toxic Marxist DEI agendas—initiatives that, in some cases, may have been influenced by foreign adversaries to undermine the nation. Some of these elite schools foster disdain for America, which is deeply troubling. This trend must be confronted and reversed.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>*   *    * </p>

<h2>Full Letter to Harvard U. from House Republicans...</h2>

<h2><iframe data-aspect-ratio="0.7729220222793488" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" scrolling="no" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/864055957/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;access_key=key-TTUg1j9YdHT03mMDJrQQ" title="Harvard Letter XPCC" width="100%" data-sanitized-id="doc_59714" data-sanitized-class="scribd_iframe_embed" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></h2>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T22:50:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 18:50</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/house-republicans-press-harvard-transparency-over-alleged-ties-chinese-military


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308440
title: Naomi Biden calls new Tapper book ‘political fairy smut’
author: ;Sarah Fortinsky
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5308440-naomi-biden-calls-new-tapper-book-political-fairy-smut/
hash: ��b.K�g�\� c� s
tags: #Administration #Media #News #Original Sin #Original Sin: President Biden's Decline
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
Former President Biden’s granddaughter, Naomi Biden, tore into the authors of a forthcoming political book that makes new claims about steps taken in the Biden White House to shield the American public from signs of the former president’s cognitive decline. In a post Tuesday on the social platform X, Naomi Biden said that she just…


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308446
title: Here’s what’s in the GOP’s 1,116-page ‘big, beautiful bill’
author: ;Aris Folley; Rachel Frazin
link: https://thehill.com/business/budget/5308446-trump-gop-bill-medicaid-salt-taxes/
hash: �>�1�:����h��
tags: #Budget #Business #Energy &amp; Environment #Health Care #House #News #Policy
content:
House Republicans cleared a major hurdle over the weekend in advancing a sweeping package of President Trump’s tax proposals, along with significant spending cuts and reforms for key federal programs. The House Budget Committee advanced the mammoth, 1,116-page bill in an unusual late-night vote Sunday, as Republicans of various factions have clashed over the size…

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guid: 1031931 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Marx's Economic Forecasts: Over 150 Years Of Failure
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/marxs-economic-forecasts-over-150-years-failure
hash: 6��&�pe��$� Ӓ�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Marx's Economic Forecasts: Over 150 Years Of Failure</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://mises.org/mises-wire/marxs-economic-forecasts-over-150-years-failure"><em>Authored by Richard Fulmer via The Mises Institute,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>From atop the flawed foundation of the Labor Theory of Value, Karl Marx made a series of predictions about capitalism that time has proven incorrect. </strong>Among these are the immiseration of the masses due to capital accumulation, chronic overproduction, capitalist-driven imperialism, and the inevitable rise of monopolies.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/AdobeStock_Marx%202.jpeg.jpg?itok=ARlUlMI1" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/AdobeStock_Marx%202.jpeg.jpg?itok=ARlUlMI1"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d0265ebb-7441-4d4b-92ce-a2c79dacc478" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="375" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/AdobeStock_Marx%202.jpeg.jpg?itok=ARlUlMI1" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<h2><strong>Immiseration</strong></h2>

<p>Even during Marx’s lifetime, capitalism was already improving the material conditions of workers and raising living standards. The Industrial Revolution, along with advancements in technology and productivity, enabled even low-skilled workers to achieve a standard of living once unimaginable to even the wealthiest.</p>

<p>In fact, capitalism has delivered many of the promises socialism once made. <strong>Marx envisioned a future where the working class would achieve prosperity, leisure, and cultural development—goals largely realized under capitalist systems. </strong>Today, workers enjoy higher real wages, shorter workweeks, better working conditions, and greater access to healthcare and education than at any time in history. Innovations once considered luxuries—such as indoor plumbing, refrigeration, and instant global communication—are now standard for much of the world’s population.</p>

<h2><strong>Capital Equipment</strong></h2>

<p>Marx believed that new technology:</p>

<ul><li>
	<p>Eliminated jobs and forced workers into lower-wage positions. He theorized that automation would create a permanent “industrial reserve army” of unemployed workers, driving wages down.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Reduced workers to mere machine operators. He argued that specialization and mechanization would strip workers of their skills and bargaining power.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Extracted more work in less time. He feared that capitalists would use technology to increase profits by lengthening shifts, reducing breaks, and intensifying production speeds.</p>
	</li>
</ul><p><strong>Instead, technology has increased workers’ productivity, making them more valuable to employers, who, in turn, offer higher wages to attract and retain them. </strong>While some jobs have been eliminated, new industries and occupations have emerged, often requiring higher skill levels. Factory workers today perform fewer menial tasks and more complex functions, such as CNC (computer numerical control) machine programming, maintenance, and oversight of automated systems.</p>

<p>Rather than longer workdays, the average time on the job has significantly declined. In Marx’s time, factory workers commonly labored 60-80 hours per week. Today, most industrialized nations have 35-40-hour workweeks, and benefits like paid time off, sick leave, and retirement plans are widespread. Moreover, automation has largely eliminated the most dangerous and physically punishing tasks.</p>

<p>Marx saw economic progress as a zero-sum game, where capitalists’ gains necessarily meant workers’ losses. Instead, technological advancements have expanded economic output, creating new industries, higher wages, and improved working conditions.</p>

<h2><strong>Overproduction</strong></h2>

<p>Marx claimed that capitalist employers would suppress wages to the point that workers couldn’t afford to buy the goods they produced, leading to unsold inventory and economic collapse. But workers are never expected to buy everything they produce in any economic system.</p>

<p>Consider a cobbler in medieval Europe who made 30 pairs of shoes per month. He couldn’t possibly purchase all of them—he had to sell them to buy food, clothing, and materials for more shoes. But the shoe market didn’t collapse because demand wasn’t limited to cobblers—<em>other people needed shoes too</em>.</p>

<p><strong>Similarly, in modern economies, businesses don’t rely solely on their employees as customers; they sell to a broad market that includes domestic and international consumers. Capitalism has consistently overcome supply-demand imbalances through pricing mechanisms, market expansion, and innovation.</strong></p>

<h2><strong>Imperialism</strong></h2>

<p><strong>Marx believed capitalists profited by extracting “surplus value” from workers—paying them less than the value of their production.</strong> He argued that as automation and competition reduced profit margins, capitalists would exploit workers by cutting wages or increasing working hours, and seek new sources of cheap labor, ultimately resorting to conquest to sustain profits.</p>

<p>This prediction failed on multiple fronts. First, workers’ ability to switch jobs, negotiate higher wages, or start businesses prevents employers from driving wages to subsistence levels, though the same cannot be said for Marxist-Leninist societies in which the state is the only employer.</p>

<p>Second, trade—not conquest—has proven to be the more effective path to economic expansion. As Adam Smith noted in <em>The Wealth of Nations</em>, war and colonization are more costly and less productive and profitable than is voluntary exchange. The reason why war and imperialism correlates with capitalism is because the state—allied with crony capitalists—expands off of the wealth from capitalism.</p>

<p><strong>Finally, capitalism fosters innovation, creating new markets and industries.</strong> Economic growth has come not from territorial expansion but from developing new goods, services, and business models that increase wealth across society.</p>

<h2><strong>Monopoly</strong></h2>

<p>Marx predicted that competition would inevitably drive smaller firms out of business, leaving only a handful of monopolies powerful enough to suppress wages, control prices, and stifle innovation.</p>

<p><strong>While monopolies do arise, they are typically short-lived in competitive markets. </strong>Whenever an entrepreneur introduces a new product or service, he may temporarily enjoy a dominant market position, but competitors soon emerge if the government does not prevent market entry. In fact, this situation does not technically describe a monopoly since monopolies involve legal privileging of politically-connected firms by the state.</p>

<p>Furthermore, as companies grow too large, they often face diseconomies of scale—inefficiencies that increase costs and reduce agility. <strong>Bureaucracy, slow decision-making, and organizational complexity often weaken large firms, opening opportunities for smaller, more innovative competitors.</strong></p>

<p>Ultimately, government intervention, rather than free markets, has been the primary enabler of enduring monopolies. Regulations, subsidies, and licensing requirements frequently serve to protect established firms from competition.</p>

<h2><strong>Conclusion</strong></h2>

<p>Karl Marx’s predictions about capitalism have consistently failed. Instead of immiseration, capitalism has increased living standards. Instead of job destruction, technology has created new industries and opportunities. Instead of economic collapse due to overproduction, global trade has flourished. Instead of conquest, capitalism has fostered economic expansion through voluntary exchange. And instead of monopolistic stagnation, competition and innovation continue to drive economic progress, despite the intervention of political states.</p>

<p><strong>Marx’s economic forecasts were not just incorrect but fundamentally flawed.</strong> Capitalism, despite its imperfections, has outperformed Marx’s vision by delivering <strong>prosperity on an unprecedented scale.</strong></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T23:15:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 19:15</span>


guid: 297451885
hash: �#��+�!��o��$�"
title:
Vente d'immeubles pour défaut de paiement de l'impôt foncier - 18 juin 2025 (Mise à jour 19 mai 2025)

content:
Vente d'immeubles pour défaut de paiement de l'impôt foncier - 18 juin 2025 (Mise à jour 19 mai 2025)

link:
https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/lien.aspx?t=rssfeed&amp;u=/upload/avis_publics/2025516143952_vente_d_immeubles_pour_d%C3%A9faut_de_paiement_de_l_imp%C3%B4t_foncier_-_18_juin_2025_(mise_%C3%A0_jour_19_mai_2025).pdf

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guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747692762
title: US top court allows Trump admin to revoke protected status for Venezuelans
hash: !�F4�,�X~�?�w�
tags: #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
Supreme Court lets Trump terminate Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of people from Venezuela.

link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/19/chk_us-top-court-allows-trumpadmintorevoke-protected-status-for-venezuelans?traffic_source=rss


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308413
title: Biden’s cancer raises questions around screening, timing
author: ;Nathaniel Weixel; Amie Parnes
link: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5308413-prostate-cancer-screening-biden/
hash: ��-�Ii%l��7�,�V
tags: #Administration #Health Care #News
content:
Former President Biden’s aggressive prostate cancer diagnosis is raising questions about  whether warning signs could have been caught earlier, and if the current screening recommendations should be changed. Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in older men. One in every eight men will be diagnosed in his lifetime. According to…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308500
title: Comey calls Trump seashell photo backlash a ‘distraction’ after Secret Service scrutiny
author: ;Sarah Fortinsky
hash: `�*���%Ё!��
tags: #Administration #National Security #national security #News #FBI #seashell #Secret Service
content:
Former FBI Director James Comey on Monday called the recent backlash to his “8647” seashell photo a “distraction” and maintained that his intentions were “totally innocent” behind the now-deleted post. In an interview on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” host Nicole Wallace asked whether he regrets posting the photo, which caused an onslaught of criticism from…

link:
https://thehill.com/national-security/5308500-comey-calls-trump-seashell-photo-backlash-distraction/

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guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2166023/journee-nationale-patriotes-devoir-memoire
title: Les patriotes « se sont battus pour vous, pour les droits que vous avez en ce moment »
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2166023/journee-nationale-patriotes-devoir-memoire
hash: �B�6�ا=�n��
content:
<p>La Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste demande que la place du Canada soit rebaptisée parc des Patriotes à Montréal.</p>

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guid: 1031870 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Historic Women's College Gives Honorary Degree To Rachel Levine (A Man)
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/historic-womens-college-give-honorary-degree-rachel-levine-man
hash: N&�Hj��=�O�w�U�j
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Historic Women's College Gives Honorary Degree To Rachel Levine (A Man)</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>It is an interesting kind of horror that modern academia, an environment where objective facts should be most revered, has instead become an environment where objective facts are most reviled.  The complete denial of biological reality within the western academic community is an enduring source of social disruption.  Their continued promotion of gender fluid theory, based on zero concrete scientific evidence, is stealing opportunities from real women and turning western education into an embarrassing mockery.</p>

<p>The Trump Administration's efforts to reverse the cancerous growth of wokeness in public institutions is making a difference, but there are still many areas of American life that will remain infected for years to come.</p>

<p>The latest example is the recent announcement that Dr. Rachel Levine (formerly Richard Levine), a man pretending to be a woman, is  being awarded an <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/14/metro/graduation-commencement-speakers-massachusetts/">honorary degree by Smith College</a> in Massachusetts.  Keep in mind, Smith College is a historic private women's college. </p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Today, beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET, <a href="https://twitter.com/smithcollege?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@smithcollege</a> will have its annual commencement ceremony.<br><br>
Congratulations to all the female graduates of this historically women-only college!<br><br>
During the ceremony, <a href="https://twitter.com/smithcollege?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@smithcollege</a> will award an honorary degree to Richard ("Rachel") Levine, who… <a href="https://t.co/lOaRfBSgAa">pic.twitter.com/lOaRfBSgAa</a></p>
— Kara Dansky (@KDansky) <a href="https://twitter.com/KDansky/status/1924085173424914644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>Levine has also been given the honor of addressing graduates in a commencement speech with <a href="https://www.smith.edu/news-events/news/four-honorands-speak-commencement">"words of wisdom"</a> for women entering the professional world.  Rachel Levine served as the "first trans Secretary for Health" for the US Department of Health and Human Services under the Biden Administration.  Levine exploited the position to push trans propaganda on the American public.  He also widely advocated for the gender transitioning of children.  </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Rachel-Levine1.jpg?itok=tbQtEX2s" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Rachel-Levine1.jpg?itok=tbQtEX2s"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0e235ce8-6cf0-4122-8910-dc71443532ed" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Rachel-Levine1.jpg?itok=tbQtEX2s" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875, Smith is a member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of women's colleges in the Northeastern United States.  It should be noted that Smith College has received extensive federal funding, which is something the Trump Administration might want to look into.</p>

<p>The school's decision to give an honorary degree to a man has led to some backlash, with women protesters speaking out on the hypocrisy.  The issue of men going trans and invading women's spaces has divided the feminist movement, with woke extremists on one side and "TERFs" (<span jsname="bN97Pc" data-sanitized-id="_xmMraJXpJpya0PEPx77Y-Ac_59" data-sanitized-class="wtBS9"><span>trans-exclusionary radical feminists) on the other side.  The "TERF" label is meant to be a pejorative insult to those women that refuse to accept trans women (men) as legitimate women.</span></span></p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">A trantifa woman harassed and cursed out a group of women protesting <a href="https://twitter.com/smithcollege?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@smithcollege</a>, an extremely woke historical women’s college, for awarding Richard “Rachel” Levine an honorary degree. <a href="https://t.co/UYwsXJ9y9f">pic.twitter.com/UYwsXJ9y9f</a></p>
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1924111396041527759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>The overarching problem with the trans movement is that it demands the normalization and even celebration of mental illness under protected group status.  On the totem pole of social justice, trans people are at the top, enjoying a venerated position even above black women and gays.  The level of hand holding and social coddling of transgenders hit almost worshipful heights during the Biden Administration's woke blitz.  It was a primary factor in the eventual fall of the Democratic Party.   </p>

<p>Virtue signaling among the academic elite suggests that progressives have still not learned their lesson when it comes to biological reality and the US has a ways to go before the trans issue is settled. </p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-19T23:40:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 19:40</span>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308537
title: Trump says Russia-Ukraine direct talks to ‘begin immediately’
author: ;Ellen Mitchell
hash: !ٽ4��H��g��$
tags: #Defense #News #Newsletters
content:
Presented by Boeing — Plus: Family of Jan. 6 rioter to get $5M {beacon} Defense &amp;National Security Defense &amp;National Security PRESENTED BY BOEING The Big Story  Trump says Russia-Ukraine direct talks to ‘begin immediately’ President Trump on Monday said Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin negotiations on a ceasefire, following phone calls with the leaders…

link:
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5308537-trump-says-russia-ukraine-direct-talks-to-begin-immediately/

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guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2166122/nunavik-puvirnituq-penurie-eau-crise
title: Le chemin sera long avant de gagner la bataille de l’eau à Puvirnituq
content: <p>Si une lueur d’espoir est permise, la situation ne va pas se résorber rapidement.</p>
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2166122/nunavik-puvirnituq-penurie-eau-crise
hash: r��U� Q]�U�`��
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guid: 1031933 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: The WHO Cannot Be Saved
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/who-cannot-be-saved
hash: � e �=�a��f�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The WHO Cannot Be Saved</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://brownstone.org/articles/the-who-cannot-be-saved/"><em>Authored by David Bell and Ramesh Thakur via The Brownstone Institute,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>As humans, we commonly consider ourselves, our beliefs, and our work of particular importance.</strong> It is not surprising, then, that when we form institutions, those within them seek to promote the institution’s relevance, expand their work, and centralize decision-making within their own ‘particularly important’ group.</p>

<p><strong>Few want to divest power and resources, let alone put themselves and their colleagues out of a job.</strong> This fatal flaw infects all bureaucracies, from local to national and regional to international.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Shutterstock_2144541555-800x469.jpg?itok=xeRoA40q" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Shutterstock_2144541555-800x469.jpg?itok=xeRoA40q"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7e997048-c18b-4715-8537-c4e637fa251b" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="293" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Shutterstock_2144541555-800x469.jpg?itok=xeRoA40q" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><strong>It is unsurprising, then, that the World Health Organization (WHO), an international health bureaucracy of over 9,000 staff, a quarter of them in Geneva, should suffer the same problems.</strong> The WHO was originally intended primarily to transfer capacity to struggling states emerging from colonialism and address their higher burdens of disease but lower administrative and financial capabilities. This prioritized fundamentals like sanitation, good nutrition, and competent health services that had brought long life to people in wealthier countries. Its focus now is more on stocking shelves with manufactured commodities. Its budget, staffing, and remit expand as actual country need and infectious disease mortality decline over the years.</p>

<p>While major gaps in underlying health equality remain, and were recently <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/mega-rich-recoup-covid-losses-record-time-yet-billions-will-live-poverty-least">exacerbated</a> by the WHO’s Covid-19 policies, the world is a very different place from 1948 when it was formed. <strong>Rather than acknowledging progress, however, we are told we are simply in an ‘inter-pandemic period,’ and the WHO and its partners should be given ever more responsibility and resources to save us from the next hypothetical outbreak (like <a href="https://www.who.int/activities/prioritizing-diseases-for-research-and-development-in-emergency-contexts">Disease-X</a>). </strong>Increasingly dependent on <a href="https://open.who.int/2022-23/contributors/contributor">‘specified’ funding</a> from national and private interests heavily invested in profitable biotech fixes rather than the underlying drivers of good health,  the WHO looks more and more like other public-private partnerships that channel taxpayer money to the priorities of private industry.</p>

<p>Pandemics happen, but a proven natural one of major impact on life expectancy has not happened since pre-antibiotic era Spanish flu over a hundred years ago. We all understand that better nutrition, sewers, potable water, living conditions, antibiotics, and modern medicines protect us, yet we are told to be ever more fearful of the next outbreak. Covid happened, but it overwhelmingly affected the elderly in <a href="https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/cases">Europe and the Americas</a>. Moreover, it looks, as the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/lab-leak-true-origins-of-covid-19/">US government now makes clear</a>, almost certainly a laboratory mistake by the very pandemic industry that is promoting the WHO’s new approach.</p>

<p>Collaborating on health internationally remains popular, as it should be in a heavily interdependent world. It also makes sense to prepare for severe rare events – most of us buy insurance. But we don’t exaggerate flood risk in order to expand the flood insurance industry, as anything we spend is money taken from our other needs.</p>

<p>Public health is no different. <strong>If we were designing a new WHO now, no sane model would base its funding and direction primarily on the interests and advice of those who profit from illness.</strong> Rather, these would be based on accurate estimates of localized risks of the big killer diseases. The WHO was once independent of private interests, mostly core-funded, and able to set rational priorities. That WHO is gone.</p>

<p><strong>Over the past 80 years, the world has also changed.</strong> It makes no sense now to base thousands of health staff in one of the world’s most expensive (and healthiest!) cities, and it makes no sense in a technologically advancing world to keep centralizing control there. The WHO was structured in a time when most mail still went by steamship. It stands increasingly as an anomaly to its mission and to the world in which it works. Would a network of regional bodies tied to their local context not be more responsive and effective than a distant, disconnected, and centralized bureaucracy of thousands?</p>

<p>Amidst the broader turmoil roiling the post-1945 international liberal order, <strong>the recent US notice of withdrawal from the WHO presents a unique opportunity to rethink the type of international health institution the world needs</strong>, how that should operate, where, for what purpose, and for how long.</p>

<p>What should be the use-by date of an international institution? In the WHO’s case, either health is getting better as countries build capacity and it should be downsizing. Or health is getting worse, in which case the model has failed and we need something more fit for purpose. </p>

<p><strong>The Trump administration’s actions are an opportunity to rebase international health cooperation on widely recognized standards of ethics and human rights. </strong>Countries and populations should be back in control, and those seeking profit from illness should have no role in decision-making. The WHO, at nearly 80 years old, comes from a bygone era, and is increasingly estranged from its world. We can do better. </p>

<p><strong>Fundamental change in the way we manage international health cooperation will be painful but ultimately healthy.</strong></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-20T00:05:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 20:05</span>


guid: 1031854 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Alarming Graph Reveals US Beef Industry Is "Hijacked By Chemical Pushers"
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/food/alarming-graph-reveals-us-beef-industry-hijacked-chemical-pushers
hash: ��� ���)�B=�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Alarming Graph Reveals US Beef Industry Is "Hijacked By Chemical Pushers" </span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement is gaining steam as a disruptive force in helping to rescue the nation's deteriorating food supply chain and public health. It marks a clear inflection point from decades of dependency on ultra-processed foods and pharmaceutical giants profiting from Americans' imploding health over the last half-century. </p>

<p>Last week, Goldman Sachs analysts highlighted a decisive shift in consumer behavior, with shoppers increasingly favoring cleaner, "<a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/food/maha-working-goldman-finds-better-you-consumption-shift-underway">better-for-you</a>" food options. Even <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-05-16/global-food-roundup-rfk-jr-and-trade-deal-put-us-products-in-spotlight">Bloomberg</a> has begun to acknowledge MAHA's rising impact.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_12-05-02.png?itok=TRTGLUwy" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_12-05-02.png?itok=TRTGLUwy"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="15c3c8dd-44b4-4be2-8e64-3d4194e1c7d6" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="448" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-19_12-05-02.png?itok=TRTGLUwy" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>At its core, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s movement aims to revive the nation's health by restoring integrity to the food supply chain—prioritizing cleaner food with fewer chemicals and less industrial farming while reducing reliance on the pharmaceutical industry's profit-driven approach to managing chronic disease. It turns out that cleaner food and regular exercise may be all it takes to help cure a nation of its sickness. Not Ozempic.</p>

<p>Bloomberg pointed out that food safety and production standards are again in focus following a new U.S.-UK trade deal. While the agreement reduces barriers to billions of dollars in U.S. exports—including beef—the UK continues to ban hormone-treated meat and chlorine-washed chicken, practices common in the U.S. but prohibited in the EU and UK due to stricter regulations.</p>

<p>For readers unaware of how toxic the food supply chain has become under the control of mega-corporations, this graphic from Bloomberg speaks volumes. It underscores the urgent need for Americans to seek cleaner, locally produced food from farmers and ranchers or <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/take-control-their-food-supply-tractor-supply-ceo-says-backyard-chicken-demand">even their own backyards</a>. </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_11-30-36.png?itok=s4UrPiH5" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_11-30-36.png?itok=s4UrPiH5"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c541cf44-57d5-486b-93be-f99250ddeb3c" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="312" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-19_11-30-36.png?itok=s4UrPiH5" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>"<strong>This ain't just about beef—it's about waking up. The system's been hijacked by chemical pushers and marketing firms posing as newsrooms. 86% of what's in your meat case ain't got a damn thing to do with clean food. We're at an inflection point, and the only way forward is to shake your rancher's hand. That's how we win—one local producer at a time</strong>," Beef Initiative founder Texas Slim opined. </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Chcicken_Scoop_Blog_Image_1200x630.png?itok=iUU9aURH" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Chcicken_Scoop_Blog_Image_1200x630.png?itok=iUU9aURH"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="01741e6b-884d-4c6f-b0ab-8d946cdeddbe" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="266" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Chcicken_Scoop_Blog_Image_1200x630.png?itok=iUU9aURH" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Even Bloomberg had to admit that times are changing, and MAHA has led to a complete "rethinking" of the nation's food supply chain, adding that this may result in higher consumer costs. </p>

<p>RFK Jr.'s push for clean food in America centers on a bold reform agenda: curbing ultra-processed foods, restoring real "Nutrition" to SNAP, eliminating seed oils, banning artificial food dyes, and reducing the use of high-fructose corn syrup and harmful pesticides. MAHA links these ingredients in foods to the nation's deteriorating health. </p>

<p>Processed foods have allowed Americans to spend the smallest share of their income on food compared to almost any other country in the world. But that era may be ending, as a shift toward cleaner, less industrialized food is expected to increase costs.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_11-30-54.png?itok=vZjTqYzs" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-19_11-30-54.png?itok=vZjTqYzs"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6ee6c920-6618-43f6-a81a-7fd0ea955ff2" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="526" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-19_11-30-54.png?itok=vZjTqYzs" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Still, the trade-off is clear: improved health that reduces medical bills. The real question is—what price do you put on avoiding chronic illness, mounting medical bills, or even premature death potentially linked to years of ultra-processed food consumption?</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/GL_Kh56bUAAyy_b.jpg?itok=YP4_sng1" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/GL_Kh56bUAAyy_b.jpg?itok=YP4_sng1"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="eb402d3e-6f80-40d4-b68f-337c7bb0a236" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="510" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/GL_Kh56bUAAyy_b.jpg?itok=YP4_sng1" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>There is no price. Now it's time for the Trump administration to put policy tailwinds for the MAHA movement to revive a network of small farms that will feed America and improve health outcomes for the nation.</p>

<p>Expand your carbon footprint: <a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/rancher-direct-clean-food/?utm_source=banner&amp;utm_medium=banner&amp;utm_campaign=store_promo&amp;utm_content=sidebar">Eat real food</a>.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-20T00:30:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 20:30</span>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308563
title: DOJ releases full Biden-Hur interview audio
author: ;Brett Samuels; Rebecca Beitsch; Alex Gangitano
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5308563-doj-releases-biden-hur-interview-audio/
hash: �b[����&�W[::�
tags: #Administration #Campaign #News
content:
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday released former President Biden’s interview with former special counsel Robert Hur, bringing to a close a lengthy battle to quash the audio amid broader concerns over the former president’s health. The Justice Department has already released a transcript of Biden’s conversation with the special counsel, which shows him…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308572
author: ;Brett Samuels
link: https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5308572-trump-kennedy-center-board-members-remarks/
hash: ���ڏC�(_U5�s�
tags: #Administration #In The Know
title:
Trump to Kennedy Center board members: ‘We’re going to do some good things, but the basics are there’

content:
President Trump on Monday delivered remarks to members of the Kennedy Center board of trustees, which Trump drastically overhauled earlier this year as he sought to put his stamp on the performing arts institution. Trump held the meeting in the State Dining Room at the White House on the same day the Kennedy Center announced…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308603
title: Habba announces criminal charge against Rep. McIver over ICE facility scuffle
author: ;Zach Schonfeld; Rebecca Beitsch
hash: K�>���S!��+IE�
tags: #House #News
content:
Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, announced Monday she is charging Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) with assaulting law enforcement while at an U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Newark earlier this month.   It marks the first time that President Trump’s Justice Department has criminally charged a…

link:
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5308603-habba-announces-criminal-charge-against-rep-mciver-over-ice-facility-scuffle/

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308588
title: Senate confirms Charles Kushner to become ambassador to France
author: ;Al Weaver
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5308588-senate-confirms-charles-kushner-ambassador-france/
hash:  ~� �,�&�Zd�a<�
tags: #International #News #Policy #Senate
content:
The Senate on Monday confirmed the nomination of Charles Kushner to become the ambassador to France, cementing a family member of President Trump to a key diplomatic post despite his past legal trouble.  Senators voted 51-45 to approve Kushner’s nomination. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) voted in favor of confirmation, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308623
title: Trump administration to allow massive New York offshore wind project to continue, Hochul says
author: ;Rachel Frazin
hash: } �y������'��8
tags: #Energy &amp; Environment #News
content:
The Trump administration will allow a major offshore wind project that will deliver power to New York to continue, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) said Monday. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum halted the project last month, claiming that the Biden administration did not adequately review it. But, Hochul said in a Monday evening post on X that she…

link:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5308623-trump-administration-allow-massive-new-york-offshore-wind-project-hochul-says/

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guid: 1031910 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: India Says China Provided Intelligence To Pakistan During Border Clashes
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: )���R�u����D
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">India Says China Provided Intelligence To Pakistan During Border Clashes</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/india-says-china-provided-intel-to-pakistan-during-border-clashes"><em>Via The Cradle</em></a></p>

<p>China provided direct logistical and intelligence support to Pakistan during the recent 15-day border conflict with India, marking a significant escalation in Beijing’s involvement in South Asia’s most volatile rivalry, <i>Bloomberg </i>has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-18/china-gave-pakistan-satellite-support-indian-defense-group-says">reported</a>.</p>

<p>According to Ashok Kumar, director general of the Center for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), a research group operating under India’s Ministry of Defense, <strong>China helped Pakistan reorganize its radar systems and satellite coverage to better track Indian troop movements and military deployments</strong>. The support reportedly occurred in the days following the April 22 massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 27 mostly Indian tourists and triggered the worst fighting between India and Pakistan in five decades.</p>

<p><strong>“It helped them to redeploy their air defense radar so that any actions which we do from the aerial route is known to them,”</strong> Kumar said, noting that China’s assistance made Pakistani forces more responsive during the conflict.</p>
<a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/chinaantiair.jpg?itok=-1HLWmi9" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/chinaantiair.jpg?itok=-1HLWmi9"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="defa3881-4420-441a-b59f-3a89bc90fd04" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/chinaantiair.jpg?itok=-1HLWmi9" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption><em>Via Associated Press</em></figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p>While India’s government has <strong>not publicly confirmed China’s involvement</strong>, Kumar’s remarks suggest that Beijing’s role extended far beyond weapons sales, encompassing real-time battlefield support. Pakistan has <strong>acknowledged using Chinese-supplied military hardware, including the J-10C fighter jets and PL-15 air-to-air missiles</strong>, in the conflict. However, it has not confirmed receiving satellite or radar assistance.</p>

<p>The conflict, which erupted into air, drone, and artillery strikes in early May, ended in a ceasefire on 10 May – an agreement US President Donald Trump claimed credit for brokering, though India maintains it was negotiated bilaterally. Tensions remain high as Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar prepares to visit Beijing to discuss the region’s future security framework.</p>

<p>China has avoided commenting directly on its involvement. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning reiterated Beijing’s call for peace, <strong>saying China “adheres to an objective and fair stance.” </strong>However, Kumar argued that Beijing used the conflict as a <strong>testing ground for its military systems</strong>, claiming it “failed miserably” in some cases.</p>

<p>The incident has reinforced India’s shift toward planning for a two-front war. “Anything which is with China today can be deemed to be with Pakistan tomorrow,” Kumar warned.<strong> “India now factors in a two-front situation in almost all its calculations.”</strong></p>

<p>China has said it seeks good relations with India and that it supports peace between New Delhi and Islamabad. On 28 April, Guo Jiakun, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, <a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xw/fyrbt/lxjzh/202504/t20250428_11606273.html">said</a> in a press briefing that “both India and Pakistan are important countries in South Asia. Their harmonious coexistence is vital to the peace, stability, and development of the region. As the neighbor of the two countries, China calls on the two sides to exercise restraint, solve differences through dialogue, and jointly keep the region peaceful and stable.” </p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">🇨🇳 China didn’t just sell Pakistan jets. It handed them a smart warfighting package.<br><br>
Think of it like this:<br><br>
🇮🇳 India bought a DSLR (Rafale) - but needed to learn the manual, tweak the lens, and pick the right filter.<br><br>
🇵🇰 Pakistan got a smart camera (J-10C) - auto-calibrated,… <a href="https://t.co/Yc5ZZYb5eg">pic.twitter.com/Yc5ZZYb5eg</a></p>
— 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 (@OopsGuess) <a href="https://twitter.com/OopsGuess/status/1924398272040595862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>When asked specifically about Pakistan’s proposal for a neutral investigation into the killing of tourists in Kashmir, he said that “China welcomes all measures that will help cool down the current situation and supports carrying out fair and just investigations at an early date.” </p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-20T00:55:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 20:55</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/india-says-china-provided-intelligence-pakistan-during-border-clashes


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308558
title: Kevin O’Leary on Trump, Walmart: Retailers aren’t going to ‘eat the tariffs’
author: ;Sarah Fortinsky
link: https://thehill.com/business/5308558-kevin-oleary-on-trump-walmart-retailers-tariffs/
hash: �&��F<�!S�cg
tags: #Administration #Business #Economy #News #Retail #Walmart
content:
“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary said in a Monday interview that retailers are not going to “eat the tariffs,” despite pressure from the Trump administration to do so. “This idea that the president says, ‘Listen, retailers, eat the tariffs.’ That’s not going to happen,” O’Leary said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill.” O’Leary said…

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guid: yt:video:LAEMDZ0V3lE
title: Mohammed Marandi: Iran’s Alarming Moves: Ready for the Worst Against America?
author: ;Dialogue Works
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAEMDZ0V3lE
hash: �����a�3r誗UJ
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guid: yt:video:Hj2PiCs1R14
title: Scott Ritter: Trump's Fantasy CRUSHED by Putin
author: ;Dialogue Works
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj2PiCs1R14
hash: �N�"�"���Xxm1j
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guid: yt:video:DbsifBT_KDc
title: Col. Larry Wilkerson: Is the U.S. on a Collision Course with Iran?
author: ;Dialogue Works
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbsifBT_KDc
hash: ��/湊����>� 
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guid: 1031982 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: House Democrats Melt Down After New Jersey Democrat Charged With Assault At ICE Facility Protest
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: b�c�ho� �����=P�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">House Democrats Melt Down After New Jersey Democrat Charged With Assault At ICE Facility Protest</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong><em>Update (1100ET): </em></strong>House Democrats melted down following the announcement that the US attorney in New Jersey, Alina Habba (formerly President Trump's lawyer) will bring charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) following a May 9 incident at an ICE detention facility in Newark.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/1746899467342_jpg_92.jpg?itok=Xr9RB3Uo" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/1746899467342_jpg_92.jpg?itok=Xr9RB3Uo"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fd0695d3-2a2b-493c-a800-63a936064a17" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/1746899467342_jpg_92.jpg?itok=Xr9RB3Uo" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>McIver is accused of <strong>assaulting federal officers during the protest</strong>, while Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) were not charged.</p>
<p><strong>In a joint statement, </strong>House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the rest of the Democratic leadership - who, if you recall, were frothing at the mouth to lock up Jan. 6 protesters for simple trespassing - slammed Habba.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Hakeem-Jeffries-2-epa-gmh-250314_1741979688751_hpMain_16x9_992_jpg_92.jpg?itok=lD-MuGcx" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Hakeem-Jeffries-2-epa-gmh-250314_1741979688751_hpMain_16x9_992_jpg_92.jpg?itok=lD-MuGcx"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0be29295-f783-4b1a-8794-0562f1a70bf7" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Hakeem-Jeffries-2-epa-gmh-250314_1741979688751_hpMain_16x9_992_jpg_92.jpg?itok=lD-MuGcx" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>"The proceeding initiated by<strong> the so-called U.S. Attorney in New Jersey</strong> is a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate Congress and interfere with our ability to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch."</p>

<p>According to <a href="https://punchbowl.news/article/house/house-dems-upset-mciver/"><em>Punchbowl</em></a> news;</p>

<blockquote>
<p><em><strong>McIver has some</strong> constitutional protection under the Speech or Debate Clause from being charged with a crime while engaged in legitimate legislative activity. The New Jersey Globe reported that McIver has retained defense lawyers to handle the case, including <strong>Paul Fishman,</strong> a former U.S. attorney for New Jersey.</em></p>

<p><em><strong>There will also</strong> be an Ethics Committee investigation into McIver as required under House rules if a member is charged with a crime. Democrats can block anything from happening there.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Now to see how Speaker Mike Johnson and top Republicans handle the situation.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/RepLaMonica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepLaMonica</a>: "That woman was out of control. She was shoving federal agents — she was out of control. The days of that crap are OVER in this country. We're going to have law and order." 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/m3gqxATUMk">pic.twitter.com/m3gqxATUMk</a></p>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1924843771545489841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>*  *  *</p>

<p><strong><em>Best sellers at <a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/?utm_source=zerohedge.com&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=store_promo">ZH Store</a> last week:</em></strong></p>

<ul><li><a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/steak-lover-s-bundle">Steak Lover's Bundle</a><em> (10 grass-fed, GMO-free, hormone-free steaks directly from the farm)</em></li>
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<p>New Jersey Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver has been charged with <strong>assault and impeding law enforcement </strong>for her actions during a protest outside a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey earlier this month.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>During the protest McIver could be seen screaming at and pushing federal agents, saying "I touch whoever I want <strong>motherfucker</strong>... You will pay!"</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Holy shit Rep McIver is an unhinged psychopath. Undercover ICE body cam shows her screeching at federal agents, &amp; physically assaulting them.<br>
"I touch whoever I want MF!... You will pay!”<br><br>
Then goes on TV and plays victim, like a typical dem.<br><br>
PRISON.<a href="https://t.co/SEBCko4G38">pic.twitter.com/SEBCko4G38</a></p>
— Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 (@saras76) <a href="https://twitter.com/saras76/status/1921230714143445369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>The incident also resulted in the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was charged with trespassing - a charge which was later dropped, according to US Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">🚨 Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement. <a href="https://t.co/TV00uwRtKq">pic.twitter.com/TV00uwRtKq</a></p>
— US Attorney Habba (@USAttyHabba) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAttyHabba/status/1924615111198576645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p><strong>McIver was given ample opportunity to come to a peaceful resolution and avoid criminal charges, </strong>Habba said, but the congresswoman reportedly declined, <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/congress/new-jersey-democrat-charged-over-clash-law-enforcement-outside-ice-facility?utm_source=breaking&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter"><em>Just the News</em></a> reports. "No one is above the law — politicians or otherwise," said Habba. "It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are."</p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>Footage of the protest showed the three lawmakers engaged in a "scuffle" with law enforcement, according to the New Jersey Globe, including McIver who appeared to try to protect Baraka during his arrest.</em></p>

<p><em>McIver has denied any wrongdoing and blasted the charges as a partisan attack.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>"The charges against me are purely political," according to a statement by McIver. "They mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight."</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">My statement on the charges filed against me: <a href="https://t.co/urxCAt1ZEc">pic.twitter.com/urxCAt1ZEc</a></p>
— Rep. LaMonica McIver (@RepLaMonica) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepLaMonica/status/1924617694298378675?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>

<p>New Jersey Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez were also involved in the protest but have not been charged with a crime.</p>
</div>
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<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-20T13:44:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/20/2025 - 09:44</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doj-charges-new-jersey-democrat-assault-impeding-law-enforcement-ice-facility-protest


guid: yt:video:73eXRlduSa0
title: Paul Craig Roberts: Trump’s Dark Chess Game: Who Are the Devils in His Corner?
author: ;Dialogue Works
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73eXRlduSa0
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guid: yt:video:Hhpl0Ndi8Sc
title: You Are Already Fully Qualified To Oppose The Genocide In Gaza
author: ;Caitlin Johnstone
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhpl0Ndi8Sc
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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/putin-enjoying-sirius-at-sochi-after
title: Putin Enjoying Sirius at Sochi After the Call
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/putin-enjoying-sirius-at-sochi-after
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<div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c3e0d3a-3223-4d5f-9039-e0bb33ea00aa_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c3e0d3a-3223-4d5f-9039-e0bb33ea00aa_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4c3e0d3a-3223-4d5f-9039-e0bb33ea00aa_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":347713,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://karlof1.substack.com/i/163965958?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4c3e0d3a-3223-4d5f-9039-e0bb33ea00aa_1880x1160.jpeg","isProcessing":false,"align":null}' alt="" fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>After dealing with his chore as Russia’s Head Diplomat, President Putin engaged in some chores IMO he’d deem more pleasing, particularly<a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76954"> his talk </a>with the youth at the Sirius Secondary Special Music School and laureates of the Sozvezdie competition. In the video, you’ll see a very animated President as he chats with the youngsters and their instructors provide some comedy. The kids pass the microphone around and are very relaxed as they talk with a very pleased President. Prior to their meeting, Head of the Talent and Success Foundation Elena Shmeleva gave <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76956">her report</a> after Putin’s opening remarks during a meeting of the Foundation's Board of Trustees, and its that meeting whose transcript we’ll read first:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Dear colleagues and friends, good evening!</p><p>I am glad to welcome you all.</p><p>Almost ten years ago--on June 1, 2015--the Sirius educational Center created on the basis of our Olympic heritage received its first students. I congratulate schoolchildren, students, teachers, coaches, representatives of science and art–-all those who were united and united by Sirius on this milestone date. I would also like to heartily thank its staff and, of course, the head of the Talent and Success Foundation, Elena Vladimirovna Shmeleva, as well as the members of the Board of Trustees for their hard work.</p><p>By the joint efforts of many people, a real team of like-minded people, Sirius has become a unique phenomenon for our country. <em><strong>A platform where young talents from all over Russia get ample opportunities for a confident start in life, learn from outstanding mentors, and participate in the creation of advanced technologies and products.</strong></em></p><p>At the same time, it is necessary to move forward–-this is fully in tune with the spirit, the very idea of <a href="https://ssmsh.sirius.online/">"Sirius"</a> [The school was created in order to form an effective model for identifying talented children and youth, as well as to carry out targeted training of musicians in the field of classical musical and performing arts, therefore unique educational programs of primary and secondary vocational education have been developed for the school.] . And here it is fundamentally important that it is tightly integrated into the achievement of our national goals, <em><strong>so that its role and contribution to the development of the entire country increases.</strong></em></p><p>This fall, we will meet separately to discuss the results achieved and set new goals. <em><strong>When developing such plans, it is necessary to take into account the ideas offered by Sirius students themselves, its teachers and the community of pupils</strong></em>, many of whom have already achieved significant success in science, culture and sports. Of course, it is important for us that young people actively participate in the fate of Russia, apply their knowledge and talent for the benefit of their regions and our entire Fatherland as a whole. We will continue to support them in this regard.</p><p>Let me remind you that starting from 2015, a monthly payment of 20 thousand rubles is received annually by six and a half thousand of the most gifted students, including many Sirius students. Almost all of them work in domestic companies after graduation or have entered master's or postgraduate programs in Russian universities. This is a very good result, which shows that the grant support program has become popular and important for the entire educational process and has become an important tool for developing the country's human resources potential.</p><p>But what would you like to mention separately? The right to such monthly incentive payments should be not only for students who have shown outstanding academic achievements, but also for young athletes, musicians, artists, and artisans at Sirius: these are opera and ballet artists, winners and prize-winners of reputable Russian and international creative competitions and sports competitions.</p><p><em><strong>I ask the Government to make the necessary changes to the relevant regulations and legal acts so that the mechanism for distributing grants more fully meets not only the tasks of ensuring technological leadership, but also our cultural and value sovereignty.</strong></em></p><p>Let me repeat once again, breakthroughs in technology, as well as triumphs in the field of sports and art are equally significant for Russia. Therefore, from the very beginning<em><strong>, a special, fully harmonious educational environment was formed at Sirius</strong></em>. Young physicists, mathematicians, hockey players, and musicians study, as they say, under one roof. They attend sports competitions and concerts and, of course, listen to lectures on history, literature, art, and the Russian language. It is the study of humanitarian subjects that helps to educate real citizens, patriots of the country.</p><p><em><strong>Such comprehensive and, I repeat, fully harmonious development of children and young people should be the basis of all levels of national education. And here we must preserve and develop the best traditions that distinguished both the pre-revolutionary and Soviet educational systems.</strong></em></p><p>In particular, it is important that music and fine arts classes are held at a truly decent, modern level. At the same time, of course, not at the expense of increasing the load on children.</p><p>I consider it necessary that Sirius, together with leading educational organizations in the field of art, take part in creating a new methodology for teaching these creative disciplines at school. Just now, at a <a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.2141cb98-682bbe43-4bbd999c-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76954">meeting</a>, one of the participants in the first part of our visit to Sirius spoke about this. Later, I would like to discuss these issues with my colleagues from the Administration and the Government–-we are talking about strengthening the teaching of, say, music—we were talking about teaching music in preschool institutions and first grades of school. But as for Sirius, I will repeat once again: there are innovative approaches and practices that are born and honed thanks to outstanding teachers and artists. They must be scaled.</p><p>I am sure that Sirius' educational activities have significantly expanded thanks to the creation of a special secondary music school here, where we are currently located. I would like to add that a concert center is also planned to open in Sirius this year. It will become one of the largest and most modern venues for classical art not only in Russia, but, judging by what I have heard, in the world as well.</p><p>In this regard, I think it is right to focus on the development of music education for gifted children today, during the meeting of the Board of Trustees, and to consider this issue in a comprehensive manner. This applies to teaching methods, the development of the domestic industry of musical instruments, including children's instruments, and, of course, professional development of teachers in the field of art.</p><p>We discussed this topic during our <a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.2141cb98-682bbe43-4bbd999c-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/events/president/news/72430">visit</a> to Sirius in the fall of 2023. As a result, a number of additional decisions were made. I would like to talk today about how they are implemented.</p><p>A word to Elena Vladimirovna Shmeleva.</p><p><strong><a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.2141cb98-682bbe43-4bbd999c-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/716/events">E. Shmeleva </a>:</strong> Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Dear colleagues!</p><p>I am very glad that today's meeting is being held here, at our new Secondary Special Music School "Sirius". This is because art has always—thanks to Mr Putin, to the fact that we immediately formulated our development model in this way–-always been our basic direction of development. Of the 77,000 children who have completed Sirius programs, 21,000 are graduates of the Art program.</p><p>Thus, our fundamental knowledge in the field of natural sciences and mathematics is always supplemented by artistic components, and this has always been the case. <em><strong>This is fundamentally important for the comprehensive development of the individual, for the formation of young people, for their upbringing and the traditional values that we transmit to them in this way.</strong></em></p><p>And of course, our inspiring environment is very important, we really create it with leading experts—Yasuhiso Toyota, who created unique acoustics here, worked with our leading teachers and engineers. This is why these unique and iconic objects form both the image of the federal territory and set our national and–-thank you so much for describing them in this way—world landmarks in the field of culture and art.</p><p>This perfection of both architectural and musical performance shapes our children's desire for constant growth, for the development of performing culture, since we are in a music school. It seems to us that this beauty makes a desirable choice in favor of professional music classes.</p><p>Therefore, I am very grateful to you, Sergey Pavlovich [Roldugin], Valery Abisalovich Gergiev, Pavel Sergeevich Milyukov, Alexey Alekseevich Shalashov, for taking such a keen part in the creation of our unique objects. And here I will continue: of course, the best teacher is a playing coach.</p><p>Sergey Pavlovich's own selfless work, as well as the examples of Pavel Milyukov and Vadim Rudenko–-I introduced you to him today, Mr Putin–-show <em><strong>that Sirius has become attractive for the most talented Russian performers who combine their artistic careers with their teaching careers. And it should become ubiquitous.</strong></em></p><p>If we talk about a complete solution, then, of course, we are ready to use our own example to present a harmonious regulatory model for combining these two important hypostases. And when we open our new concert center–-and the construction is finished, and I invite you in October, I would be very grateful if we hold a meeting and open our concert center, which is already being put into operation—we will definitely raise the issue of creating a symphony orchestra with a youth student internship on the federal territory a group in such a symphony orchestra.</p><p>We believe that such groups should be created with all symphony orchestras of the country. This will make it possible to train orchestra members academically and efficiently and will create conditions for teaching activities of existing orchestras–-as Sergey Pavlovich does, and we are very grateful for this. In this case, the new Sirius music School will continue to develop in close cooperation with the country's leading conservatories and philharmonic societies, and the new regulatory model of its work will also help the ten existing secondary specialized music schools in Russia.</p><p>Mr Putin, we have already discussed this briefly with Olga Borisovna Lyubimova. With your support, we can develop all this, of course. Why? Because, of course, you said that professional education is a stage where young musicians need to be taught various subjects as comprehensively as possible. Therefore, we use an individual approach: when we pay great attention to the regular concert practice of students and the creation of a creative environment, we interact with leading musicians of the country.</p><p>It seems to us that if we continue to cooperate with leading opera and ballet theaters in this way, it will help us create our own ballet school. Svetlana Zakharova has been developing this direction since the creation of Sirius, and Nikolai Tsiskaridze has been working as part of the UME for Performing Arts–-of course, they will help us. That is why we ask you, Mr Putin, to support the construction of the Sirius Ballet School on the federal territory.</p><p>But if we return to music, I will note that we listen to children from all regions, both in preschool and at the age of 7-12 years, as you have just seen, because this age is critical for starting training in a number of instruments. In the federal territory, wide opportunities for additional music education have been created at the expense of the budget. In fact, this is a new facet of your proposed model of identifying talented children and–-when we identified them--focused training in the field of classical music and performing arts.</p><p>As the National Methodological Center for Talent Development that you have given us, Mr President, we are ready to expand as much as possible the competitions that have proven themselves in these age groups. First of all, the Praktika festival–-we are ready to develop it and invite it to the federal territory.</p><p>But when we started building and opening a school, we were faced with the fact that musical instruments are only available on the market to a limited extent. These are either some not very high-quality samples, or very expensive professional tools that are inaccessible to most students. <em><strong>There are practically no musical instruments of the size of three-quarters, or just children's size, especially in the segment of wind and complex instruments: bayan, accordion, which were previously produced mainly abroad and required specialized production.</strong></em></p><p>Of course, this directly affects the effectiveness of children's learning. We believe that along with the primary task of producing instruments and equipping schools, it is important to pay attention to the service, to high-quality, systematic maintenance of instruments that are currently available in secondary special music schools, children's art schools, and children's music schools. And, of course, prepare appropriate personnel and, possibly, extend support measures to service companies.</p><p>We have already shown you an exhibition of musical instruments today—this is part of our competition "Constellation". We cooperate with leading manufacturers, and I am sure that we could be useful as an interested partner in the development of the state program to support manufacturers–-both educational and professional musical instruments—and service organizations.</p><p>If we talk about fulfilling the instructions of the previous Board of Trustees, I will start with the fact that the tasks of the National Methodological Center include a comprehensive program to improve the quality of natural science and mathematics education.</p><p>I would like to immediately mention the role of our university-–- Sirius University of Science and Technology, which we created on your behalf in 2019--in systematically supporting talents who open up new scientific directions, as well as new educational and international programs. This is an interdisciplinary approach, and the work of teachers and researchers is shown in the experimental program.</p><p>In this case, one of the students spoke from the specialty today. After the ninth grade in information security, we opened a specialty, and now we are in the second year of recruitment for the program. It is effective on the part of employers and partners. This is how we want to continue, in particular by developing the first water and climate park, a natural park, and a national park.</p><p>It seems to us that the development of eco-tourism, architecture, implementation and solutions that take into account environmental issues–-you also answered children's questions today, talked about the environment, about this logic of some kind of environmental choice—and it seems to us that this rational management of natural resources here, in Sirius, should be foundational and grow into a full-fledged national school, setting standards for a new quality of life in harmony with nature and accompanying our graduates.</p><p>The exhibition that is currently being presented here is called "Fragile Beauty", and it is dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity, because we are located in the Caucasus, in the subtropical point of Russia, and on this basis we became a partner of UNESCO in 2023. Watercolour drawings and ceramics represent us as a unique point on the map of Russia, including artistic ones.</p><p>Under the guidance of leading experts from the Sergei Nikolaevich Andriyaka Academy–-he started this field here—the Union of Potters of Russia, and other creative universities, we would certainly like to draw attention to the problem of preserving biodiversity in the face of environmental challenges and unite the world's youth. This exhibition has already been hosted in Abu Dhabi this year, and we are preparing to visit New Delhi and Astana.</p><p>This "Talent Summit" together with the National Symphony Youth Orchestra, which was also created on your behalf in 2018, and thank you very much for this project, we are jointly showing the possibilities of our education system and our youth. Here, too, it is very pleasant to note that many soloists of the Russian Symphony Youth Orchestra have started teaching at Sirius.</p><p>We think that we have a very popular program "Pedagogy of talent development", which is now scaling up. In the same way, we can establish network interaction with all special music schools and thus increase the number of bright teachers both in these schools and in advanced training programs for music teachers. Thank you very much for this assignment and for being able to expand them all the time.</p><p>In what frame of organization? This is the third year that we have been developing a network of Sirius partners on your behalf, we call them Sirius associate partners, and the methodological platforms that we need to improve the skills of teachers: these are the most powerful schools, the most powerful teachers in the country who open their best programs and best practices for professional development, which we conduct in a networked way throughout Russia.</p><p>Taking into account the creation of this special music school, we suggest that all ten schools that have already been established and are working should join this network. And taking into account the importance, duration and objective success of this project, we ask you to entrust us with the opportunity to independently determine programs and textbooks in Sirius ' core areas for these leading schools of our network, using the expertise of our national methodological center, namely the foundation.</p><p>We also ask you to grant us, the foundation, the status of a basic organization for working with the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to identify, support and develop talents and to create the same regional center on the model of Sirius—until the moment when it will be possible there. We are also ready to work with the Republic of Abkhazia in this area.</p><p>Taking into account our topic of discussion, taking into account the fact that we often talk about the experiment in the context of "Sirius"—starting with the kindergarten experiment—and what was heard today, of course, we believe that we should not miss the opportunity to gain musical knowledge in primary school for all children. And, of course, our specialty classes at the secondary special music school are organically combined with general education.</p><p>Everything is done here to ensure that both children in music schools, and children in our regular kindergartens and elementary schools form basic skills for the child's future success. Today, both adults and children discussed this at a meeting with you. But we really believe that" Sirius " was built by mathematicians and musicians–-very similar in this respect. This means that this is a basic need, a basic basis for education.</p><p>Of course, the most important task of preschool and primary education is to provide and integrate these creative classes, creative practices: music, fine arts, decorative and applied arts, and, perhaps, theater activities. We will certainly try to implement such an integrated approach as part of our experiment that you have commissioned us to do. at the level of primary school and 5th and 6th grades, when we integrate the creative component into the program as much as possible, we include regular practical classes in music, visual arts, and theater.</p><p>And, of course, we will train teachers who are familiar with such methods of integration into the education and development of creative thinking in children. Because we educate engineers and scientists, and this creative environment, which can only be formed in this way, will certainly expand the potential, on the one hand, for extracurricular activities, on the other hand, for developing abilities, strengthening connections and–-this is very important–-for a positive self-assessment of the child.</p><p>And, of course, our program of support for teachers in the field of art should also include expanding the infrastructure: we need to create more places for practicing such practices, maybe build new schools according to new standards. We are also ready to summarize and propose these standards. And we also need to expand access to tools–-we talked about this one way or another today. And, yes, methods—thank you for mentioning this just now—of teaching talented children, identifying talented children.</p><p>We already did this in the field of sports two years ago. We have comprehensively reviewed the programs of harmonization of children's sports activities. Today, we actively develop student sports festivals and train professional athletes with leading sports federations using our own methods, developing interdisciplinary sports research.</p><p>And I want to end with the fact that a lot of foreign delegations come to us. Almost 1,500 children from 85 countries have already participated in our educational events and programs. Foreign colleges are very actively involved in any events with our leading trainers and teachers, especially in the field of mathematics, natural sciences, and art.</p><p>Just the day before yesterday, we finished the Open International Biology Olympiad, which was attended by schoolchildren from 14 countries of the world. In the fall, we will host international Olympiads in astronomy, ecology, climate change, and the Junior Science Olympiad.</p><p>The international significance that Sirius is gaining more and more is connected with the continuation of the initiatives of the World Youth Festival 2024 and new scientific and practical student schools. You also said this today: genetics, biotechnology, mathematics, ecology, and architecture. And this, of course, arouses great interest, and this interest attracts more and more foreign schoolchildren and students in general. We have started preparing for the International Festival in 2030.</p><p>Therefore, it seems to me that annual international music festivals can become an important direction for the further development of Sirius, developing not only our concert activities, but also expanding opportunities for young performers. They will become a powerful tool for cultural diplomacy and very important, personal, creative ties.</p><p>We propose to establish here, on the federal territory, an international festival of culture of the EAEU and BRICS countries, which will become a center for creative exchange and intercultural dialogue of children and teachers from all our friendly countries.</p><p>Thank you for your visit, Mr President, and for your attention. [My Emphasis]    </p></blockquote><p>The growth of Sirius is fantastic. Putin will give a history of its origin. I linked to the Sirius main page which has an English component, although translating the Russian gives you more information. As noted yet again, educational improvement and expansion is at the top of the National Project list. Here in the Empire, all federal support for education is deemed unproductive and is being gutted while the opposite occurs in the nations the Empire deems adversarial. The Greed of the Few Outweighs the Needs of the Many. And now to the talk that preceded the above meeting:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Mikhail Pirozhenko:</strong> Hello, Mr President! My name is Mikhail Pirozhenko. I am 15 years old, I came from St. Petersburg.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Me too.</p><p><strong>M. Pirozhenko: </strong>I'm a pianist–-just like my whole family. I learned about Sirius from my older brother: I have already been here twice, and I really want to go for the third time this year. I've always really liked the fact that I can communicate not only with musicians like me, but also with guys from other directions.</p><p>It is very interesting why these three areas of activity exist at Sirius in general: sports, science and art. And how did the idea of creating Sirius even come about? Maybe you were inspired by something? Any places that look anything like this?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> No. Everything was more prosaic: when the Olympic Games ended, the question arose about what to do with these structures and how to use it all. There were a lot of different proposals, and in the end, <em><strong>the idea came to mind that we have traditionally paid such special attention to some areas of training of young specialists in the Soviet Union, and then in Russia, and schools for training specialists have been created starting from a fairly young age of children. </strong></em>These are special, specialized physics and mathematics schools, chemical schools, and then we have biology-biological schools, that is, specialized educational institutions. That's how it started, the idea came up–- to gather guys from all over the country here for a certain time, then they decided that it would be 20 with a little more days—21 days, yes, in my opinion.</p><p><strong><a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.a3a95bde-682bbf10-263800c2-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/716/events">E. Shmeleva </a>:</strong> 24.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Then I thought: why only natural discipline? We have specialized music schools attached to conservatories, and we have several world-class–-maybe even not only world-class, above-world-class--choreographic schools that train ballet dancers. And so, we immediately expanded, from the first steps, the direction of Sirius' activities. So, it came up, by itself somehow.</p><p>I've already talked about this–-how the name itself came to mind. I asked my assistants to name the brightest star in the sky, and they said, " Sirius." Since gifted young people, gifted children, and teenagers should come here, this is how the name "Sirius" came about.</p><p>What you see here, what I'm going to look at now, is a derivative of the original ideas, this is already the development of Sirius itself–-the creation of this school, and next to it a concert hall. I hope that all this meets the best international standards, and in some ways even exceeds them.</p><p><em><strong>This was the idea of the Olympic legacy, so that it would serve, serve our country, serve people in the best possible way.</strong></em> In general, I believe that this goal has been achieved. We just need to go further and develop Sirius . The creation of such a music school, where we are now, is a movement in this direction.</p><p>I hope that everything will work out for you here, you will enjoy it, and it will help you discover your talent. The place is good, the teachers are great, I hope that the sound is also there—Toyota has also worked on this. Because the sound in such rooms is very important, it's like a musical instrument, as Sergey Pavlovich [Roldugin] says all the time. Sergey Pavlovich keeps telling me what can be said here that is so significant in this matter. The sound in the hall is also like a musical instrument, it should correspond to what is happening here. I hope that this will be the case here, as well as in the concert hall. We'll go down there and take a look, right? Or not?</p><p><strong>Elena Shmeleva:</strong> Not this time, but it's almost ready, almost ready. And we are already officially inviting you and the guys to its opening in October, and we are very happy.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> It looks beautiful. I really hope that everything inside will meet the goals and objectives that we set for ourselves.</p><p><strong>Elena Shmeleva:</strong> If possible, we have musicians ahead—taking into account the fact that this is a music school. Although there are guys from all directions.</p><p>Guys, musicians, please, who else would like to ask a question?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> For God's sake, please.</p><p><strong>E. Shmeleva: </strong>Dasha Malakhova.</p><p><strong>Dmitry Malakhova:</strong> Hello, Mr President. My name is Daria Malakhova. I am 16 years old and I came from the city of Arkhangelsk. This is the second time I have been to Sirius in the direction of "Musical and Performing Arts".</p><p>Since childhood, I was immersed in the world of creativity, and music surrounded me everywhere and everywhere. And when I was three, I went to music school, and when I was six, I went to art school. Now I continue to develop in this direction, and, of course, Sirius helps me a lot.</p><p>I would like to ask you, because I know that since your childhood you have been studying the piano and mastered this instrument: please tell me if you manage to play this instrument, if you have such an opportunity? What role do you pay to music in your daily life, despite such a difficult work schedule? And do you think that music is really important, and how did it influence the formation of your personality?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Well, first of all, unfortunately, I have never played the piano, and I regret it, because of course it enriches me. Music, as well as painting, if it is a part of our life since childhood, then it forms a person, forms a personality, forms a worldview, attitude to the world around us and to ourselves. After all, music is harmony, but <em><strong>harmony is what, being present in a person, makes him happy in the end.</strong></em></p><p>You know, I lived in a very simple family, it was far from music, from art, it is a working family.</p><p>But somehow it so happened that somewhere in high school I started visiting concert halls, the Philharmonic hall—in St. Petersburg there are places to go to listen to good music--and then gradually, gradually more and more often. After all, this is also an art–-to feel art, to feel music, to understand it, to somehow tune in to this wave. This is an unconscious thing, not so rational, or maybe not at all rational.</p><p>But the ability to get pleasure from what you see and hear from painting or from music, it should also be brought up. And I didn't have the same upbringing as you: music school and so on. But St. Petersburg offered such an opportunity, and, thank God, I took advantage of it. So gradually, gradually… Then we were friends with Sergey Pavlovich, he began to invite me to all sorts of events, concerts and so on, and then I went to them without him.</p><p>I think that the feeling of music or the feeling of ballet, the feeling of painting, it gradually, gradually brought up in me what, of course, I always needed in my life, supported, formed an attitude to certain events, to certain people. And I think that this is very important as an element of any person's upbringing. We will support this in every possible way, just as we do here and now.</p><p><strong>Dmitry Malakhova:</strong> Thank you for your reply.</p><p><strong>A. Tsukanova:</strong> Hello. Vladimir Vladimirovich!</p><p>My name is Anna Tsukanova. I am 17 years old, and I came from the city of Barnaul. I am studying in the Musical and Performing Arts program.</p><p>I have been playing the piano for 12 years and I am striving to become a professional musician. I understand that this requires a lot of work and improvement, and Sirius helps me a lot in this. This is my fourth and last time here, and each of these times gives a powerful boost to my professional growth, gives me energy and inspiration.</p><p>But I also understand that a musician needs not only professional skills, but also personal qualities. One of these qualities is probably leadership, so that you can lead an orchestra and play in an ensemble.</p><p>As President, you are the person with the most developed leadership qualities for me. I would like to ask you: are there any ways to develop them? Do you think leadership is given to us from birth or can it be acquired in the process of education, gaining experience? And did you specifically develop these qualities in yourself, or have they always been with you? Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>It is difficult to say whether it is an innate quality or not. Geneticists must determine this. But, probably, of course, this talent is largely inherited. But there are some things that—<em><strong>even if you have an innate talent–-without effort, without investment, are unlikely to give you the opportunity to express yourself as vividly as, say, Mozart had</strong></em>. It is known what was happening in his family, he was practically tormented by these activities. There are many other examples of this kind, when a child fainted, moreover, the mother believed that he died, and then he came to himself and continued to study music. Such incredible hard work, of course, accompanies success, including for very gifted or even brilliant people.</p><p>So how can you tell which is more important here: hard work, self-improvement, or innate qualities? For maximum results, for maximum effect, you probably need a combination of both. Of course, we need to work on this, but what about it? <em><strong>So simply, in itself, success will not fall from the sky.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Vladimir Chichilenko:</strong> Hello, Mr President!</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Good morning.</p><p><strong>V. Chichilenko:</strong> I am a sixth-grade student at the Sirius Secondary special Music School. My name is Vera Chichilenko and I am 13 years old.</p><p>As a child, I loved flying planes and wanted to be a flight attendant. But then sports came into my life, and I dreamed of becoming a master of sports in rhythmic gymnastics. When I was seven years old, I entered a music school with a cello class, and my dream now is to become a professional musician.</p><p>What did you dream about as a child: at the age of 5, 10, 15? And what do you dream about now?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> When I was 5 or 10 years old, what I was interested in, what I dreamed about: now I don't want to invent anything for you, now it's hard for me to remember what happened when I was five years old–-just vaguely. And I remember certain things, oddly enough. What did you dream about? After all, everything depends on the situation, depends on our level of development, perception of the world around us, on the people who surround you. From there--from art, by the way, from music, from the opportunity to visit museums, images arise, some goals arise, preferences are formed.</p><p>The more positive external influence we have, the brighter and more concrete our plans and dreams become. I'm sure I had my own, too. But when I became more mature, when I already chose a profession, everything turned out differently here, I have already said this many times. Boys often choose: I wanted to be a pilot, then a sailor, I chose such heroic professions.</p><p>But gradually, gradually, I was formed as a person, as a person. Of course, I was very attracted to the way people act, how people who devote their lives to their country live. That's where the desire to work in the foreign intelligence agencies came from, and then everything went further and came to what I am doing today.</p><p>I would very much like you and your peers to have the same way of life, so that you ultimately choose the business to which you are ready to devote your life. Then life will be interesting, and you will achieve maximum results in the business to which you will devote this life.</p><p><strong>Pavel Bregadze:</strong> Hello, Mr President!</p><p>My name is Peter Bregadze, I am 12 years old. I am a musician and I play the flute, I study at this secondary special music school. I moved here last year and now live separately from my parents. Of course, I miss them and communicate with them every day.</p><p>What did your family mean to you during your high school years? Maybe there are some episodes from your childhood related to your parents that you remember all your life? Can you tell me if it's not a secret?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I've already said this many times, and frankly, I don't want to repeat myself. But there were, of course, episodes that I still have so vividly in my mind: when I was about the same age as you, and a little older.</p><p>You know what is most important and interesting for me, and what, apparently, influenced my character, the formation of me as a person: my parents always made a choice when solving some issues of family life, when solving some issues related to my future, <em><strong>I want to emphasize this in my favor.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>And this is something that is firmly in my mind, this is such gratitude to my parents for treating me like this, with such love.</strong></em> This is where love manifests itself, not just in smacking lips, hugging and kissing, although this is also important, it also matters.</p><p>But in general, I saw, even, you know, when I made a decision about where to study, which university to choose, and so on: my parents wanted one thing, because it was easier that way, I mean that I was involved in sports and some higher educational institutions were ready to take me almost without exams at all. And my coach, as it were, pushed my family to do this, with the best of intentions. And it was easier that way. <em><strong>But I made my own choice, which looked quite difficult at that time. And when my parents saw that this was my choice, I still remember it, they treated it with great respect and in the end did not bother me, on the contrary, supported me.</strong></em></p><p>And so it has always been, on all issues. <em><strong>They always chose me. I will never forget it and will always be grateful to them for it</strong></em>.</p><p><strong>A. Kuzbekova:</strong> Good evening, Vladimir Vladimirovich!</p><p>My name is Asel Kuzbekova. I am 12 years old, I am a student of the 6th grade of this secondary special music school, I play the violin. My most cherished wish is to learn to play the violin just like my favorite violinist Pavel Milyakov.</p><p>And if you caught a goldfish, what would you make a wish for?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Based on environmental considerations, I would simply let the fish go free and not bother it to fulfill my wishes. I would try to formulate my own goals and achieve them.</p><p>Are you done here?" Maybe the guys will play something then?</p><p><strong>Elena Shmeleva:</strong> Yes, but I think we still have some questions.</p><p><strong>Dmitry Sakharov:</strong> Hello, Mr President!</p><p>My name is Daniel Sakharov, I came from the city of Yekaterinburg. I'm 17 years old. In my hometown, I finish my second year at the Sverdlovsk Art School.</p><p>Since childhood, I was attracted to nature and everything it creates in this world, and in the future I would like to become an artist who would show people their true, real beginning, which cannot be taken away with the birth of each person. I believe that this could improve the lives and worldviews of future generations. For me, as for all future artists, it is important that their work resonates in the soul of the viewer and carries an idea that could help improve the lives and worldviews of future generations.</p><p>And this is a question for you, Mr President. What values do you think contemporary artists should convey? What qualities should a contemporary artist have in order for society to hear him? Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <em><strong>There is only one biblical value</strong></em>: the most important thing is love. Love for what you do, love for the world around you, for the people who surround you.</p><p>I don't know, you know better, you are a future professional artist, as far as I understand, so you should already feel for yourself what moves you, what you want to convey to your audience. This is extremely important. <em><strong>As I understand it, it is not just necessary and important to portray something beautifully, but it is important to convey to people your opinion about how you feel about what you portray: to nature, to man, to anything.</strong></em></p><p>By the way, photography is also creative, but nevertheless it–-boom!-–reflects something, a real object, and the artist still wants to convey his vision first of all to the viewer, to another person. What is important here is not even the object that is depicted, but the attitude of the person who depicts this object or nature, and even a still life. This is also the artist's attitude to what he does. The artist himself, his attitude to the world, is important. This, I think, is the point, and it is not easy to do, as I understand it.</p><p><em><strong>It is important to have a talent for portraying, but it is even more important to be able to convey, to be able to convey to the viewer your attitude to what you are portraying. This is the most important thing, the most difficult, but the most valuable.</strong></em> [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>IMO, the key is to be provided the opportunity to explore your possibilities, to discover whatever innate talent you might have. Billions of people are denied that opportunity which is a detriment to Humanity’s advancement—how many millions of creative people were/are there that never discovered they were creative because they never were provided with the opportunity to discover what their potential. For the vast multitude, success doesn’t “fall from the stars,” but for some who are provided with plenty of opportunities and helped/able to rebound after failure, they are provided with other means that allow them to be successful, not because they have merit but because they have place. Although to be fair, some having place also possess merit and become noteworthy. Later, Putin lets us in on part of his history relative to his upbringing and how it was important for him to have his parents’ support in his life-choice—that they were always for him. </p><p>Putin’s closing remarks make me think he was also dealing with how to communicate with an Other, in this case President Trump.</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><p> </p>

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guid: 1031949 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: What Joe Biden's Cancer Can (And Should) Teach Us About The Media
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/what-joe-bidens-cancer-can-and-should-teach-us-about-media
hash: ߆޿��R&�z��*
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">What Joe Biden's Cancer Can (And Should) Teach Us About The Media</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://off-guardian.org/2025/05/19/what-joe-bidens-cancer-can-and-should-teach-us-about-the-media/"><em>Authored by Kit Knightly via Off-Guardian.org,</em></a></p>

<p>Last night the news broke that former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer, which has already metastasized to his bones.</p>

<p><strong>The conversation has gone in two predictable directions.</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/biden-oval-office-black-and-whit.jpg?itok=m2IYwflL" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/biden-oval-office-black-and-whit.jpg?itok=m2IYwflL"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a55698a0-2904-4b71-8c7e-9ab2d4b19c91" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="250" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/biden-oval-office-black-and-whit.jpg?itok=m2IYwflL" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>On the one hand you have the predictable<strong> <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/messages-of-support-pour-in-for-joe-biden-after-prostate-cancer-diagnosis-13370842">“out pouring of support”</a> </strong>from fans of Team Blue, “liberal” journalists and celebrities.</p>

<p>On the other hand you have cynical commentary from Team Red, <strong>questioning the timing of the announcement</strong> and wondering how someone with such a high profile and (presumably) first class medical care could have cancer missed until such a late stage.</p>

<p><strong>A third, quieter, option is to suggest a connection between this cancer and the Covid “vaccine”.</strong></p>

<p>(A possibility I reject out of hand, because I don’t believe there is any chance at all he was really given the experimental shot.)</p>

<p>But all of these conversations miss the point.</p>

<p><strong>The question is not <em>“what caused Biden’s cancer?”</em> or <em>“why did they cover up Biden’s cancer?”</em> it’s <em>“why are they telling us Biden has cancer?”</em></strong></p>

<p>Remember, the same media reporting <em>“Biden has cancer”</em> spent months reporting <em>“Biden doesn’t have dementia”</em> and <em>“Biden’s as sharp as ever”</em>, despite plain evidence to the contrary.</p>

<p><strong>They lied. Over and and over again, for years.</strong> </p>

<p>They quite literally told you to disregard the evidence of your eyes and ears.</p>

<p>Until they stopped, and suddenly Joe Biden’s “mental decline” was no longer a conspiracy theory, but totally real and the reason to put Kamala Harris on the ballot.</p>

<p>Joe Biden’s mental acuity did not change, all that changed was the requirement of the narrative.</p>

<p><strong>Media reportage has no correlation with the truth. </strong></p>

<p>Not <em>negative</em> correlation, <em>no</em> correlation. They are unrelated.</p>

<p>If Joe Biden <em>had</em> cancer, and it was <strong>narratively convenient</strong> that he did <em>not</em>, they would say he did not.</p>

<p>If Joe Biden <em>didn’t</em> have cancer, and it was<strong> narratively convenient</strong> that he<em> did</em>, they would say he did.</p>

<p>If it becomes <strong>narratively convenient</strong> that Biden <em>no longer has cancer</em>, they will just say it went away – and that will have no bearing or relation on whether or not it did go away, or ever existed in the first place.</p>

<p>If Joe Biden died tomorrow, and it was<strong> narratively convenient </strong>he was alive, they would pretend he was alive. </p>

<p>And with current video and photo editing software it wouldn’t even be that hard.</p>

<p><strong>The news cycle has a purpose that is not related to facts or truth – again, not <em>“opposed to”</em> but <em>“not related”</em> – and as such our conversations about “the news” must be had, almost entirely, on the meta level.</strong></p>

<p><em>Why this? Why now?</em></p>

<p>I really feel like I have said this a lot.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-20T01:45:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 21:45</span>


guid: https://medium.com/p/d124d7d31db9
title: Prostate Cancer Has A Right To Exist. Biden’s Tumor Has A Right To Defend Itself.
author: ;Caitlin Johnstone
hash: _������[��\�)
tags: #gaza #palestine #israel #biden #news
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content:
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*VzeYpw0spdP5cP42nTcneg.png"></figure><h4><strong>Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix</strong></h4><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9-RGL8umWo"><em>Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley)</em></a>:</p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FE9-RGL8umWo%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;display_name=YouTube&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DE9-RGL8umWo&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FE9-RGL8umWo%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"><a href="https://medium.com/media/c92b2a6186c65d7621da4d9a3ad378f3/href">https://medium.com/media/c92b2a6186c65d7621da4d9a3ad378f3/href</a></iframe><p>❖</p><p>Joe Biden <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/18/politics/joe-biden-prostate-cancer">reportedly</a> has an aggressive form of prostate cancer which has spread to his bones.</p><p>On this day we must all stand in solidarity with Biden’s cancerous growth. Prostate cancer has a right to exist. Biden’s malignant metastatic tumor must be given everything it needs to defend itself from unprovoked attacks by radical oncologists.</p><p>❖</p><p>None of the people wishing Biden well today have ever really stood for anything. Nobody who chides those who are celebrating his cancer diagnosis actually cares about human beings. They inhabit a different moral universe from the rest of us. One where politeness and decorum matter more than human lives. One where it’s more important to preserve one’s political image in the eyes of the establishment than it is to oppose an active genocide. One where a rude tweet about a blood-soaked monster provokes more outrage than daily footage of children ripped to shreds by western-supplied munitions.</p><p>Those who are applauding Biden’s tumor today are obviously not saying that cancer is good. They are saying that Biden’s victims matter more than the rules of imperial etiquette. They are saying the mountains of human corpses he created matter more than protecting the feelings of those who believe he’s a swell guy. They are rejecting the empire’s demand that they dehumanize and dismiss all those people who were killed, crippled, displaced, traumatized and bereaved by the abuses of this fugitive from The Hague in order to demonstrate docility and obedience to their masters.</p><p>When Biden finally dies there will be people falling all over themselves to sanctify his image and grieve him as a kind and beneficent leader, and there will be those lining up to piss on his grave. The latter group will be of far greater moral quality than the former, no matter what they try to tell you.</p><p>❖</p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?type=text%2Fhtml&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;schema=twitter&amp;url=https%3A//x.com/caitoz/status/1923533201991139679&amp;image=" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"><a href="https://medium.com/media/2d1a924a683162cabce813a3ba526111/href">https://medium.com/media/2d1a924a683162cabce813a3ba526111/href</a></iframe><p>❖</p><p>Israel has <a href="https://news.antiwar.com/2025/05/18/israeli-strikes-kill-hundreds-in-gaza-as-idf-announces-extensive-ground-operations/">greatly escalated</a> its murderous aggressions in Gaza in its efforts to fully capture the enclave and empty it of its inhabitants.</p><p>Opposing Israel’s western-backed genocide in Gaza is the bare-minimum requirement for anyone to take you seriously on any other issue, in the same way nobody cares what a neo-Nazi thinks about healthcare or what someone who wants to abolish age of consent laws thinks about taxes.</p><p>❖</p><p>Israel and its apologists permanently lost the argument as soon as they started telling you it’s racist to oppose genocide. From that point on there was no reason to listen to them or engage them in any way.</p><p>❖</p><p>They’re trying to tell you that genocide is normal. THEY’RE TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT GENOCIDE IS NORMAL. Reject the mainstream western worldview. Everything you’ve been taught about the world is a lie.</p><p>❖</p><p>Saying the US is “complicit” in the Gaza genocide is like saying Hitler was complicit in the Holocaust. This is the USA’s genocide as much as it is Israel’s.</p><p>If you saw one man holding someone down while another man slashes their throat, you wouldn’t say you saw one murderer and one complicit bystander, you would say you saw someone being murdered by two men.</p><p>If you drove your friend to the house of someone you hate, helped him break in, tackled your victim together, handed your friend a knife, held your victim down while your friend slit their throat, and then drove the getaway car and helped your friend dispose of the evidence, nobody would describe you as merely “complicit” in that crime. If you were caught, you would both be charged with premeditated homicide, and everyone would view you as a murderer.</p><p>The US — and to a lesser extent its western allies — have been actively participating in this genocide since day one. They’ve been supplying the weapons. They’ve been providing military intelligence. They’ve been backing Israel in the UN. They’ve been bombing Yemen off and on to stop it from imposing a blockade in an effort to rescue Gaza. They’ve been providing political and diplomatic cover to ensure that the genocide can continue uninterrupted without any consequences.</p><p>Israeli military insiders have <a href="https://news.antiwar.com/2024/09/03/israeli-official-without-us-aid-israel-couldnt-sustain-gaza-operations-for-more-than-a-few-months/">openly</a> <a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/07/02/former-israeli-pm-admits-israels-war-crimes-cant-happen-without-us-support/">acknowledged</a> that this genocide would have been impossible without Washington’s backing. Both Biden and Trump <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/21/biden-stop-gaza-bombing-genocide-israel">have had the ability</a> to end this nightmare at any time with a single phone call threatening to withhold aid if peace isn’t made. Instead of making that call, they have continued knowingly and actively participating in the crime. Holding onto the struggling victim while the knife blade comes down.</p><p>The argument for the US-led world order is over. It’s done. There is no coming back from this. That they would commit history’s first live-streamed genocide in full view of the entire world means they cannot be left to lead the world any longer. The globe-spanning power structure that is loosely centralized around Washington must be brought down. Humanity has no future if these monsters are left in charge.</p><p>_________________</p><p><em>My work is </em><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/05/24/my-experiments-with-hacking-capitalism/"><em>entirely reader-supported</em></a><em>, so if you enjoyed this piece </em><a href="https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/about"><em>here are some options</em></a><em> where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. </em><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/"><em>Click here for links for my mailing list, social media, books, merch, and audio/video versions of each article</em></a><em>. All my work is </em><a href="https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/reminder-all-my-work-may-be-freely"><em>free to bootleg and use</em></a><em> in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.</em></p><p>Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2</p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=d124d7d31db9" width="1" height="1" alt="">

link:
https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/prostate-cancer-has-a-right-to-exist-bidens-tumor-has-a-right-to-defend-itself-d124d7d31db9?source=rss-c40ec5bece47------2


guid: https://medium.com/p/f5dc4357a407
title: You Are Already Fully Qualified To Oppose The Genocide In Gaza
author: ;Caitlin Johnstone
hash: t�m�^k�&�h�)x�X�
tags: #genocide #palestine #israel-palestine-conflict #israel #gaza
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*nYRVnz_dCTWxeRPLibqkdQ.png"></figure><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhpl0Ndi8Sc"><em>Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley)</em></a>:</p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FHhpl0Ndi8Sc%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;display_name=YouTube&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DHhpl0Ndi8Sc&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FHhpl0Ndi8Sc%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"><a href="https://medium.com/media/7bd7f7dfd336538cd272eae99d5117b0/href">https://medium.com/media/7bd7f7dfd336538cd272eae99d5117b0/href</a></iframe><p>You don’t need to understand every little detail about Israel and Palestine to oppose the genocide in Gaza. You can safely go with your gut on this one. You can and should research this issue, of course, but everything you learn will <a href="https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-really-is-as-evil-as-it-looks">only make Israel look worse</a>.</p><p>I say this because I see too many people get intimidated away from speaking out about Gaza by an erroneous but widespread notion that this is an issue best left to the experts. This notion is promulgated by Israel and its apologists throughout the western world, who try to frame this as a super duper complex issue which requires years of research to be able to comprehend with the requisite nuance and accuracy.</p><p>And it’s complete bullshit. The Gaza genocide is exactly what it looks like at first glance. I say this as someone who has been researching this issue extensively.</p><p>You don’t need to know everything about the history of modern Israel to know that it’s wrong to intentionally starve a civilian population. You don’t need to be able to defend your position to aggressive pro-Israel trolls online to know that it’s wrong to assassinate journalists, bomb hospitals, and rain military explosives on areas full of children. You don’t need any qualifications of any kind to see the horrific footage coming out of Gaza and denounce your government for facilitating those atrocities.</p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?type=text%2Fhtml&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;schema=twitter&amp;url=https%3A//x.com/caitoz/status/1924252614084239396&amp;image=" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"><a href="https://medium.com/media/57b68d071aa4249f7013c41fe30de246/href">https://medium.com/media/57b68d071aa4249f7013c41fe30de246/href</a></iframe><p>Israel and its supporters understand the power of narrative control better than maybe any other group out there. They even have a word, “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_diplomacy_of_Israel">hasbara</a>”, for the practice of defending Israel’s public image and justifying its crimes to the western public. If you speak out about Gaza on any public forum you are likely to run into a hasbarist who tries to intimidate you into silence by knowing a little bit more than you about this issue and spouting a few talking points that you are not quite equipped to address just yet.</p><p>And I am telling you that you should definitely disregard these people and push past your initial impulse to be intimidated into silence. The reason “<a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/06/15/i-aint-reading-all-that-free-palestine/">I ain’t reading all that, free Palestine</a>” has become a meme in pro-Palestine circles is because Israel apologists have been trying to use mountains of verbiage to counter the public response to raw video footage documenting clear abuses in Gaza. It takes a whole lot of words to try and spin footage of mutilated children as the fault of Hamas, or photos of IDF soldiers mockingly dressing in the clothes of dead and displaced Palestinian women as fine and normal. They confront people with walls of text filled with apologia and talking points to try and overwhelm their common sense and empathy as they look at raw evidence of Israel’s depravity.</p><p>We saw a really glaring example of the way Israel’s defenders try to intimidate people into silence with the recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah6kirkSwTg">debate</a> on Joe Rogan between Israel apologist Douglas Murray and Israel critic Dave Smith. Murray spoke in a smug, condescending tone the entire time and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P2g3pT8zZc">tried to suggest</a> that because Smith has never physically been to Gaza then he has no business publicly expressing an opinion about it.</p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2F-P2g3pT8zZc%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;display_name=YouTube&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-P2g3pT8zZc&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2F-P2g3pT8zZc%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"><a href="https://medium.com/media/67a9c578d63ae3c06b3921367c6229d4/href">https://medium.com/media/67a9c578d63ae3c06b3921367c6229d4/href</a></iframe><p>This is self-evidently insane. Obviously you don’t need to go to Gaza to know that the facts and footage you’re seeing coming out of the enclave are awful. No matter how many times you go to Israel and the Palestinian territories, it will still be wrong to bomb hospitals and intentionally starve civilians and create the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/mar/27/gaza-palestine-children-injuries">largest population of child amputees</a> on this planet. But Israel’s apologists are constantly using some version of this tactic to silence Israel’s critics by implying that they don’t have enough personal expertise on this issue to voice opposition to an active genocide.</p><p>Don’t buy into it. Speak out against the Gaza holocaust, even if you aren’t an expert and don’t understand every little detail just yet. Definitely keep researching and learning, but please do not be intimidated into thinking you need to be some kind of doctorate-level scholar on this issue before you can publicly oppose history’s first live-streamed genocide.</p><p>Israel’s supporters want you to believe this so that you will shut up long enough for them to purge the Gaza Strip of all Palestinian life. Your hesitation buys them time to do this.</p><p>Disregard their intimidation tactics. Dismiss them, block them, move away from them, and continue opposing the genocide.</p><p>_____________</p><p><em>My work is </em><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/05/24/my-experiments-with-hacking-capitalism/"><em>entirely reader-supported</em></a><em>, so if you enjoyed this piece </em><a href="https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/about"><em>here are some options</em></a><em> where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. </em><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/"><em>Click here for links for my mailing list, social media, books, merch, and audio/video versions of each article</em></a><em>. All my work is </em><a href="https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/reminder-all-my-work-may-be-freely"><em>free to bootleg and use</em></a><em> in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.</em></p><p>Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2</p><p>Feature image by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/187097222@N05">Matt Hrkac</a> via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palestine_Rally_End_The_Siege,_Stop_the_War_on_Gaza_%2853264903858%29.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Creative_Commons">Creative Commons</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en">Attribution 2.0 Generic</a>)</p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=f5dc4357a407" width="1" height="1" alt="">

link:
https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/you-are-already-fully-qualified-to-oppose-the-genocide-in-gaza-f5dc4357a407?source=rss-c40ec5bece47------2


guid: 682b7624b8f5b000015d15e6
title: Danish National TV Broadcasts Schiller Institute Leader Protesting Genocide In Gaza
author: ;Michelle Rasmussen
hash: �,�n�BqPY�b KJ
tags: #Strategic War Danger #LaRouche movement #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>COPENHAGEN— On Saturday, May 17, 2025, Feride Gillesberg, vice president of the Schiller Institute in Denmark, who was at a demonstration to protest the Israeli genocide in Gaza, was interviewed live by the national TV station TV2. The TV station later broadcast excerpts on their news programs for the rest of the day, including their main nightly news, though they did not identify her affiliation with the Schiller Institute.</p>
<p>The excerpt from the interview broadcast on the 7pm news was, “We need to represent those who are weak. There is a genocide, and my conscience does not leave me in peace. Something must be done.” When interviewed live during the demonstration, Feride Gillesberg also said that she was supporting the children who are being killed and are starving. I grew up in Germany, and I have heard about the Nazis so much. I compare Netanyahu with Hitler. There is genocide, and it has to be stopped. A Danish doctor then said, “There is nothing more important, especially now that Israel is implementing their final solution, and has just initiated a giant offensive against Gaza.”</p>
<p>These short interviews were the conclusion of the hard-hitting lead story on TV2’s main 7 pm news broadcast about the preparations for the new Israeli military offensive in Gaza, and the disastrous conditions for the Palestinians. The journalist’s report included the bombing deaths of 300 people during the last few days, interviews with distraught Palestinians who are being herded from one place to another, and the lack of humanitarian aid. It was accompanied by heart-wrenching scenes of mothers mourning their dead children, and chaos at the food distribution points. The population is threatened with starvation, and the UN is speaking about ethnic cleansing, he said. A UN spokesman was shown saying that forcing people to move in the midst of intensified attacks, the destruction of entire neighborhoods, and the denial of humanitarian assistance means that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in defiance of international law. The reporter continued that the humanitarian blockade is in the third month, and over 50,000 have died since the start of the war.</p>
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link:
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guid: 682bb4a2b8f5b000015d1750
title: Israel Submits to Minimal Food for Gaza To Appease Allies
author: ;Gretchen Small
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/israel-submits-to-minimal-food-for-gaza-to-appease-allies/
hash: ��"�W�\J��B�s
tags: #Strategic War Danger #Southwest Asia #famine #News
content:
<div><img src="https://eir.news/content/images/size/w1200/2025/05/news_article_137765_47282_1745681275.jpeg" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>Reports are that today five trucks of food aid were allowed to enter Gaza, carrying baby food. No other trucks were permitted passage. The UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called it a “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.” He indicated that an additional four UN trucks had been cleared to enter Gaza tomorrow, about the same as today.</p>
<p>Last night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under increasing pressure from Washington, ordered the immediate resumption of “basic” humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Israel’s military had issued warnings of starvation in Gaza to the cabinet for weeks, while the “starve them out” crowd, centered around National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Treasury Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has strongly opposed any relief. Yesterday’s decision was made without a cabinet vote, over the objection of Ben-Gvir, who stated afterwards, “The prime minister is making a grave mistake.… We must crush Hamas and not simultaneously give it oxygen.”</p>
<p>Smotrich spoke of the IDF’s action so far as being well done, “destroying what is left of the Strip simply because everything there is one big city of terror. This is a tremendous change from what has been so far and, God willing, will lead to victory, the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages.” He promised that the Palestinians who survive will be relocated out of Gaza.</p>
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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308638
title: Dean Phillips on timing of Biden’s cancer news: ‘I don’t think it’s coincidental’
author: ;Sarah Fortinsky
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5308638-dean-phillips-on-timing-of-bidens-cancer-news/
hash: � f9�e��YI�}�
tags: #Administration #Campaign #Health Care #News #2024 presidential election
content:
Former Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who challenged former President Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, suggested Biden timed his cancer diagnosis announcement Sunday to deflect from renewed scrutiny of his time in the White House. “I don’t think it’s coincidental that this was announced this week,” Phillips told The New York Times in…

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guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308625
title: Freedom Caucus chair predicts ‘big beautiful bill’ lacks support to pass this week
author: ;Mike Lillis; Mychael Schnell
link: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5308625-freedom-caucus-chair-trump-bill/
hash: ��b���}���s�ܧ
tags: #House #News
content:
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, is predicting that the legislative package at the heart of President Trump’s domestic agenda doesn’t have the support to pass through the House this week. “I think it’s pretty obvious that they’re going to need more time,” Harris told reporters Monday evening outside the…

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guid: https://antonchaitkin.substack.com/p/chaitkin-the-explosive-story-of-the
title: Anton Chaitkin: The Explosive Story of the Origin of “Eastern Establishment” Power Over the USA
author: ;Magdalena Therrien
link: https://antonchaitkin.substack.com/p/chaitkin-the-explosive-story-of-the
hash: B�+j�k.���NfT��t
content:
<h3 data-sanitized-class="subtitle">How J.P. Morgan took over Wall Street in their war against America</h3><div dir="auto" data-sanitized-class="body markup">
<h3 data-sanitized-class="header-anchor-post">Chaitkin: The Explosive Story of the Origin of “Eastern Establishment” Power Over the USA</h3>
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<h3 data-sanitized-class="header-anchor-post"><button tabindex="0" type="button" aria-label="Link" data-href="https://antonchaitkin.substack.com/i/163971911/chaitkin-the-explosive-story-of-the-origin-of-eastern-establishment-power-over-the-usa" data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft iconButton-mq_Et5 iconButtonBase-dJGHgN buttonBase-GK1x3M buttonStyle-r7yGCK size_sm-G3LciD priority_secondary-S63h9o"><path d="M10 13a5 5 0 0 0 7.54.54l3-3a5 5 0 0 0-7.07-7.07l-1.72 1.71"></path><path d="M14 11a5 5 0 0 0-7.54-.54l-3 3a5 5 0 0 0 7.07 7.07l1.71-1.71"></path></button></h3>
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<h4 data-sanitized-class="header-anchor-post">How J.P. Morgan took over Wall Street in their war against America</h4>
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<h4 data-sanitized-class="header-anchor-post"><button tabindex="0" type="button" aria-label="Link" data-href="https://antonchaitkin.substack.com/i/163971911/how-jp-morgan-took-over-wall-street-in-their-war-against-america" data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft iconButton-mq_Et5 iconButtonBase-dJGHgN buttonBase-GK1x3M buttonStyle-r7yGCK size_sm-G3LciD priority_secondary-S63h9o"><path d="M10 13a5 5 0 0 0 7.54.54l3-3a5 5 0 0 0-7.07-7.07l-1.72 1.71"></path><path d="M14 11a5 5 0 0 0-7.54-.54l-3 3a5 5 0 0 0 7.07 7.07l1.71-1.71"></path></button></h4>
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<p>by Anton Chaitkin; copyright Anton Chaitkin</p>

<p><strong>Anton Chaitkin was interviewed by John OLoughlin on May 19, 2025.</strong></p>
<p><span>This is the</span> <a href="https://rumble.com/v6tkwz1-live-with-anton-chaitkin-may-19-2025.html?e9s=src_v1_upp" rel>link</a> <span>to the interview.</span></p>
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guid: https://www.whitehouse.gov/?p=12794
title: ICYMI: President Trump Signs TAKE IT DOWN Act into Law
author: ;The White House
link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/icymi-president-trump-signs-take-it-down-act-into-law/
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<p>Today, President Donald J. Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1924549309648822471">signed</a> the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/146">TAKE IT DOWN Act</a> into law — a key initiative of First Lady Melania Trump and a landmark step in the fight to protect victims of digital exploitation.</p>
<figure data-sanitized-class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1366" src="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GrWax5CXIAAmt93.jpeg" alt data-sanitized-class="wp-image-12797"></figure><p><strong><strong>The signing of this critical bill received bipartisan praise on Capitol Hill and beyond:</strong></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/SenTedCruz/status/1924549660456198629"><strong>Sen. Ted Cruz</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “The TAKE IT DOWN ACT is an historic win for victims of revenge porn and deepfake image abuse. Predators who weaponize new technology to post this exploitative filth will now rightfully face criminal consequences, and Big Tech will no longer be allowed to turn a blind eye to the spread of this vile material. This day stands as a powerful testament to the bravery and dedication of Elliston Berry, Francesca Mani, Breeze Liu, and Brandon Guffey, whose relentless advocacy made this law possible. I am deeply grateful to my legislative partners, particularly Sen. Amy Klobuchar and First Lady Melania Trump, for their collaboration in advancing this critical legislation to protect every American’s privacy and dignity online.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/SenAmyKlobuchar/status/1924575994674917448"><strong>Sen. Amy Klobuchar</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Big news: my bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act w/Sen. Cruz was signed into law by the President today.  It protects victims of online abuse and set some rules of the road for social media and AI. Thank you to the First Lady for her support and to the advocates who made this possible.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepMariaSalazar/status/1924548457362047023"><strong>Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Before this law, victims were ignored. Schools couldn’t act, police had no tools, and Big Tech looked away. With TAKE IT DOWN, that changes. Platforms must respond — and predators will face justice. Now, victims have the power and the law behind them.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/lindayaX/status/1924584857054687696"><strong>X CEO Linda Yaccarino</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Honored to be at the @WhiteHouse today as @POTUS signed the Take It Down Act. Grateful to @FLOTUS for her dedication to ensuring safety. @X will continue to work alongside @SenTedCruz @MarshaBlackburn @RepNancyMace and @NCMEC to do everything possible to make the internet safer, especially for children.”</p><p><a href="https://www.wistv.com/2025/05/19/sc-ag-wilson-shows-support-take-it-down-act-signed-by-trump-attends-bill-signing/"><strong>South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “No one should have to live in fear of their most private moments being weaponized against them. Revenge porn is a cruel and deeply violating crime, and for too long, the law has lagged behind the technology. Today, with President Trump’s leadership, we’re now bringing that fight to the national stage, by standing up for survivors, holding predators accountable, and making it absolutely clear: digital abuse is real abuse, and it will be met with real consequences.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/NCMEC/status/1924566812869767496" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>National Center for Missing &amp; Exploited Children</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Today, @NCMEC_CEO, Michelle DeLaune and NCMEC’s Chief Legal Officer, Yiota Souras attended the TAKE IT DOWN Act bill signing ceremony at the White House. We’re grateful for @POTUS and @FLOTUS prioritizing this critical legislation and shining a light on child exploitation. This groundbreaking new law closes a dangerous gap by targeting the distribution of both real and digitally altered exploitative content involving children – content that may fall outside existing CSAM definitions – and requires social media platforms to take this imagery down. As the Congressionally designated national clearinghouse on missing and exploited children issues, we will continue to work with Congress and the Administration to identify evolving threats in child sexual exploitation and look forward to continuing our work together to protect children online.”</p><p><a href="https://now.org/media-center/press-release/todays-signing-of-the-take-it-down-act-shows-bipartisan-support-for-fighting-deepfakes-and-online-sexual-abuse-now-lets-do-more/"><strong>National Organization for Women President Christian F. Nunes</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Today, President Donald Trump signed into law the Take It Down Act—the first bipartisan legislation that zeroes in on one of the most pernicious threats to women’s health and safety—the theft of our bodily autonomy through deepfake images used to harass and exploit women and girls … Today’s signing shows how much can be done when we get out of the silos that separate us from issue to issue and work together on the values and common goals that unite us despite those differences. When it comes to protecting women and girls from online abuse, this work is just beginning.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/1924553829908971605"><strong>Sen. Marsha Blackburn</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “I was pleased to be at the White House to witness the signing of The Take It Down Act, which will criminalize the distribution of nonconsensual intimate imagery. I will be working to get the Kids Online Safety Act to President Trump’s desk next to hold Big Tech accountable for failing to protect innocent children from online harms.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/SenCapito/status/1924558753292288516"><strong>Sen. Shelley Moore Capito</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “I am proud to be an original cosponsor on the TAKE IT DOWN Act. This important legislation will protect victims of digital exploitation by making non-consensual, explicit images shared online against the law. Thank you to @FLOTUS for your work on this issue and for @POTUS signing it into law today.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/JohnCornyn/status/1924563746086867271"><strong>Sen. John Cornyn</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “I was honored to join @POTUS + @FLOTUS at the @WhiteHouse today for the signing of the TAKE IT DOWN Act. This bill will help punish predators &amp; protect kids from exploitation by requiring online platforms to remove explicit images, including AI generated deepfakes, within 48 hours. Happy to see this commonsense bill signed into law!”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/SenCortezMasto/status/1924608497439617426"><strong>Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “I’m glad Pres. Trump signed our bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act today. We’ve seen how technology can deliver incredible innovations but there have to be guardrails to keep people safe. That’s why I supported this bill to protect and empower victims of real and deepfake revenge porn.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/SenatorWicker/status/1924578630438375661"><strong>Sen. Roger Wicker</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “The U.S. must lead in AI innovation and accountability. Today, President Trump signed the Take It Down Act. This new law protects people from AI deepfakes which often target families and children.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/SenToddYoung/status/1924562298061922448"><strong>Sen. Todd Young</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Glad to see @POTUS sign our TAKE IT DOWN Act into law today to protect victims—especially young women and children—from harmful deepfakes.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/GOPMajorityWhip/status/1924573108272316512"><strong>House Majority Whip Tom Emmer</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Glad to see @POTUS sign the Take It Down Act into law. Deepfake sexual exploitation has sadly become more common with technological advancements. Thankfully, this law will hold perpetrators accountable and protect the victims of these depraved crimes.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepLisaMcClain/status/1924549945383678199"><strong>House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “In America, we will not tolerate the exploitation of our children. This law will protect our children and families from becoming targets of digital predators. I’m proud to have stood alongside President Trump when he signed this important legislation into law. I look forward to continuing to support his administration and the First Lady’s efforts to hold those who create harmful content accountable, ensure that platforms take responsibility, and keep our children safe in the digital age.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepRickAllen/status/1924548700518408311"><strong>Rep. Rick Allen</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “✅ SIGNED INTO LAW: The Take It Down Act As a grandfather of 14, I was proud to support this bill in @HouseCommerce and on the House floor. Thank you to @FLOTUS for your tireless work to create a safer digital future and protect our kids from online exploitation.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/VernBuchanan/status/1924580940153573764"><strong>Rep. Vern Buchanan</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “President Trump has signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law, which protects children and victims of revenge porn from online exploitation. I was proud to help introduce this bill and vote for its passage in support of those who have been subject to this horrific violation.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepKatCammack/status/1924553959215178196"><strong>Rep. Kat Cammack</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Glad to support the Take It Down Act and to see it signed into law today by @POTUS.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepBenCline/status/1924568770057502913"><strong>Rep. Ben Cline</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “President Trump just signed the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act into law—a major step toward removing non-consensual AI-generated deepfakes on social media. Grateful for @FLOTUS’s leadership in getting this across the finish line and protecting every American from these harmful images.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepDebDingell/status/1924565298956369941"><strong>Rep. Debbie Dingell</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “The TAKE IT DOWN ACT is now law. This is a huge win for women and children across the country. Grateful for my partners in the House and Senate who helped get this bill across the finish line and passed into law.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepFeenstra/status/1924563184897110225"><strong>Rep. Randy Feenstra</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Thank you to President Trump for signing the TAKE IT DOWN Act to deliver the harshest punishment possible for criminals who take advantage of our kids.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepLauraGillen/status/1924582324437414179"><strong>Rep. Laura Gillen</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “I was proud to vote for the bipartisan Take It Down Act and glad to see it signed into law today. No one should have to endure such a violation of privacy without protection. #TakeItDown”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepMGriffith/status/1924581439435165741"><strong>Rep. Morgan Griffith</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “For me, voting for the Take It Down Act was easy. This commonsense bill protects our kids from nonconsensual online distribution of sexually explicit images.”</p><p><a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chairman-guthrie-celebrates-president-trump-s-signing-of-take-it-down-act"><strong>Rep. Brett Guthrie</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “I want to thank President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for their steadfast leadership, as well as the millions of Americans affected by online exploitation, for their courage. As the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, I am proud that we delivered on our commitment to advance this important legislation to protect victims of online exploitation. I want to honor Eli Heacock, and express my gratitude to his mom, Shannon Cronister-Heacock, for having the courage to share her son’s devastating story. The scourge of sexual exploitation online has upended the lives of innocent victims all across our country. The TAKE IT DOWN Act is an important step forward in protecting kids from new, 21st century threats to their well-being. This bill would not have been possible without the bravery of families like the Heacocks, and the TAKE IT DOWN Act works to ensure tragedies like this never happen again.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepPatHarrigan/status/1924552700047335465"><strong>Rep. Pat Harrigan</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “A few weeks ago, I voted for the TAKE IT DOWN ACT in the House. Today, it’s the law! Justice is here for the victims, and a reckoning is coming for those who thought they could get away with preying on the vulnerable.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepHarshbarger/status/1924551925694914973"><strong>Rep. Diana Harshbarger</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “The Take It Down Act is a crucial step in protecting our children from predatory behavior online. I was proud to support this important legislation!”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/repkevinhern/status/1924552529871880635"><strong>Rep. Kevin Hern</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “I’m honored to be at the @WhiteHouse today to witness @POTUS sign the Take It Down Act into law! Earlier this year, @FLOTUS came to Capitol Hill for a roundtable that I was grateful to be a part of. We heard directly from teenagers whose lives had been destroyed by malicious AI-generated pornographic images shared on social media. This legislation will require social media sites to act as quickly as possible to remove such images from their platforms. The First Lady has been an incredible advocate for this legislation, helping to garner bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. Congratulations!”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepYoungKim/status/1924600960145621268"><strong>Rep. Young Kim</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Good news! The TAKE IT DOWN Act is now the law of the land to protect kids from online exploitation. I was proud to vote in favor of this historic, bipartisan bill on the House floor.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepLoudermilk/status/1924575371292225662"><strong>Rep. Barry Loudermilk</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Today, @POTUS signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law. As AI advances, so do the risks involved with it. This legislation will help children and their families to remove explicit or defamatory images posted online. In the digital age, privacy and security are vital and this is a major step.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepNancyMace/status/1924549367912136956"><strong>Rep. Nancy Mace</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “We’re at the @WhiteHouse as the Take It Down Act is signed into law. Thank you, President Trump. With the rise of AI and deepfake a*use, women and children have been left vulnerable for too long. The Take It Down Act finally gives victims real protection, and makes exploitation a crime, not a loophole.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepMackenzie/status/1924559820608163843"><strong>Rep. Ryan Mackenzie</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Proud to attend today’s signing of the Take it Down Act. As a Pennsylvania State Representative, I helped to lead efforts to remove harmful deepfake images. Now, this law takes that fight nationwide and protects young people throughout our nation from AI-generated online exploitation.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepNicole/status/1924548038107734052"><strong>Rep. Nicole Malliotakis</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Today @POTUS signed the Take It Down Act, bipartisan legislation I co-sponsored, into law! Together we’re protecting women (and men) from becoming victims of digital exploitation.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepPfluger/status/1924551372160032790"><strong>Rep. August Pfluger</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “I just witnessed @POTUS sign the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law! This is a major step forward in protecting innocent victims and restoring online accountability, and I was proud to co-lead this legislation alongside @RepMariaSalazar.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepRWilliams/status/1924570119964966972"><strong>Rep. Roger Williams</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Today @POTUS signed the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act into law. This law will hold abusers accountable and empower victims of online abuse to have deepfake content or explicit material shared without their consent removed. We will not tolerate the exploitation of our children.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1924599689610969178"><strong>Attorney General Pam Bondi</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “I was proud to stand with @POTUS as he signed the Take It Down Act. Thank you @FLOTUS for your work in safeguarding children from deepfake exploitation.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/SecretaryTurner/status/1924562177664373043"><strong>Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “As @FLOTUS’ Take it Down Act is signed into law, @POTUS highlights $25 million to support foster youth aging out of the foster care system. I am proud to partner with the First Lady to provide young adults with the assistance and foundation they need to transform their lives.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/SBA_Kelly/status/1924572466023649459"><strong>Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Congratulations to @FLOTUS on the official signing of the Take It Down Act. This nation is so grateful for your advocacy and commitment to protecting America’s children!”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/HouseGOP/status/1924548136405467199"><strong>House Republican Conference</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “The Take It Down Act was signed into LAW by @POTUS!<br>Congratulations to @FLOTUS, @RepMariaSalazar, and Chairman @RepGuthrie. Thank you for leading this effort to protect children from exploitation online.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/HouseCommerce/status/1924549628927541651"><strong>House Energy &amp; Commerce Committee</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “This bill will protect countless Americans from entirely preventable harm online.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/RepublicanStudy/status/1924552451459314106"><strong>Republican Study Committee</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “This is a huge win. The TAKE IT DOWN Act is critical to protecting children from non-consensual deepfakes online and holds AI abusers accountable. Thank you, President Trump!”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1924554178690535703"><strong>Department of Homeland Security</strong></a><strong>:</strong> “Thank you @POTUS Trump for continuing to prioritize America’s children by signing into law the “Take It Down Act,” to protect children from extortion. DHS is at the forefront fighting predators who try to harm and exploit our children. Make America Safe Again!”</p>


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308669
title: Stablecoin bill clears early Senate floor hurdle in win for crypto industry
author: ;Julia Shapero
link: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5308669-stablecoin-bill-clears-early-senate-floor/
hash: ���=h�� m,�#}��
tags: #Business #Technology #crypto #GENIUS ACT #stablecoins
content:
The Senate voted to move forward with consideration of legislation to create a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins Monday night, bringing the key crypto bill one step closer to final passage.   Sixteen Democrats joined all but two Republicans in voting to end debate on a motion to proceed on the GENIUS Act.  The vote…

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guid: 1031906 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Iran Clarifies That Nuclear Talks Will Fail If US Pushes Zero Enrichment
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: ދNk��x{QnZ?]z=
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Iran Clarifies That Nuclear Talks Will Fail If US Pushes Zero Enrichment</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Last week, a top Iranian nuclear official floated the possibility that the Islamic Republic would be willing to given up enriching uranium in return for full sanctions relief from Washington.</p>

<p>But amid ongoing negotiations, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has produced something more official, <a href="https://www.almayadeen.net/news/politics/%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A8%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86--%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%81-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B4%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%B6%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A3%D9%85%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD">firing back</a> at Washington on Monday for recent Trump admin statements insisting that Tehran abandon uranium enrichment as part of any future nuclear deal.</p>

<p>Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baqaei said in a statement that the US taking such <strong>"contradictory positions" </strong>will only <strong>"prolong the talks and lead to a loss of trust." </strong>It's clear that Iranian leadership doesn't want to be seen as quickly cowering before American pressure.</p>

<p><strong><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/irannkst_0.jpg?itok=qdXqOmdW" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/irannkst_0.jpg?itok=qdXqOmdW"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3d7ec14a-731d-4546-8ba5-7ee287e2e294" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/irannkst_0.jpg?itok=qdXqOmdW" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></strong></p>

<p>At this point Tehran is vowing that <strong>enrichment will continue "with or without a deal"</strong> and that this is its right to do so as a matter of national sovereignty. </p>

<p>"This track of talks cannot be brought to a conclusion given the shifting and contradictory positions. Under such circumstances, we do not expect an atmosphere of mutual trust," Baqaei added.</p>

<p>And separately, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-warns-nuclear-talks-will-fail-if-us-pushes-for-zero-enrichment/">said</a> that the nuclear talks will “lead nowhere” with the current White House stance that enrichment must be taken to <strong>zero</strong>.</p>

<p>"Our position on enrichment is clear and we have repeatedly stated that it is a <strong>national achievement from which we will not back down</strong>," he said.</p>

<p>President Trump during his Gulf tour last week said largely optimistic things concerning a possible future new deal with the Iranians.</p>

<p>He said an agreement was very close but that Iran needed to move quickly, and that serious consequences await if Tehran doesn't. He's previously gone so far as to say it's a matter of either signing a deal or being bombed - something Iranian leaders balked at.</p>

<p>But Steve Witkoff on the Sunday news shows made clear that the issue of abandoning enrichment is <strong>a "red line" </strong>from the US administration...</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Witkoff says the "red line" for Iran is no enrichment, not even one percent, which everyone who's followed this issue over the past 15 years knows is a complete nonstarter for Iran. This also happens to be the position of Senate Republicans and Israelis who favor bombing Iran <a href="https://t.co/IpDjA5H4Wx">pic.twitter.com/IpDjA5H4Wx</a></p>
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) <a href="https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1924158358308745377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>Last week the Trump White House indicated it <strong>sent Iran a written proposal toward forging a new nuclear deal</strong>. White House envoy Witkoff has led several rounds of talks, and Axios has revealed that the communication was issued to Tehran last Sunday.</p>

<p>"Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took the proposal back to Tehran for consultations with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and other top officials," wrote <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/15/iran-deal-proposal-witkoff-enrichment">Axios</a>.</p>
</div>
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<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-20T02:10:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 22:10</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-clarifies-nuclear-talks-will-fail-if-us-pushes-zero-enrichment


guid: 1031934 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: How Long Can Lies &amp; Control Supplant Reality &amp; Free Markets?
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/precious-metals/how-long-can-lies-control-supplant-reality-free-markets
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">How Long Can Lies &amp; Control Supplant Reality &amp; Free Markets?</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/how-long-can-lies-control-supplant-reality-free-markets-2"><em>Authored by Matthew Piepenburg via VonGreyerz.gold,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>The facts of a <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/nothing-is-real-a-visual-journey-through-market-absurdity/">surreal</a> yet broken (and hence increasingly controlled and desperate) financial system are becoming harder to deny and ignore.</strong> </p>

<p>Below, we look at the evidence of control rather than the words of dishonest policy makers and ask a simple question: How long can lies supplant reality?</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/fossil-fuel-time-bomb.jpg?itok=CeG920_F" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/fossil-fuel-time-bomb.jpg?itok=CeG920_F"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="98942924-e23e-4722-9b15-4e5663784dba" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/fossil-fuel-time-bomb.jpg?itok=CeG920_F" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<h2 data-sanitized-id="h-the-great-disconnect-tanking-growth-vs-supported-markets"><strong>The Great Disconnect: Tanking Growth vs. Supported Markets</strong></h2>

<p>It’s becoming harder to keep up with the increasingly downgraded GDP growth estimations from the Atlanta Fed.</p>

<p>As recently as August, its GDPNow 3q21 estimates for the quarterly percentage change were as high as 6%.</p>

<p><strong>But within a matter of weeks, this otherwise optimistic figure was cut embarrassingly in half.</strong></p>

<p>Last month, their GDP forecast sank much further to 0.5%, and as of this writing, it has been downgraded yet again to 0.2%.</p>

<p>Needless to say, 6% estimated growth falling to effectively 0% growth is hardly a bullish indicator for the kind of strengthening economic conditions which one might otherwise associate with risk asset prices reaching all-time highs for the same period.</p>

<p><strong>The growing yet steady disconnect between market highs and economic lows is getting harder to explain, ignore or deny by the architects of the most artificial, rigged and dishonest market cycle in modern history.</strong></p>

<p>In short, it is no longer even worth pretending that stock markets are correlated to such natural measurements as a nation’s economic productivity.</p>

<p>After all, who needs GDP in the New Abnormal?</p>

<p><strong>By now, even Fed doublespeak can’t hide the fact that the only market force which the post-08 markets require is an accommodative central bank—i.e., a firehose of multi-trillion liquidity on demand.</strong></p>

<p>But as for this most recent GDP downgrade, it is being blamed on tanking US export data.</p>

<h2><strong>More Fantasy: Bogus or Real Taper?</strong></h2>

<p>The question facing investors heading into year-end is whether any of the foregoing realities will place pressure on the Fed to continue the now normalized fantasy of unlimited QE or stick to its equally fantastical “taper-talk.”</p>

<p>Toward this end, Powell could delay the planned “taper” or, as is likely, simply move ahead with what is essentially a bogus taper involving a nominally insignificant reduction in money printing offset by ongoing yet deliberately hidden liquidity from the Standard Repo Facility and FIMA swap lines.</p>

<p><strong>Thus, whether we see a delayed taper or a bogus taper, the net result is still more fiat liquidity flooding the always dollar-thirsty (and QE-addicted) financial system.</strong></p>

<p>This, of course, translates to increased currency debasement and thus rising tailwinds for gold, BTC, industrials and commodities.</p>

<p>Should, however, the FOMC announce a genuine taper, the net result for gold is still positive.</p>

<p>Yes, a real taper means slightly higher rates and increased volatility (bad for risk assets) along with a stronger dollar, but inflation rates will still supersede interest rates, favouring gold anyway you look at it.</p>

<p>Again, and <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/are-we-headed-for-recession-signposts-and-realism/">as discussed in prior reports</a>, <strong>gold can and will rise if rates rise, so long as inflation rises faster, which for all the reasons we’ve addressed elsewhere, convinces us that a future of negative real rates is the only future central banks can allow.</strong></p>

<h2><strong>More Inflationary Tricks (i.e., Fantasy)</strong></h2>

<p>Why?</p>

<p>Because short of default, the only and time-tested trick left up the sleeves of debt-soaked policy makers to dig their way out of a nightmarish and historically unprecedented debt hole (which they alone created) is by pursuing policies of deeply negative real rates.</p>

<p>This twisted inflationary playbook, so familiar to rigged insiders yet unknown to the vast majority of retail investors, boils down to a policy play by which our “experts” solve debt with more debt and hide the truth behind more complex policy adjectives (i.e., lies).</p>

<p><strong>Specifically, this means the “experts” will:  1) deliberately seek <em>more</em> inflation while 2) <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/the-feds-most-convenient-lie-a-cpi-charade/">lying about <em>true</em> inflation levels</a> and then 3) repress interest rates in order to partially inflate their way out of debt with 4) increasingly debased currencies.</strong></p>

<p>Take the U.S. Dollar’s purchasing power, for example…</p>

<h2><strong>Keeping the Serfs Down—The Policy of the New Feudalism</strong></h2>

<p>Needless to say, more inflation is a direct tax on the increasingly poorer middle class.</p>

<p>Sadly, too many are too busy trying to make sense of months of lockdowns, vaccine mandates, movement restrictions, crime waves and inflating rent payments to notice that they have been made into serfs in a Brave New World where greater than 80% of the stock market wealth is held by the top 10% of the population.</p>

<p>Let’s be clear: I’m a screaming capitalist, but a pandemic world in which Bezos, Musk and other <a href="https://inequality.org/great-divide/updates-billionaire-pandemic/"><strong>billionaire wealth has increased by 70%</strong></a> while 89 million Americans have lost their jobs is NOT capitalism, but a symptom of a rigged system in which the anti-trust rules I learned in law school, or the social and economic principles I learned in economics are simply gone.</p>

<p>Then again, when I was in school, we were once taught <em>how</em> to think, not <em>what</em> to think.</p>

<p>With each passing day, we see increased evidence of what I wrote (and described) elsewhere as <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/dying-capitalism-the-new-feudalism/"><strong>a new feudalism</strong></a> marked by grotesquely distorted notions of truth, reporting, data, natural market forces and political/financial accountability.</p>

<p>In order to keep this report objective rather than an op-ed, let’s just consider the facts and case studies right before us.</p>

<h2><strong>Yellen &amp; Dimon—Two Classic Lords Spinning Familiar Yarns</strong></h2>

<p>Take, for example, the aforementioned tanking of GDP, now being attributed to openly tanking export data out of the U.S. and the undeniable supply chain disruptions impacting the global economy.</p>

<p>To address this, none other than two of the most media prolific “lords” of the new feudalism, Fed Chairwoman-turned-Treasury-Secretary Janet Yellen and current JP Morgan CEO and 2008 bailout-beneficiary-turned-Fed-Crony, Jamie Dimon, assure us not to worry.</p>

<p>How nice.</p>

<p>Yellen, for her part, has recently said:</p>

<p><strong>“I don’t think we’re about to lose control of inflation.”</strong></p>

<p> “As we make further progress on the pandemic, I expect these bottlenecks to subside. Americans will return to the labor force as conditions improve.”</p>

<p>Again: How nice.</p>

<p>But let’s not let warm words get in the way of cold facts.</p>

<p><a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/translating-yellen-speak-into-golden-speak/"><strong>Yellen</strong></a>, like every Fed Chair since <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/patient-zero-of-the-bubble-pandemic-alan-greenspan/"><strong>Greenspan</strong></a>, has a long history of buying time with comforting words that have nothing to do with hard reality:</p>

<p><em><strong>“You will never see another financial crisis in your lifetime.”</strong><br>
– Janet Yellen, spring 2018</em></p>

<p><em><strong>“I do worry that we could have another financial crisis. ″</strong><br>
– Janet Yellen, fall 2018</em></p>

<p>Despite a long and well-documented history of outright dishonesty spewing from the mouths of financial media darlings and policymakers like Yellen and Dimon, both are now pushing a bullish “be calm and carry on while we profit and control” meme.</p>

<p>They recently seized upon Biden’s move to run the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on a 24/7 schedule to alleviate bottlenecks, which increased throughput by roughly 15% (3,500 containers/week v. 950,000 containers per month.)</p>

<p>That’s nice, and sure, it helps.</p>

<p>But despite such band-aid measures, supply chains won’t normalize until early 2023, at the earliest…and that assumes no further disruptions, which frankly, is a naive assumption.</p>

<p>Folks, it’s not up to Yellen or Dimon to give us honest guidance as to whether supply chains will normalise in 2021. It is up to China and Biden’s entirely Orwellian vaccine mandate.</p>

<p>Speaking of Yellen, Dimon et al, aren’t we all a bit curious about the now undeniable marriage of the Federal Reserve (an illegal <em>private</em> bank) and the U.S. Treasury Department?</p>

<p><strong>And as for bank CEO’s like Dimon, have we not forgotten other bank CEOs like Goldman’s Hank Paulson, who made a similar “marriage” to the Treasury Department just in time to bail his former bank out of the Great Financial Crisis that it helped create?</strong></p>

<p>Are these the honest brokers we want deciding our economic fates or signaling/controlling our economic future?</p>

<h2><strong>Vaccine Passes and Mandates—The Great Smokescreen</strong></h2>

<p>And as to the mandate… Note Yellen’s careful yet semantic magic of hiding autocracy behind humanitarian lingo.</p>

<p>Her comment above regarding bottlenecks “subsiding” once “we make further progress on the pandemic” is very comforting, no?</p>

<p>But it’s just another veiled way (i.e., smokescreen) of pushing a vaccine mandate which defies every principle of the social contract our founding fathers achieved in that silly document I revered as a 1L and known otherwise as the U.S. Constitution.</p>

<p>As I’ve said many times before, I’m no source for medical advice, and my circle includes many who are vaccinated and un-vaccinated alike—with equal respect for the choices we’ve made and equal disgust for the notion that such choices should be <em>imposed</em> rather than <em>voluntary</em>.</p>

<h2><strong>Simple Questions, Cold Math, Global Control</strong></h2>

<p>But should we not at least be asking ourselves if the pandemic discussion is less about global health and more about global control?</p>

<p>Without seeking to offend anyone’s COVID stance, can we nevertheless agree that <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/cj-hopkins-new-normal-winter-coming"><strong>C.J. Hopkins</strong></a> makes an undeniably clear and common-sensical point by simply asking a few basic questions?</p>

<p><strong>For example, <em>why has so much political, social and economic power been given to a minority of policy makers to scare/distract the world into ignoring a now obvious global power-shift justified by a virus which causes mild-to-moderate symptoms in 95% of the infected and whose case fatality rate is quantifiably somewhere in the range of 0.1% to 0.5%?</em></strong></p>

<p>Yet despite such simple math, tens of thousands of firemen, police officers, nurses and military personnel—the very heroes who have placed themselves on the front lines of our increasingly criminalized, sick and psychologically damaged population– are now being forced out of work for not agreeing to a forced jab imposed by <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/golden-advice-bet-against-the-experts/"><strong>anti-heroes</strong></a>?</p>

<p>One has to at least wonder why so much effort has been made by a government-influenced/co-conspired media to spend its time criminalising the unvaccinated rather than making front-page noise pointing out the obvious criminalisation of our global financial system?</p>

<h2><strong>The Real Criminals</strong></h2>

<p>By that, I’m thinking of the years of recently revealed insider trading at the Fed, the anti-trust violations of the non-tax-paying Amazon robber-baron or the open media-censorship and just plain shady that occurs daily at Facebook—an entity so blatantly shameful that it thinks a name-change can hide its dark past?</p>

<p>Or how about years of <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/tonya-harding-explains-golds-flash-crash/"><strong>open price manipulation</strong></a> by bullion banks, the BIS and other <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/making-sense-of-comex-insanity/"><strong>dark corners of the OTC</strong></a>to deliberately force the natural price of gold and silver to the floor in order to illegally price-fix and protect globally debased currencies from the embarrassment of what a natural gold price would otherwise confirm, namely: <em>Your currency has died, thanks to the white-collar criminals otherwise touted as experts.</em></p>

<p>In case you think this is mere sensationalism or speculation, I’ve written <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/author/matthew-piepenburg/"><strong>hundreds of pages</strong></a> and countless reports of graphical/mathematical/objective evidence of the same, and even <a href="https://www.amazon.fr/Rigged-Fail-Blunt-Spoken-Investment-Unsuspecting-ebook/dp/B084YDSDPH"><strong>an entire book</strong></a> on the rigged-to-fail system otherwise passing as normal to make <em>this clear distortion</em> of economic rules and political laws objective rather than pejorative.</p>

<p>Nor am I/we alone in pointing out the obvious. From the honest minority in markets to an honest minority in politics, plain-spoken truth is fighting for free expression.</p>

<h2><strong>More Honest Voices</strong></h2>

<p>Take, for example, the recent press conference (ignored, of course, by the main/muddy stream media) held by key members of the European Parliament to openly defy the insanely autocratic notion of a health pass to distinguish the compliant from the free or the “safe” from the “unsafe”.</p>

<p>As one brave parliamentary member from Germany, <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-meps-protest-oppressive-vaccine-passports-question-why-political-elites-push-agenda"><strong>Christine Anderson</strong></a>, candidly observed, if you think the vaccine pass was made because the government <em>cares</em> about you, you are clearly ignoring its real motive, which is to <em>control</em> you.</p>

<p>And this is straight from the European Parliament.</p>

<p>Control, of course, only works if enough people are scared, tired or uninformed enough to be controlled.</p>

<p>As for the financial system, signs of its increasingly obvious attempt <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/the-death-of-truth-the-rise-of-centralized-government-control/"><strong>at more controls</strong></a> to mask increasingly shameful policies are literally everywhere.</p>

<p>And yet… and yet…the media, the masses and the majority of investors continue to follow their murky and shady lead.</p>

<p><strong>Again, just keep it simple and factual rather than partisan or medically controversial.</strong></p>

<h2><strong>Criminal Evidence</strong></h2>

<p>In the last 20 years, for example, policy makers have tripled the global debt levels yet made no commensurate progress with global GDP, which is literally 1/3 of this embarrassing debt pile.</p>

<p>That is shameful. Debt like this <em>always</em> destroys economies. <em>Always</em>.</p>

<p>Instead, those same “experts” have mouse-clicked more instant money out of thin air in the last decade than all the money ever created by all the combined central banks since their inception.</p>

<p>They actually want you to believe that a debt crisis can be solved with alas…more debt.</p>

<p>Such staggering money creation has led unequivocally and directly to the greatest and most inflated risk asset bubble in the history of capital markets.</p>

<p>Yet rather than admit to the open failure of such monetary expansion, which has simply crushed the natural purchasing power of fiat currencies…</p>

<p>…the architects of this failed experiment will now try to blame such excessive debt and currency destruction on a pandemic rather than years of their own pre-COVID policy crimes.</p>

<p>Today, politicians and their central bank masters are literally comparing the Pandemic’s 4.9M death toll to the unthinkable disaster which was the +75M killed in World War 2.</p>

<p>They then employ <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/covid-bailouts-have-nothing-to-do-with-covid/"><strong>this pandemic narrative</strong></a> to justify another Bretton Woods-like reset.</p>

<p>To those who have studied, or far worse, <em>experienced</em> the Second World War, do you think it’s even remotely fair to compare it to the “war on Covid”?</p>

<h2><strong>The Carefully Telegraphed “Reset”</strong></h2>

<p>And what is this “needed” reset?</p>

<p><strong>In a nutshell, it’s more fake money in the form of CBDC</strong> or even digital SDR’s from that shameless control center of <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/bretton-woods-ii-wont-repair-covid-aftermath/"><strong>failed monetarism otherwise known as the IMF</strong></a> and a central bank near you.</p>

<h2><strong>Those Who Control Money &amp; Information</strong></h2>

<p>In an open and free system, rather than criminalising police officers, nurses, or even athletes who refuse a jab, should we not be pointing our headlines, adjectives and subpoenas at the bankers, experts and policy makers who put the global financial system at this horrific, debt-soaked and socially destructive turning point?</p>

<p>Are you waiting for Mark Zuckerberg, Don Lemon, Wolf Blitzer or the censorship boards at YouTube or Google to guide you?</p>

<p><strong>Sadly, those who control money as well as information have immense and undeniable power.</strong></p>

<p>Thus, a media that controls deliberate COVID distraction, supported by the lords who created this financial serfdom, continues.</p>

<p>That is, the feudalists responsible for such grossly mismanaged financial markets are all too aware (and nervous) that they have equally created the greatest wealth transfer and wealth disparity ever witnessed, akin to the pre-revolutionary era of Bourbon France, Romanov Russia, Batista Cuba or Weimar Germany.</p>

<p>Such otherwise immoral and corrupt wealth disparity, wealth transfer and wealth creation explain why the very architects of the same would rather have the masses fighting about jabs, school boards, and “woke” SJWs gone wild rather than at themselves–the root cause of the <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/history-repeating-itself/"><strong>fracturing we see all around</strong></a> us.</p>

<p>Why?</p>

<p>Because controlling serfs with lies, fear, and division is better than letting those serfs replace you with truths.</p>

<h2><strong>Truth Still Matters – Fundamentals, Too</strong></h2>

<p>For that select yet blunt and independent-thinking minority who thankfully prefer candor over propaganda, <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/the-death-of-logic/"><strong>reality over fantasy</strong></a> and genuine rather than hyped solutions to the problems and problem-makers all around us, al l we can do is trust history, truth, natural market forces and each other.</p>

<p>As for us, <a href="https://vongreyerz.gold/"><strong>our candid solution</strong></a> to the foregoing string cite of distortions, controls and historical tipping points remains the same.</p>

<p>Regardless of the tricks, resets, and digital new bluffs of the new feudalism, enough free-thinkers, nations, informed investors, and wealth managers understand that they hold a better (and golden) hand to combat the dirty hands and dirty currencies unravelling all around us.</p>

<p><strong>If there’s one thing history and free market forces have taught us it’s this: In the end, broken systems die and real money returns.</strong></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-20T02:35:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 22:35</span>


guid: 1031986 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Bribery Charges Sink Retired Admiral In Navy Ethics Scandal
author: ;Tyler Durden
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bribery Charges Sink Retired Admiral In Navy Ethics Scandal</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Retired Adm. Robert P. Burke, once the Navy’s second-highest-ranking officer, was convicted Monday on bribery and related charges</strong>, marking the first time in history that a four-star U.S. military officer has been found guilty of committing a federal crime while on active duty.</p>
<a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/imrs.php_92_0.jpg?itok=1pSoQihC" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/imrs.php_92_0.jpg?itok=1pSoQihC"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a9b6eb17-b523-49ed-8558-36b8320e2530" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="334" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/imrs.php_92_0.jpg?itok=1pSoQihC" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption><em>Retired Adm. Robert P. Burke, 62, of Coconut Creek, Florida</em></figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p>Burke, 63, of Coconut Creek, Fla., was found guilty by a Washington jury after a five-day trial and three days of deliberation. <strong>Prosecutors said he steered a Navy training contract in 2021 to a New York-based company, Next Jump, in exchange for a $500,000-per-year job he was to begin after his retirement in 2022.</strong></p>

<p>"<strong>This is the man who issued the standards of conduct for the entire Navy,</strong>" Assistant U.S. Attorney Trevor C. Wilmot told jurors during closing arguments. Quoting Burke’s own words from 2020, Wilmot added, "In May 2020 what he said about ethics was: We have to get it right every time. We’ve got to be better than these standards. And <strong>a single act or omission can destroy a lifetime of achievement</strong>," the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/05/19/navy-admiral-burke-bribery-verdict/"><em>Washington Post</em></a> reports.</p>

<p>Burke was convicted of <strong>bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, acts affecting a personal financial interest, and concealing material facts</strong> - charges that carry <strong>a combined maximum of 50 years in prison</strong>, though legal experts expect far lower penalties given his status as a first-time offender. Sentencing is scheduled for August.</p>

<p>The jury heard excerpts of a recorded October 2023 interview with Navy investigators in which Burke acknowledged impropriety. "I was allowing myself to be influenced in ways that were inappropriate," he said. "<strong>I put myself in positions that allowed [Next Jump] to influence me, and I didn’t fully disclose everything.</strong>"</p>

<p>Burke, who served as chief of naval personnel from 2016 to 2019 and then as vice chief of naval operations through 2020, held top leadership roles during a turbulent era for the Navy. <strong>His tenure overlapped with the aftermath of the "Fat Leonard" scandal</strong>, which exposed widespread bribery involving Navy officers and defense contractors, as well as deadly 2017 ship collisions that killed 17 sailors and spurred renewed scrutiny over Navy readiness and ethics.</p>

<p>Prosecutors argued that <strong>Burke’s conduct ran counter to the leadership principles he had long championed</strong>. According to government evidence, after a July 2021 lunch at Belga Café in Washington, Burke agreed to help Next Jump secure contracts with the Navy and promote its services in the U.S. and U.K. militaries in exchange for a future executive position.</p>

<p><strong>The contract - valued at $355,000, with Next Jump receiving about $250,000 as a subcontractor - funded leadership training for sailors in Spain and Italy.</strong> Testimony showed Burke overrode objections from subordinates to fast-track the pilot program, which was poorly reviewed and not renewed.</p>

<p><strong>Burke joined Next Jump after his retirement,</strong> working there for four months and receiving a prorated salary of approximately $167,000 before parting ways. Prosecutors highlighted a message from co-CEO Meghan Messenger to co-CEO Charlie Kim after Burke’s hiring: <strong>"no contract no job."</strong></p>

<p><strong>Defense attorney Timothy C. Parlatore said Burke never agreed to a "quid pro quo"</strong> and had followed required ethics reviews before accepting the post-retirement job. He called the verdict "very surprising and disappointing," criticizing what he described as the prosecution’s narrow presentation of evidence.</p>

<p>"<strong>The government was trying to present a very narrow sliver of the evidence to the jury</strong>," Parlatore said, adding that key witnesses, including a Pentagon investigator and a former romantic partner of Burke’s, were excluded from testimony.</p>

<p><strong>Burke’s defense sought to cast doubt on the credibility of both individuals. </strong>The former Pentagon official, described by the defense as a "jilted ex-lover," had initiated an inspector general investigation that later became criminal. <strong>She was also found in a separate 2013 Virginia court ruling to have made false allegations during her divorce.</strong></p>

<p><strong>The lead Defense Criminal Investigative Service agent on the case, Cordell "Trey" DeLaPena, has also come under scrutiny.</strong></p>

<blockquote>
<p><em><strong>That agent, Cordell “Trey” DeLaPena, came under fire in a Fat Leonard-related case in which felony charges were dropped against four former Navy officers because of prosecutorial misconduct. </strong>The Justice Department also retreated from initial allegations that Rafaraci led a wider multimillion-dollar fraud scheme in the global industry that provides services to navy ships in ports overseas, which Parlatore alleged during Burke’s trial came after DeLaPena submitted a false affidavit in Rafaraci’s case in Washington.</em></p>

<p><em><strong>Rafaraci’s attorney has said that investigators were headhunting for the next Fat Leonard scandal</strong>, an investigation that rocked the Navy for years after 2013 when Malaysian defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis pleaded guilty to bribing scores of Navy officials so he could overcharge the Navy for port services in Asia. -WaPo</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Meanwhile, Kim and Messenger - Next Jump’s co-CEOs - are scheduled to go on trial in August. Both have pleaded not guilty and questioned the logic of offering Burke a lucrative salary for a relatively small training contract. "I expect the evidence will show that Burke and others at the Navy misled Charlie and Meghan," said Reed Brodsky, an attorney for Next Jump, adding, "<strong>I think it’ll be embarrassing for the Navy.</strong>"</p>

<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">This is a STARK WARNING and to anyone who even considers taking part in corrupt schemes like this…DO NOT! 😡</p>
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) <a href="https://twitter.com/GenFlynn/status/1924617496465719796?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-20T03:00:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 23:00</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/retired-admiral-convicted-navy-bribery-case-marking-historic-fall-top-military-official


guid: https://thehill.com/?p=5308694
title: King Charles writes to Biden after prostate cancer diagnosis
author: ;Elvia Limon
hash: A˛��dbgɎ�t5���
tags: #In The Know #News
content:
King Charles III wrote to former President Biden after he announced he was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer, Buckingham Palace confirmed to NewsNation on Monday. Biden’s personal office on Sunday announced that the former president “was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.” “On Friday…

link:
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/5308694-king-charles-writes-to-biden-after-prostate-cancer-diagnosis/

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guid: https://www.aljazeera.com/?t=1747699793
title: Biden’s cancer diagnosis renews transparency outcry; Trump claims cover-up
content: Former US president likely has had cancer for years, some doctors say.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/20/trump-suggests-coverup-of-bidens-cancer-as-questions-swirl-over-diagnosis?traffic_source=rss


guid: 1031936 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: The 3 Pillars Of The American Idea
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/3-pillars-american-idea
hash: H�C����'EW�ƐWX
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content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The 3 Pillars Of The American Idea</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://realclearwire.com/articles/2025/05/07/the_3_pillars_of_the_american_idea_1108288.html"><em>Authored by Robert Curry via RealClearWire.com,</em></a></p>

<p>Unalienable rights and self-evident truths are <a href="https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2025/02/11/restoring_america_with_common_sense_1090622.html">the two core ideas of the American founding</a>.  </p>

<p><strong>Expand the number of core ideas under consideration to three and you get unalienable rights, self-evident truths, and free market economics.</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/686003.jpg?itok=qxidqabA" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/686003.jpg?itok=qxidqabA"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="8cfbc8d1-e5fd-4b9e-b88f-8f167f246bb6" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="345" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/686003.jpg?itok=qxidqabA" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>You could call them the three pillars of the American Idea.</p>

<p><strong>These three pillars are the direct gifts to America of three great thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment: Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, and Thomas Reid.</strong></p>

<p>Their thinking — known today as “common sense realism” — took America by storm at precisely the right time to shape America fundamentally.</p>

<h2><strong>Francis Hutcheson</strong></h2>

<p>Francis Hutcheson:<em><strong> “Our rights are either alienable or unalienable …”      </strong></em>               </p>

<p>A revolution in thinking about our rights preceded the American Revolution. In the words of George Washington, America’s founding took place during a time “when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined than at any former period.” Hutcheson’s analysis of our rights showed the way.</p>

<p>The meaning of Hutcheson’s distinction was sharp and clear in the founders’ time but to understand it today you and I must first be clear about the meaning of “alienable.” Here is its complete definition in my dictionary: “<em>adj. Law.</em> Capable of being transferred to the ownership of another.” <strong>Your right to your car is an alienable right; because your car is your property, you can sell your car or give it away — but our rights to our lives and our liberty are unalienable, that is, not property, not capable of being transferred to the ownership of another.</strong></p>

<p>Hutcheson was challenging John Locke’s account of our rights — and in so doing he helped ignite the American Revolution. Locke, you see, had <a href="https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/digital/jefferson-locke-and-the-declaration-of-independence/">defined our rights in terms of property</a>. Locke: “Man … hath by nature a power … to preserve his property — that is, his life, liberty and estate.” According to Hutcheson and the founders, our rights to our lives and our liberty are not property; those rights are unalienable, inherent, essential, and not transferrable.</p>

<p>Hutcheson’s distinction provided the intellectual foundation for two of the greatest achievements in world history, Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” and the Declaration of Independence. Adam Smith’s focus was our alienable rights; the American founders focused on our unalienable rights.</p>

<p>The Declaration and “Wealth” both entered the world they were to transform in the same year, 1776.</p>

<p><strong>1776 marks the economic and political boundary between the world in which you and I live and all that had gone before.</strong></p>

<h2><strong>Adam Smith</strong></h2>

<p>Francis Hutcheson mentored Adam Smith. Upon Hutcheson’s death, Smith was appointed to the prestigious professorship at the University of Glasgow Hutcheson had held.  </p>

<p>Smith’s epoch-making “Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”<em> </em>is the foundation of free market economics.<em> </em>Hutcheson’s analysis of our rights set the direction Smith took. In “Wealth” Smith famously demonstrated that the division of labor is the source of the wealth of nations. In one of the most frequently quoted passages from “Wealth,” Smith makes clear the source in human nature of the all-important division of labor:<em> <strong>“This division of labour … is the necessary … consequence of a certain propensity in human nature … ; the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.”</strong> The division of labor depends on the right to exchange (alienate) our property and labor. We can “truck, barter, and exchange” because our right to our property is, as Hutcheson had shown, “naturally alienable.”</em></p>

<p>The social order that resulted from the new thinking of the Scottish and the American Enlightenments was a far cry from the world that assigned supremacy to hereditary monarchs and hereditary aristocrats. The great economist Ludwig von Mises described that new social order like this:<em><strong> It “assigned supremacy to the common man. In his capacity as a consumer, the ‘regular fellow’ was called upon to determine ultimately what should be produced, in what quantity, and of what quality, by whom, how, and where; in his capacity as a voter, he was sovereign in directing the nation’s policies.”</strong></em></p>

<h2><strong>Thomas Reid</strong></h2>

<p>When Jefferson wrote “We hold these truths to be self-evident …” he was relying on the thinking of Thomas Reid.</p>

<p>Reid’s “An Inquiry Into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense” was published in 1764, the same year he was awarded the prestigious professorship formerly occupied by Francis Hutcheson and Adam Smith.</p>

<p>As I write in my book “Reclaiming Common Sense”:<em> “<strong>Reid’s philosophical purpose was to provide a foundation for morality and for knowledge. </strong>He argued that there is an endowment of human nature that makes both morality and knowledge possible, and he called it common sense … With it we are able to make rational judgments and moral judgments. Common sense is the human attribute that makes it possible for us to be rational creatures and moral agents.  </em></p>

<p><em>Reid’s fundamental insight was that our ability to make sense of our experience presupposes certain first principles. Because these principles are implicit in our conduct and our thought, they cannot be proved; there are no other truths from which they can be derived. <strong>However, to deny or even to doubt any of them is to involve ourselves in absurdity. Consequently, the principles of common sense have the special authority of first principles: we cannot operate without them.</strong>”</em></p>

<h2><strong>The Progressives</strong></h2>

<p><strong>From their beginning, the purpose of the Progressives has been the step-by-step — that is, the progressive — undoing of the America of the founders. </strong>Their relentless campaign has done tremendous damage. If you and I are to do our part in helping to restore America, we need to go into action armed with a clear understanding of the American Idea.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-20T03:25:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Mon, 05/19/2025 - 23:25</span>


guid: yt:video:tV3u_L8XHbA
title: Strategic Challenges and the Emerging New Order — Panel 1
author: ;Schiller Institute
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV3u_L8XHbA
hash: �Oɝ��i��u�i�
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