News Briefing - June 24, 2022

Here at Utah Standard News, we bring you news and analysis from a Constitutional Conservative, Christian perspective - news you often won’t catch in the mainstream media.

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"The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.

"We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendant's right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense."—Justice Clarence Thomas

“A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.” - John Burroughs

Music for Reading

the News

Keith Jarrett

Standards Trio

JOHN CURTIS EXPOSED: A Trail of Sexual Harassment, Incompetence, and Broken Contracts

US Senate Unanimously Passes Sen. Mike Lee’s

FORMULA Act

Washington, D.C. – The US Senate unanimously passed a modified version of the Fixing Our Regulatory Mayhem Upsetting Little Americans (FORMULA) Act introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). The FORMULA Act was created to combat domestic baby formula shortages and bolster the supply chain to help American families feed their babies. Recent shortages come in the immediate aftermath of a recall and temporary closure of a major American formula factory, but highlight systemic weaknesses in this vital supply chain. Due to the disruption, families in Utah and across the nation are struggling to feed their babies. This modified version of Lee’s FORMULA Act will lift substantial tariffs on the importation of baby formula and reduce the costs borne by retailers trying to keep their shelves stocked.

Following Senate passage, Sen. Lee said, “I am thrilled that a modified version of my FORMULA Act passed the Senate today. This bill will make baby formula more affordable and more available for American parents struggling to feed their hungry babies. I am grateful for the bipartisan help of my colleagues in getting this bill through.

“However, there remains much to be done. Utah families are feeling the formula crisis more acutely than those almost anywhere else. Other government barriers to competition and importation of safe formula remain. No American babies should ever go hungry. While this first step will bring much-needed relief, I will continue to work with colleagues to ensure this crisis is resolved and similar difficulties never happen again.”

Utah AG's's Statement on Supreme Cour Abortion Ruling

SALT LAKE CITY -- Today, the United States Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, holding that there is no right to abortion protected by the U.S. Constitution—such a right is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions.

In anticipation of this ruling, the Utah State Legislature enacted a statute that is triggered by the Court’s decision and will prohibit abortion except in cases of rape, incest, the life of the mother, and other serious medical complications.

“The Supreme Court pronouncement is clear. It has returned the question of abortion to the states,” said Utah Attorney General Sean D.Reyes. ”And the Utah legislature has answered that question. My office will do its duty to defend the state law against any and all potential legal challenges.”

Utah Officials Called It the “Year of Water.”

Special Interests Still Resist Conservation.

Utah policymakers billed the 2022 legislative session as the “year of water.” Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law more than 15 measures related to water conservation, heralding “generational” progress as the West’s megadrought continues well into its third decade.

Those pieces of legislation allow farmers to earn money by sending their water downstream to shrinking lakes, require water meters for landscaping, appropriate $40 million to protect the Great Salt Lake and more. But perhaps more telling were proposals that lawmakers carved up or voted down.

Legislators in the country’s fastest-growing and second-driest state rejected a bill meant to address leaky pipes. New laws aimed at mandating low-flow plumbing both in state facilities and new homes had to be scaled back to win passage. And regulations on Utah’s lush green lawns remained largely off-limits, as interest groups stalled or rewrote bills targeting grass.

A ProPublica investigation last year found that Utah’s water policy was largely controlled by a group of water districts and allied special interest organizations and politicians who prioritized building new water projects over conservation.

The analysis showed the Legislature remains hesitant to act quickly on water conservation or on a scale that fully reflects the region’s dire situation, in part due to the influence of a rotating cast of special interest groups.

With little new water to tap, Utah is running out of time to reduce the amount that residents use on a daily basis. The Bureau of Reclamation announced in mid-June that Colorado River Basin states might have to cut water use by as much as a quarter next year, compared with average consumptio

https://www.propublica.org/article/utah-officials-called-it-the-year-of-water-special-interests-still-resist-conservation

NATIONAL & WORLD

Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade Abortion Rules – READ IN FULL

The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. On Friday morning, the justices released their opinions in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which holds “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”

UtahSTandardNews.com believes you should have the full facts without the spin. As such, we republish the Court’s opinion here in full:

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf

Justice Alito’s Opinion Doesn’t Just Overturn Roe v. Wade, It Shreds It to Pieces

Alito took a sledgehammer to Roe v. Wade in the court’s decision, beginning by dissecting its ruling that, while states have “a legitimate interest in protecting ‘potential life,” this interest was not strong enough to prohibit abortions.

“The Court did not explain the basis for this line, and even abortion supporters have found it hard to defend Roe’s reasoning,” Alito wrote.

He proceeded to obliterate the argument held by pro-abortion leftists that the right to an abortion, to end a life, is something guaranteed by the Constitution.

“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely—the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” he said.

The opinion delivered a fatal blow to Roe v. Wade by stating it “was egregiously wrong from the start,” and that “[i]ts reasoning was exceptionally weak[.]”

As the syllabus of the decision points out, the “rights” resulting from the Roe decision have no basis in American history or law:

https://thepoliticalinsider.com/justice-alitos-opinion-doesnt-just-overturn-roe-v-wade-it-shreds-it-to-pieces/

The Supreme Court's Decision Is a Huge Win for the Constitution

In the 2008 case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court recognized the individual right to gun ownership in the home. In the 2010 case of McDonald v. Chicago, it recognized that the right of individual gun ownership extended to states and local municipalities. This week, in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the court found that "New York's proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense."

Surely no one really believes that "bearing arms" in the Second Amendment was meant to restrict gun ownership to the home. But New York's gun restrictions demand that a law-abiding citizen beg permission from government officials, and then overcome a slew of subjective and discretionary standards, before being able to exercise a constitutional right. There is no historical or legal support for such restrictions. They are plainly authoritarian.

"We know of no other constitutional rights that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need," ....

https://www.creators.com/read/david-harsanyi/06/22/the-supreme-courts-decision-is-a-huge-win-for-the-constitution

Why Democrats Oppose Emancipation For The Unborn

The end of Roe v. Wade is perhaps the greatest political and cultural event in a generation. It will change American politics forever, and — what’s more important — it will save the lives of countless unborn children. The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs is a great victory for the U.S. Constitution, for the American people, and for justice and truth and the common good.

It is also a turning point. We should now expect

Democrats and the left to call more explicitly for violence, initially against places like crisis pregnancy centers and Catholic churches, as we have already seen, and eventually against ordinary people who disagree with them. We should expect not just calls for physical attacks against the justices in the Dobbs majority, but, as we have also already seen, attempts to carry out such attacks.

This violence will likely be accompanied by rhetoric that more explicitly posits abortion not just as a positive good — “shout your abortion” — but a necessary one for women to enjoy their full rights as citizens under the Constitution. The argument, already gaining steam in public discourse, is that without a constitutional right to kill the unborn, women.....

https://thefederalist.com/2022/06/24/why-democrats-oppose-emancipation-for-the-unborn/

Other Roe Stories

Hallelujah, Roe Has Fallen - Half century of praying, marching, lobbying and sacrificing finally disrupts baby killing machine

Roe Is Dead - After decades of state-sanctioned slaughter, the Supreme Court declared that the "Constitution does not confer a right to abortion."

Here Is a State-by-State Rundown of What Will Happen Now That SCOTUS Has Freed Lawmakers To Restrict Abortion

Babies Win: Supreme Court Strikes Down Roe

Pelosi gives response to Roe v. Wade decision, says 'slap in face,' earring falls off

Video: Maxine Waters Just Called For A Nation-Wide Insurrection In-front Of SCOTUS

How To Win The Debate On Abortion In 12 Clear Counterpoints

Now That Roe Is Overturned, Sedition Is Now Acceptable

America Has Donald Trump To Thank For Roe v. Wade Finally Being Overturned

Politicians, activists, everyday Americans react to court's abortion decision, Biden, 'sad day'

Roe v. Wade reversal spurs Democrats’ call for data privacy protection

Missouri Becomes First State to Ban Abortions After Supreme Court Overturns Roe

Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade: “Constitution Does Not Confer Right to Abortion”

Nancy Pelosi Cries After Supreme Court Overturns Roe: “This is Not a Good Morning”

Democrats Totally Unglued After Supreme Court Overturns Roe: “Horrifying Decision”

Liberal Media Unhinged Over SCOTUS Overturning Roe: Supreme Court is “Rigged”

Less Than 1 Hour After Roe Is Struck Down, Missouri Is 1st State to Outlaw Abortion

Roe Is Only the First Domino, Justice Thomas Confirms Historic Ruling May Mean a Revisit of Same-Sex Marriage

Dobbs Isn’t The End. It’s The Beginning Of A Ballot Measure Battle To Save Preborn Lives In Every State

The Interstate Tug-of-War Over Reproductive Freedom

Judicial Watch Celebrates Supreme Court Decision to Overturn Roe v. Wade

‘Squad’ Members Call on Biden To Declare Public Health Emergency in Wake of Roe Ruling

'We'll See You in the Streets': Women's March Doubles Down on Summer of Rage

'One of the Darkest Days' in US History: Pelosi, Schumer React to Dobbs Ruling

Leave It to George Gascon to Give the Most Absurd Virtue Signaling Take on Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision

What to Expect Next From Democrats Now that Roe v. Wade is Over

These companies will cover abortion travel costs for employees

Roe Is Dead & Democrats Want Us to Vote—for What, Exactly?

The ‘Love Wins’ crowd threatens to ‘Burn it all down’ if they can’t keep killing babies

Texas Ban on Abortions from ‘Moment of Conception’ Set to Start in 30 Days

Abortion safe havens are ready to welcome patients in a post-Roe America

March for Life says they will ‘continue to march until abortion is unthinkable” after SCOTUS ruling

The Key Ways Justice Thomas Vanquished Gun Grabbers in his Bruen Decision

It couldn’t have been more perfect than Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas penning the definitive decision that the right to carry guns on one’s person for self-defense is inherent for all Americans.

First of all, Thomas has been after the court to take up more gun rights cases. He used his considerable influence with Chief Justice John Roberts to continue looking for gun rights cases to take. The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc., et al. v. Bruen and the state of New York was the obvious choice. Remember, the state of New York, before Thursday’s decision as a “may issue” state, read the tea leaves and tailored its law after the federal courts were prevailed upon to take the case.

Second, Thomas is the one who assigns the decisions when the conservatives are in the majority due to his seniority on the court, according to former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy. Thomas assigned himself the task of writing for the majority opinion. This may explain why he chose Justice Samuel Alito to pen the other hot button decision of the court this session, the Dobbs abortion case.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/victoria-taft/2022/06/23/the-key-ways-justice-thomas-vanquished-gun-grabbers-in-his-bruen-decision-n1607542

How Operation Warp Speed Got Vaccines Out in Less Than a Year

Operation Warp Speed was an unprecedented fusion of government and private industry to create a vaccine against COVID-19. What normally would take four or five years to accomplish was done in less than one.

Paul Mango, then deputy chief of staff for the Department of Health and Human Services, was there to make sure everything happened according to plan. Under President Donald Trump, Mango was the liaison to Operation Warp Speed.

Mango joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to detail how the vaccines were developed and to discuss his new book “Warp Speed: Inside the Operation That Beat COVID, the Critics, and the Odds.”......

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/06/23/how-operation-warp-speed-got-vaccines-out-in-less-than-a-year/

Mike Pompeo, Unplugged

In January, Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, singled out the former secretary of state, demanding that Pompeo be tried under what’s called the Islamic law of retribution. Of course, even the Iranians know the United States would never extradite anyone, let alone a former cabinet member, into the custody of a theocratic state sponsor of terrorism. So, Raisi called on his followers to “take our martyr's revenge.”

If Pompeo has spent much time contemplating the threat, which occasioned added 24/7 security measures, he doesn’t take it personally. At least not during an interview backstage with RealClearPolitics. He is analytical instead, even businesslike, when asked about the Iranian designs on his life.

“We were right about the threat from the Quds Force and the Iranian regime. They present the single largest terror threat in the world. We were determined to push back against them, to deny them the resources to underwrite Hamas and Hezbollah and Shia militias in Iraq,” he explained. “And we took serious action in response to that.”

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/06/20/mike_pompeo_unplugged.html#2

Yes, Biden Is Hiding His Plan To Rig The 2022 Midterm Elections

The White House is refusing to share details about its coordinated efforts to engage in a federal takeover of election administration.

President Biden really does not want the public to know about his federal takeover of election administration. Dozens of members of Congress have repeatedly asked for details, to no avail. Good government groups, members of the media, and private citizens have filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Not a single one has been responded to. All signs indicate a concerted effort to keep the public in the dark until at least after the November midterm elections. The lack of transparency and responsiveness is so bad that the Department of Justice and some of its agencies have been repeatedly sued for the information.

When President Biden ordered all 600 federal agencies to “expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process” on March 7, 2021, Republican politicians, Constitutional scholars, and election integrity specialists began to worry exactly what was up his sleeve.....

https://thefederalist.com/2022/06/23/yes-biden-is-hiding-his-plan-to-rig-the-2022-midterm-elections/

$53.3 Million. 33 Jobs. No Plan. That’s How Mississippi Lawmakers Are Spending BP Oil Spill Money.

Nothing about the proposal to create a “town center” in the coastal bedroom community of Gautier, Mississippi, made sense to Becky Montgomery Jenner.

The mall that once functioned as the town’s community hub is literally a shell of its former self, with a rusting metal structure covering a concrete slab where shoppers once browsed. In its place the city wants to create a downtown where people can live, shop and dine.

No developers, banks or investors have signed on to the project. An advisory board that Jenner sits on voted 6-1 against recommending the project for economic development funding paid by the oil company BP following its massive oil spill in the nearby Gulf of Mexico.

State lawmakers put up $3.5 million anyway. Jenner couldn’t believe it.

“We’ve got this shopping center, defunct shopping center, in the middle of no-friggin’-where,” she said. Lawmakers “should look at which projects had the most viability, which projects had the greater return on the investment, which projects benefited the most people.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/gulf-coast-restoration-fund-mississippi-jobs

President Biden's Nobel Peace Prize?

As President Joe Biden reportedly prepares to go the Middle East next month, a positive development for him to build on and turn around his poll numbers, and possibly win a Nobel Peace Prize for totally eliminating the threat of Iran going nuclear, is the signing on May 31, 2022, of a groundbreaking trade agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel.

The two countries have targeted increasing annual trade to more than $10 billion annually within the next five years. To put this into perspective, from September 2020 until March 2021 there was approximately $2.5 billion in non-oil trade between the two countries. Further highlighting the significance of this trade agreement, current trade between Egypt and Israel, where a peace agreement has been in effect since 1979, is roughly $330 million per year. So, there can be no downplaying the importance and scope of this deal or the potential for greater peace in the region without a nuclear Iran destabilizing the area, followed by installing itself even further in South America, then threatening the United States (for instance here and here) .

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18630/biden-nobel-peace-prize

House GOP leadership rejects Senate gun bill as conservatives revolt

The Senate’s bipartisan gun reform legislation is facing pushback from top Republicans in the House despite the measure having the blessing of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), with House GOP leadership planning to whip against the bill.

While McConnell was one of 14 GOP lawmakers who voted to advance the measure in the upper chamber, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (LA) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA) told members they would not back the bill and encouraged them to follow suit during a GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning.

Critics of the bill have voiced reservations about its language to incentivize states to adopt red flag laws, which would ease the process to allow law enforcement to confiscate firearms and block the purchase of a gun from someone deemed to be a danger to themselves or others, arguing that it fails to ensure due process and could infringe on law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights.

“These red flag laws are unconstitutional and the provisions that would ensure our teachers are disarmed. That's exactly the opposite of what we ....

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house-gop-leadership-rejects-senate-gun-bill-as-conservatives-revolt-over-second-amendment-restrictions

Biden Unites Americans — In Opposition to His Handling of Immigration and the Economy

Capitol Hill paper Politico and opinion outfit Morning Consult just released the results of a poll they conducted between June 17 and 20 of 2,004 registered voters. The good news for President Biden is that he is uniting Americans. The bad news for him is that it is in opposition to his handling of immigration and the economy.

The numbers are not good for the president overall in that poll. Just 16 percent of respondents strongly approve of Biden’s performance as chief executive, and an additional 26 percent somewhat approve, for an overall approval rating of 42 percent.

That same percentage of respondents, 42 percent, strongly disapprove of the job that Biden is doing, and an additional 13 percent somewhat disapprove, for an overall disapproval rating of 55 percent. That means that the president is 13 points under water with the voters on his overall performance.

Immigration. Then, there is immigration. Biden’s overall approval numbers are scintillating compared to the grades that he receives on this specific topic.

Just 11 percent strongly approve of Biden’s handling of immigration, which likely represents the very floor of the president’s support. An additional 23 percent somewhat approve of the job that Biden is doing on immigration, for an overall approval rating of 34 percent.

“Forty-two” is plainly not the president’s lucky number in this poll, because that is the percentage of respondents who strongly disapprove of Biden’s handling of immigration. Add in an additional 12 percent who somewhat disapprove of the job that Biden is doing when it comes to the subject, and you get to overall disapproval of 54 percent. That leaves Biden 20 points in the red on immigration.

https://cis.org/Arthur/Biden-Unites-Americans-Opposition-His-Handling-Immigration-and-Economy

Ten Policies That Could Unleash American Energy And Fuel Recovery

Fresh off the 1973 oil embargo, America needed to change its bleak energy picture.

Our nation was increasingly dependent on foreign oil – and stark realities hit like a hammer when OPEC blocked oil exports to the U.S. and other countries. We were in an energy crisis marked by gasoline rationing, fuel thievery and deepening national malaise.

Americans wondered if our country’s best days were behind us and whether the opportunity to grow, build and make the world better would always be constricted by energy scarcity.

However, intrepid prospectors knew there were billions of barrels of oil on Alaska’s North Slope, where energy development was in its infancy. Fortunately, a public-private partnership had launched a bold plan to build an 800-mile crude oil pipeline from Prudhoe Bay in the north to Valdez in the south, where it could be transported to the Lower 48 by tanker vessels.

Construction started in 1975, and since it opened in 1977, the Trans Alaska Pipeline has transported 18 billion barrels of oil.

Today most every American is feeling the brunt of a new energy crisis – and many of them are searching for big, bold U.S. energy leadership. Oil demand continues to outstrip supply. Prices for fuel and any number of goods and services have soared, and inflation is at a 40-year high. Our European allies teeter on the brink of being besieged by Vladimir Putin because of their dependence on Russian energy.

Recent polling shows Democrats, Republicans and Independents want a real American energy plan, one that embraces American oil and natural gas now and as a long-term energy asset. It will take a course correction from Washington to forge a partnership between the oil and gas supply chain and government, to encourage investment and accelerate infrastructure.

Here are 10 actions policymakers can take right now:

Lift Development Restrictions on Federal Lands and Waters
The Department of the Interior (DOI) should swiftly issue a 5-year program for the Outer Continental Shelf and hold mandated quarterly onshore lease sales with equitable terms. DOI should reinstate canceled sales and valid leases on federal lands and waters.
Designate Critical Energy Infrastructure Projects......

https://thepoliticalinsider.com/ten-policies-that-could-unleash-american-energy-and-fuel-recovery/

Soros

The Push for Permanent Vote-by-Mail

A progressive activist you've never heard of sits at the center of efforts to remake the American election system.

Transforming our country’s elections into a mail-in fiasco is a big step toward handing power over elections from the states to the federal government, empowering professional activists, inviting fraud, and damaging America’s constitutional system. It places the integrity of the republic in the hands of the U.S. Postal Service, the government agency that routinely delivers your neighbor’s mail to your house. And it promises to undermine public trust in electoral outcomes from now until doomsday, which could make the problems of the 2020 election routine.

I’ve documented progressives’ relentless effort to federalize elections, from the $400-million flood of private cash Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sent to elections officials in 2020 to the $80 million “dark money” campaign for permanent vote-by-mail ahead of the 2022 and 2024 elections. That reporting builds on Capital Research Center’s year-and-a-half long investigation into the role of “Zuck bucks” in battleground states and our discovery that they targeted areas rich with Democratic votes, like Philadelphia and Atlanta.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-push-for-permanent-vote-by-mail/

Joe Biden’s Guide to Life

Hardly anyone was shocked to learn that President Joe Biden is so cognitively impaired that members of his staff are printing out official note cards with detailed instructions to help him carry out his daily tasks.

On Thursday, for example, White House photographers caught a glimpse of a card outlining the "sequence of events" for a discussion about offshore wind energy. "YOU enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants. YOU take YOUR seat," the card instructs.

In addition to these event-specific note cards, Biden also carries a general "cheat sheet" to help him get through the day without humiliating himself. The Washington Free Beacon has exclusively obtained a copy of this official document. It is published below in full to ensure that OUR democracy DOES NOT die in darkness. Enjoy!

https://freebeacon.com/satire/exclusive-joe-biden-guide-to-life/

Ghislaine Maxwell Just Dropped A Bomb On The Clintons In Sex Trafficking Trial

Ghislaine Maxwell, a child sex trafficker for Jeffrey Epstein, has audaciously come forth in court regarding her close ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton only days before she is sentenced for the crime.

In a 77-page court document, Maxwell directly accuses the Clintons of being involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s world and admits she helped “start and grow” the Clinton Global Initiative. She also claims she fears for her life in prison because snipers are allegedly waiting to assassinate her.

Maxwell appears to be using her relationship with the Clintons to negotiate a lighter punishment for her role in the trafficking of minors by Epstein and his influential VIP associates.

In a new court document submitted in advance of her June 28 sentence, Maxwell makes three references to her work on behalf of the Democrat former president’s charitable causes as she continues to argue that the four years in prison she is currently facing should be reduced from the 30.

Maxwell, 60, claimed that helping launch the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) demonstrated she has a “desire to do good in the world.”

https://en-volve.com/2022/06/23/breaking-ghislaine-maxwell-just-dropped-a-bomb-on-the-clintons-in-sex-trafficking-trial/

National Security News

Click here for Full Report

1. RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, JUNE 23 (PUTIN'S WAR)

2. Ukraine Orders Withdrawal From Severodonetsk to Avoid Encirclement

3. China ‘commends’ Nepal’s decision to reject US partnership programme

4. Car Bomb Kills Russia-Installed Official in Occupied Ukraine

5. In Russia’s War, China and India Emerge as Financiers

6. The Real Stakes of Taiwan - It’s not about democracy. It’s about power.

7. How a human rights law targeting forced labor in Xinjiang is shaking up the U.S.-China supply chain

8. Families of American hostages abroad discouraged after Blinken call

9. USNS Mercy in Vietnam on Pacific Partnership mission

10. U.S. Sending 18 Patrol Boats to Ukraine as Part of Latest Aid Package

11. United States and China set to be excluded from Pacific Islands Forum meeting to avoid 'distraction'

12. FDD | Treasury Targets Iranian Sanctions-Busting Network as Nuclear Talks Remain Stalled

13. The U.S. Military Needs An On-Time Defense Budget

14. China's Xi criticises sanctions 'abuse', Putin scolds the WestChina's Xi criticises sanctions 'abuse', Putin scolds the West

15. Attack Beijing or an Invasion Fleet? How Taiwan Should Use Its Cruise Missiles

16. House lawmakers ask Army: Who's in charge of massive ....read more

Ukraine Conflict Updates

by The Institute for the Study of War

Click Here for Full Report

Key Takeaways:

Belarusian forces are conducting mobilization exercises along the Ukrainian border but are unlikely to enter the war in Ukraine due to their low capabilities and the adverse domestic implications of military involvement on behalf of Russia.
Russian forces have likely reached the southern outskirts of Lysychansk and are reinforcing their grouping around Severodonetsk to complete the capture of both Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. These gains remain unlikely to provide Russian forces with a decisive edge in further operations in Ukraine and have further degraded Russian capabilities.
Russian forces are continuing efforts to encircle the Ukrainian grouping in Hirske and Zolote and are likely moving to take control of these settlements.
Russian forces have likely successfully interdicted Ukrainian lines of communication along the T1302 highway and are using recent gains along the highway to reinforce assaults on Lysychansk.
Russian forces amassed equipment and continued building defensive capabilities along the Southern Axis.

The next climate change target: cement

When it comes to battling climate change, all of the eco-warriors out there will be quick to tell you what the real threat to the future of the world is. It’s fossil fuels, right? Oil, coal, natural gas… they are all working together behind the scenes to bring down the entire planet. But did you know that there’s another, potentially even bigger villain hiding out there in plain sight? If you live anywhere with a greater population density than a wooden shack in a forest, you can probably step out your door and see it immediately It’s concrete. That’s right… the stuff that comprises the sidewalks, buildings, and most every other type of construction project you can imagine. And the process of creating concrete and allowing it to cure after it is poured is dumping vast, increasing amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. The biggest culprit in this story is reportedly China, but that doesn’t mean that you privileged Americans strolling around on your fancy sidewalks are going to be given a pass by the environmentalists. The global scourge of concrete must be brought under control. (Associated Press)

https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/06/23/the-next-climate-change-target-cement-n478179

Zuckerberg's Creepy Vision for the Future Has a Billion People Living in His Virtual 'World'

Mark Zuckerberg has a dystopian vision of the future in which his company Meta — formerly known as Facebook — rakes in massive amounts of money by peddling virtual trinkets to you in his digital universe.

Zuckerberg gushed about his creepy fantasy on Wednesday on CNBC, touting what he hopes will be “a huge business opportunity for us.”

His ambition is to establish this virtual world by 2030.

“Our north star is that by the end of the decade, we hope to basically get to around a billion people in the metaverse, doing hundreds of dollars of commerce each — buying digital goods, digital content, different things to express themselves,” he said.

.....

https://www.westernjournal.com/zuckerbergs-creepy-vision-future-billion-people-living-virtual-world/

Largest known bacteria in the world are visible to the naked eye

The world’s largest known bacteria have been found in the tropical mangroves of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. Each bacterium is about 1 centimetre long and has a structural complexity not seen before in bacteria.

“In 2009, as I was collecting samples under water, I found long white filaments attached to sunken leaves of a mangrove tree. At first, I thought they were some kind of eukaryote [animal, plant or fungus] due to their size,” said Olivier Gros at the University of the French Antilles, Guadeloupe, at a press briefing.

Most bacteria are around 2 micrometres – 0.0002 centimetres – in length. Their size is limited by the fact that the energy-carrying molecules they use to power themselves, known as ATP, are produced using enzymes embedded in the cell membrane. This means bacteria need to have a suitable surface-area-to-volume ratio to function. Growing bigger also limits how well they can move around.

That being said, we already knew bacteria could .....

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2325909-largest-known-bacteria-in-the-world-are-visible-to-the-naked-eye/

VIDEOS

Tulsi Gabbard: We have this big problem with leadership in America

Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade

The Democrat Midterm Game Plan

Thought & Opinion

American decimation: On the front lines of the tearing of our social fabric

PITTSBURGH — When the Hampton Battery was dedicated here in 1871 to a young Civil War soldier who lost his life protecting the Union at Chancellorsville, Virginia, the granite monument was a point of pride for residents of this neighborhood. They would stroll along the trails of the lush park filled with trees located across the street from their homes along Cedar Avenue to honor the local hero.

Today, the battery's founder, Capt. Robert B. Hampton, who was remembered by the men who served under him as a born commander with "the chivalric nature of an honorable gentleman," is now part of a different carnage in America as he stands watch over an open heroin market that has taken over the once grand park.

Residents say the Civil War statue is literally surrounded by drug dealers, buyers, and users around the clock. They are getting more aggressive with panhandling, trespassing, and theft.

Just yards away, along the old Pennsylvania canal, a man walks down the street, carrying a brand new patio chair stolen from the porch of a nearby home, toward the new and growing homeless camp. Last week, there were two tents or makeshift abodes. Now, there are over a dozen.

On the sidewalk, a woman dances erratically in her socks, her hoodie pulled up over her head. She then abruptly collapses in the street — within minutes, the medics arrive, and she is revived. She then continues on despite having overdosed minutes earlier.

Heroin and opioids make people desperate. Yet all that residents say they hear from elected leaders is “we can’t do this" or "we can’t do that.” No one is saying, “Let’s try this,” or “We need to come up with a solution.” ....

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/american-decimation-on-the-front-lines-of-the-tearing-of-our-social-fabric

The Supreme Court's Decision Is a Huge Win for the Constitution

"We know of no other constitutional rights that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need," Justice Clarence Thomas noted in the majority opinion. "That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to .....

https://www.creators.com/read/david-harsanyi/06/22/the-supreme-courts-decision-is-a-huge-win-for-the-constitution

Big Tech's Sticky Fingers Are Still at Work in Washington

Big Tech is strongly criticized in Congress these days, but it still has sway in Washington when it lobbies Congress to weaken the U.S. patent system. That’s bad news for everyone.

Years ago, Big Tech changed its business strategy. Previously, these tech companies would buy or license patent rights to new technologies — paying for the use of other people’s inventions. But now, Big Tech steals these inventions.

This blatantly violates intellectual property laws. But Big Tech has gobs of money to deal with the consequences. Companies like Apple and Google have hundreds of billions in cash reserves — orders of magnitude more than small businesses earn in total yearly revenues. So, Big Tech engages in “predatory infringement” because it’s cheaper to steal than to respect the law.

But what makes “predatory infringement” cheaper? Big Tech has made it impossible for its victims — individual inventors, startups, and small companies — to obtain their rightful remedies.

Predatory infringement works as a business strategy because Big Tech has lobbied its political allies in Washington to rewrite the patent laws in its favor. As a result, Big Tech rarely pays for the significant harm it causes in stealing patented technologies in the first place.

https://www.hudson.org/research/17909-big-tech-s-sticky-fingers-are-still-at-work-in-washington

How Israel’s Government Collapsed as Biden’s Soon Will

There often is an eerie similarity between the politics of America and Israel. That is because:

1. Both countries are model Western democracies.

2. In both countries, the voters trend towards traditional values but compromise, accepting what they are offered. Thus, most Democrats are liberal but vote for extreme radicals and “progressives” when that is the choice offered, and Republicans vote for RINOs like Nixon-Ford, Dole, the two Bushes (not even worth a bird in the hand), McCain, and Romney when that is all they are offered.

3. Both countries are dominated by an activist mainstream news media that, with the fewest of exceptions, comprise a leftist monopoly that mostly has abandoned objective journalism.

In America, thanks to one right-wing zillionaire (Rupert Murdoch) we have the exceptions. In Israel, the exception is Israel Hayom thanks to one right-wing zillionaire (the late Sheldon Adelson). In America, the Associated Press distributes left-oriented news. In Israel, it is Walla! and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (the leftist JTA).

https://spectator.org/how-israels-government-collapsed-as-bidens-soon-will/

Out of the Mouth of Babes: The Unseen Abortion Fallout

That day Julie decided they would eat lunch on the deck. “We won’t even need forks or spoons, and we can use paper towels for plates.”

After they prayed, five-year-old Libby took a bite

Libby chewed—she remembered to keep her mouth closed—swallowed, and asked, “Mom, what’s an abortion?”

Julie was raising her water to her lips, but paused and looked at her daughter. “Where’d you hear that word?” “From Jinny. She told me her mom’s going tomorrow to a big parade for abortion.”

Julie sipped the water, giving herself time to consider an answer. “An abortion,” she said, “is when a doctor takes a baby—which some call a fetus—out of a mother before it’s born.”

“Couldn’t they take our baby out?” Libby said. “Then he’d be here a whole lot sooner.”

https://intellectualtakeout.org/2022/06/out-of-the-mouth-of-babes-the-unseen-abortion-fallout/

Why Democrats Oppose Emancipation For The Unborn

he end of Roe v. Wade is perhaps the greatest political and cultural event in a generation. It will change American politics forever, and — what’s more important — it will save the lives of countless unborn children. The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs is a great victory for the U.S. Constitution, for the American people, and for justice and truth and the common good.

It is also a turning point. We should now expect Democrats and the left to call more explicitly for violence, initially against places like crisis pregnancy centers and Catholic churches, as we have already seen, and eventually against ordinary people who disagree with them. We should expect not just calls for physical attacks against the justices in the Dobbs majority, but, as we have also already seen, attempts to carry out such attacks.

https://thefederalist.com/2022/06/24/why-democrats-oppose-emancipation-for-the-unborn/

Can David Slay the Globalist Goliath?

There are two types of nationalism. There is the “nationalism” of the great nations which all too often manifests itself in the imposition of the nation’s “greatness” on smaller and weaker neighbours. Then there is the nationalism of the small nations which often manifests itself in spirited and defiant resistance to the unwanted and unwarranted influence of their “great” neighbours.

Many examples could be given of both types of nationalism. There was the “great” nationalism of the Soviet Union with its imposition of its will on the smaller nations it had swallowed whole. But the small nations survived, even in the belly of the beast. Against all odds, in terms of so-called realpolitik, the small nations outlived the monster which had devoured them. The Soviet Union is no more. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and a host of other small and beautiful nations flourish where once the Soviet Goliath had reigned supreme.

Then there was the Serb-dominated former Yugoslavia, which disintegrated when the Croats and other small nations flexed their political and military muscle.

And then there is that “great” nation that calls itself Great Britain. As a nation it is inseparable from its Empire, gaining its sense of identity in the conquest of smaller nations. Great Britain is, by definition, an imperial nation. This is hardly surprising because, at its very inception, it was formed and forged by the imposition of the will of the English nation on its smaller neighbours: Scotland, Wales and Ireland. A century ago, the Irish gained their independence from the UK before surrendering it again to the European Union. Within the United Kingdom today there are several small nations within the one “great” nation. There is the Scottish nation and the Welsh nation, whereas, in Northern Ireland, there are two tribes owing allegiance to separate nations.

https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2022/06/can-david-slay-globalist-goliath-joseph-pearce.html

The Unsolved Mystery of the Missing (Real) Journalists

Suppose you were a reporter without an agenda, no ax to grind, no political affiliation. You never stepped foot inside a school of journalism. Even better, following in the tradition of old-time journalists like H. L. Mencken, Ernest Hemingway, or Rose Wilder Lane, you never attended college. You read history, economics, and political science, you got hands-on experience working for several small papers and internet outfits, and you wrote reams of prose under the guidance of some old-school editors who had no qualms about tearing apart your work and telling you when it was baloney.

Now in your late twenties, you see yourself as a journalist with but one mission: to report facts—who, what, where, when, why, and how—as clearly and as truthfully as possible to the public. You believe in research, in digging below the surface of a story, and then, in as an unbiased manner as possible, you write up your ....

https://intellectualtakeout.org/2022/06/the-unsolved-mystery-of-the-missing-real-journalists/

Education

Keeping Children Safe Is the Most Dangerous Thing You Can Do

When my three sons were young, they were all good at skateboarding. They built their own short ramps all over our property, but especially enjoyed the ramp a neighbor built in his barn. It was against the rules to go on this ramp alone; nevertheless, my 10-year-old went over there one day unnoticed, had a bad fall while trying some difficult maneuvers, and broke his arm.

Holding on to his arm to keep it from flopping at the wrist, he got up, left his skateboard, and began his journey across the fields. Despite being scared and in great pain, he made it through the gates, across the stream, and up the very steep hill to our house.

When speaking with the doctor later, I told him how I felt like a terrible mother. There was my poor child, alone, with no one to help him get home … and in pain! “Your son is a hero,” the doctor reassured me. “You should be very proud of him. He got himself home with some difficulty, but he did it by himself. Most kids would have waited for someone to find them. What he did shows character. He will be successful in life.”

Now I see that he was right. This incident was a real character-building moment in my son’s life—and a parent-building moment in mine! Yet it runs contrary to the predominant theme in our culture, namely, the idea of keeping everyone—especially children—safe.

https://intellectualtakeout.org/2022/06/keeping-children-safe-is-the-most-dangerous-thing-you-can-do/

Biden Administration Proposes Changing Title IX to Include Transgender Students

President Joe Biden’s Department of Education on Thursday unveiled proposed changes to Title IX, a landmark civil rights law intended to curb sex-based discrimination in federally-funded education, that would expand the law’s protections for transgender students.

The proposed changes would expand protections against discrimination on the basis of sex under Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” according to an Education Department press release. Title IX prohibits schools receiving federal funding from excluding any student on the basis of sex.

The rule change will require every sex-separated space, program, building, bathroom, and locker room to accommodate individuals “who may feel as though they are women, even though biologically, they are men,”

The proposed changes could in effect force schools to allow biological males into women’s bathrooms in order to receive federal funding.

“As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this landmark law, our proposed changes will allow us to continue that progress and ensure all our nation’s students—no matter where they live, who they are, or whom they love—can learn, grow, and thrive in school,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said following the proposal.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/06/23/biden-administration-proposes-changing-title-ix-to-include-transgender-students/

White House to Force Schools to Adopt Radical Gender Policies

The Assault on Children’s Psyches city-journal.org

Soccer Player Megan Rapinoe's Sickening Advice to Parents Who Are Opposed to Trans Athletes- 'Get a Grip'

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Shocking Biden Allegations - Nothing to See Here!

Joe Biden’s Bike Takes Massive Lead In 2024 Presidential Polling

DELAWARE – After four hours of Doctor Jill Biden yelling, ‘Go faster, ya old poo! Is that all you’ve got?’ at her mighty husband during his mandatory bike ride, the fictional president eventually crashed into a group of reporters, leaving blood and ass everywhere.

“Awe.. damn it, Putin! I outta take you out behind the bleachers and…shower with…anyways, the point is, you did this,” Biden muttered as dozens of media members helped him to his feet.

After the dust settled and the handlebars were carefully dislodged from the president’s rear end, the bike that sent Joe crashing to the ground had consolidated massive support for a 2024 presidential run.

“That bike is now up huge in the polls. I’m getting beat fair and square!” Trump yelled at a recent rally. “America wants to see sleepy Joe crash down like his poll numbers, and the bike is delivering! Perhaps I can be the bike’s VP? Who knows, we’re looking into it.”

Update: Naturally, the bike has been called

to testify i.....

https://thegloriousamerican.com/featured/joe-bidens-bike-takes-massive-lead-in-2024-presidential-polling/

Uvalde Police Demand To Know Why Gun Control Is Taking So Long To Get Here

UVALDE, TX — Unhappy, wealthy, coastal liberals are waiting and waiting for sweeping gun control laws and the members of the Uvalde police department are furious with all the inaction.

“What on earth is taking them so long! This is outrageous!” Yelled the chief of police at congress. “We pay them to protect us and they’re just standing around? What, is the Capitol door locked or something? They should knock that sucker down, get in there and immediately get it done! Lives are at stake for goodness sake!”

Now, if Washington fails to act, the Uvalde police force is threatening to no longer protect the local citizens from danger.

“If they don’t act, you can say goodbye to the famous blanket of safety we cover our county with. How about that? Can you imagine?” the sheriff said while handing out traffic tickets.

Update: Dozens of Republicans rushed to the Capitol with a plan to bolster schools with proper security and armed guards but the Uvalde Police promptly arrested them.....

https://thegloriousamerican.com/featured/uvalde-police-demand-to-know-why-gun-control-is-taking-so-long-to-get-here/

10 Times Socialism Actually Worked

Bernie Sanders famously said that "real" socialism has never been tried. Frankly, we're shocked he would ever suggest such a thing because there are numerous examples of real socialist utopias that we have to pull from.

Here are just a few:

1) Star Trek's Federation of Planets: There's no money, but people still work for some reason. Workers of the world, set your phasers to Social Contract!

2) The Borg Collective: Like a more efficient Federation that tears through freedom-loving planets and subjects them to the will of the collective.

3) In the wonderful dream AOC had last night: Elon Musk even made an appearance.

4) In John Lennon's "Imagine": Everything works perfectly when you imagine it! Even marriage to Yoko Ono.

5) Smurf Village: Cheerful workers in a heavily regulated population. Just like China.

6) In Bernie Sander's serial fanfic: He's been writing Social Thunder for three years now. It's a big hit on his Substack.

7) A beaver dam: Everyone chips in or they all die.

https://babylonbee.com/news/10-times-socialism-actually-worked

Hacking Street Lights To Charge Your Electric Car, A Guide

SO, YOU’VE done your bit for the environment and finally went out and got yourself into debt with a brand new electric car only to realise the government has allocated very little charging points across the country. So, what now? Hacking streetlights, that’s what. Let WWN show you how.

First bits you will need are some washing up gloves, a pair of rubber soled runners, a crowbar, Stanley blade, Sellotape, some electrical wire and one of those lighty up screwdriver things you can buy in Dealz for 49 cents.

Choosing a secluded streetlight is key to avoid being snared by the local community alert morons or the gardaí. We would suggest doing this on a wet and rainy night as gardaí hate .....

https://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2022/06/23/hacking-street-lights-to-charge-your-electric-car-a-guide/

Taliban praises US Supreme Court for clamping down on women’s rights

After the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe vs Wade decision, Taliban officials in Afghanistan have warmly welcomed the move and praised the regressive thinking behind it.

Overturning an almost fifty-year-old decision that protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction will make the United States a much more pleasant land, according the Afghanistan’s new leadership, who spoke in glowing terms of the United States’ highest court.

Taliban spokesman, Sayid Faizilliams, told us, “We are delighted to see our brothers in the United States clamping down on the scourge that is ‘women’s rights’.

“Women making decisions about their own bodies will lead to them wanting to make more decisions about other things that affect them personally, and before you know it, women will be thinking they are equal under the law.......

https://newsthump.com/2022/06/24/taliban-praises-us-supreme-court-for-clamping-down-on-womens-rights/

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