Today’s Top 5:
1.US Embassy Issues Warning to American Citizens: Avoid French Cities
The U.S. Embassy issued a bulletin urging American citizens in France to exercise caution amid widespread rioting and unrest following a police-involved shooting earlier this week.
“Following the June 27 police shooting in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre, demonstrations are taking place in the greater Paris region and other major urban centers with reports of damage to private property and public buildings,” the U.S. Embassy said in a bulletin, dated June 29.
It noted that those demonstrations and “spontaneous protests,” which many have described as rioting, are “expected to continue and may turn violent.”
2,WATCH: Border Patrol Agents Cut Texas Border Barrier, Let Migrants Enter U.S.
A video provided to Fox News shows a Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agent appearing to cut a Texas-erected razor-wire border barrier. After opening the barrier, the agent allowed multiple migrants to enter the U.S. freely.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin tweeted a video that appears to show a Border Patrol agent cutting a razor-wire border barrier on private property near Eagle Pass, Texas. The state of Texas erected the barrier with the permission of the land owner to deter or turn back migrants attempting to enter the United States illegally.
3.US Agencies Have No Records of Trump’s Alleged ‘Standing Order’ for Declassification
Multiple U.S. agencies say they have found no signs that former President Donald Trump issued a “standing order” to declassify sensitive documents.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Agency said this month in a filing that they have no records on the alleged order.
Retired US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor, a decorated combat veteran, author of five books, a PhD, and a Defense and Foreign Policy consultant, has been covering PSYOP-UKRAINE-INVASION with uncanny accuracy and insight.
Three days ago he appeared on the PBD Podcast, and made what may just be his most dystopian prediction to date:
I don’t think we’ll ever get to the 2024 election.
I think things are going to implode in Washington before then.
I think our economic Financial condition is fragile – it’s going to come home to roost in ugly ways.
Now I will tell you I don’t know exactly how it will happen, but I think we’re going to end up in a situation where we find out the banks are closed for two or three weeks, and nobody can get into them.
I think we’re going to run into something like that.
I also think that the levels of violence and criminality in our cities is so high that it’s going to spill over into other places in society.
People that normally think they can live remote from the problem are now beginning to be touched by the problem.
Then I look at this thing in Ukraine.
I think Ukraine is going to lose catastrophically – it’s going to be a complete collapse and that too is going to have an effect here at home because people are going to say, well, wait a minute everybody told us Ukraine was winning, everybody told us X Y and Z.
I mean sort of the the Russian hoax on steroids.
All of those things are going to come together or converge in some way that’s going to prevent us from reaching you know the status quo. Oh. another election… Oh, another set of campaigns… And so forth…
The above quote starts at 1:51:30:
5.Gordon Chang: China’s ‘shock troops’ now inside U.S.
‘On 1st day of war in Asia,’ they will ‘poison reservoirs, assassinate officials, create terror’
China’s “shock troops” already are inside the United States.
And “the concern is that, on the first day of war in Asia they will take down America’s power lines, poison reservoirs, assassinate officials, start wildfires, spread pathogens, and create terror by bombing shopping malls and supermarkets.”
WORLD NEWS
France Deploys 45,000 Police on Fifth Night of Nationwide Riots
The French government said Sunday that hundreds more had been arrested in a fifth night of rioting sparked by the police killing of a 17-year-old, as police deployed reinforcements to flashpoint cities around the country.
Protesters, mostly minors, have torched cars, damaged infrastructure and clashed with police in an outpouring of rage since an officer shot Nahel M. point blank as he attempted to flee a traffic stop on Tuesday.
Home of French mayor ram-raided and torched by rioters
“People ram-raided my home before starting a fire to torch my house, where my wife and my two young children were sleeping,” Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said.
Macron Cancels Trip to Germany as Race-Fuelled Riots Rage On
President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday scrapped an official trip to Germany after a fourth straight night of rioting and looting across France in defiance of a massive police deployment. Hundreds turned out for the burial of the 17-year-old whose killing by police triggered the unrest.
Israel attacks Jenin in biggest West Bank incursion in 20 years
At least five Palestinians killed and dozens injured as major Israeli offensive targets city of Jenin
Russia ‘threatened’ by Ukraine’s bid to join NATO – Medvedev
Russia demands that its security concerns regarding NATO are respected, but has neither the intention nor the capability to “contain” the US-led military bloc, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said.
George Soros’ foundation lays off 40% of workforce after passing control over to his son
George Soros’ Open Society Foundations will lay off at least 40% of its staff one month after the 92-year-old announced he handed the reins of the multi-billion-dollar foundation to his son, Alexander Soros.
The job cuts were announced in a statement signed by Alexander Soros and the foundation’s president, Mark Malloch-Brown. It said the foundation would undergo “significant changes” to its operating model.
“Through this new model, the Board aims to transform operations across the global network, with the goal of generating a nimbler organization better able to build on past achievements and confront urgent and emerging challenges,” the statement said.
Owner of Pop-Up Drug Shop Selling “Clean” Substances Dies of Overdose
A Vancouver man who opened up a mobile shop selling “clean” drugs, including heroin, cocaine, meth, and MDMA, died of a suspected fentanyl overdose.
Jerry Martin, 51, dealt with a cocaine addiction and spent most of his youth homeless, VICE reported. He initially survived the overdose and was hospitalized for a few days before passing away on Friday.
Italians forced to cut back on food – industry report
The cost-of-living crisis is affecting household finances
Soaring inflation is causing Italian households to curb spending on food, according to a report by the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria).
The report showed household spending on groceries is in “sharp decline.” It dropped by 3.7% in 2022, and by 8.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022 when compared with the first quarter of 2021.
“This has become a burden on overall consumption, given that spending on food accounts for 14% of all expenses, second only to spending on housing, water and energy (23%),” Confindustria wrote.
The head of the National Consumer Union (UNC), Massimiliano Dona, described the report as “alarming” and claimed that “Italians are on a forced diet due to skyrocketing inflation.”
He noted that the situation had a serious negative effect on economic growth, considering that “consumption represents 60% of GDP and that, if Italians don’t buy, then merchants don’t sell and businesses do not produce.”
52 Dead, 32 Injured After Road Accident In Kenya Londiani Junction vehicle wreckage
Fifty-two people were confirmed killed and at least thirty-two were injured in a road crash Friday involving a truck in western Kenya, according to a government official.
The crash occurred at Londiani Junction, a busy intersection with a roadside market and public transport parking garage, according to a statement by Kipchumba Murkomen, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Roads, Transport, and Public Works. “Unfortunately,” the statement read in part, “all the victims were trading on the roadside market and the others boarding vehicles at the roadside car park.”
To put it simply, Biden’s lack of planning ‘had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security.’
President Joe Biden’s State Department, which previously hesitated to criticize the White House’s Afghanistan withdrawal, released a damning report on Friday afternoon detailing the Democrat’s failure to properly terminate decades of U.S. presence in the Middle Eastern country.
For two years now, Biden repeatedly tried to dodge responsibility for the hasty and harrowing troop removal that led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and stranded thousands of Americans, U.S. allies, and their families.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
How America Has Become a Military Dictatorship Disguised as a Democracy
“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?”—Thomas Jefferson
The government is goosestepping all over our freedoms.
Case in point: America’s founders did not want a military government ruled by force. Rather, they opted for a republic bound by the rule of law: the U.S. Constitution.
Yet sometime over the course of the past 240-plus years that constitutional republic has been transformed into a military dictatorship disguised as a democracy.
Most Americans seem relatively untroubled by this state of martial law.
Incredibly, when President Biden bragged about how the average citizen doesn’t stand a chance against the government’s massive arsenal of militarized firepower, it barely caused a ripple.
As Biden remarked at a fundraising event in California, “I love these guys who say the Second Amendment is—you know, the tree of liberty is water with the blood of patriots. Well, if [you] want to do that, you want to work against the government, you need an F-16. You need something else than just an AR-15.”
The message being sent to the citizenry is clear: there is no place in our nation today for the kind of revolution our forefathers mounted against a tyrannical government.
Suspect Detonates Series of Explosive Devices in Washington, D.C., Still on the Loose
A series of explosive devices and a “Molotov cocktail-style object” detonated outside three northeast Washington D.C. businesses early Sunday morning, causing no deaths or injuries but leaving the city on edge. There was some damage to the buildings, with broken windows and debris.
18 Migrants Found in Sealed Tank Trailer near Border, Texas Man Arrested
A potential tragedy was averted in the small border city of Eagle Pass, Texas, when Maverick County Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped a tractor-trailer on Thursday. After noting suspicious behavior by the truck driver and noises coming from the trailer, the deputies searched the pneumatic tank trailer being towed by the driver and located 18 migrants sealed inside.
Federal Agency Forced to Build Part of Trump’s Border Wall
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Friday it will build 20 more miles of U.S.–Mexico border wall, carrying out some of former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign vow.
“Until and unless Congress cancels these funds, the law requires DHS to use the funds consistent with their appropriated purpose,” the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement announcing the wall construction. Previously, President Joe Biden’s administration had called on Congress to take action to prevent more of the wall from being constructed, which is unlikely for now because Republicans control the House.
Biden Announces New Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Hours After SCOTUS Ruling
President Joe Biden reacted swiftly to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate his plan to forgive many student loans by announcing new measures to provide relief to borrowers.
Biden made a televised statement on June 30, within hours of the court decision, promising to provide debt relief for some borrowers and a temporary measure to ease the transition back to loan repayment after a pause of over three years.
Biden had unveiled the original loan-forgiveness plan in August 2022. At the time, some critics charged that the move was intended to boost the chances of Democratic candidates in the midterm election. Others denounced it as unfair to Americans who had repaid their college loans and as an illegal usurpation of congressional authority.
The Congressional Budget Office said the plan could cost about $400 billion. The Wharton School estimated that it could exceed $1 trillion.
IRS Issues ‘Last Call’ for Taxpayers to Claim $1.5 Billion in Refunds
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a “last call” reminder to over 1 million taxpayers across the country not to miss out on claiming their share of around $1.5 billion in refunds that are still up for grabs for tax year 2019.
“Time is running out for people owed a tax refund in 2019,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement.
Taxpayers who are owed tax refunds for the 2019 tax year have until July 17, 2023, to file a 2019 tax return and claim the money
ANALYSIS: Student Loan Cancellation Killed by SCOTUS—What Can Borrowers Expect Next?
The legal fight over President Joe Biden’s proposal to “forgive” billions of dollars in federal student debt has finally been put to rest, along with all questions and confusion about when, or if at all, borrowers of student loans will have to start paying their debts again.
Prior to Friday’s decision, the U.S. Supreme Court had heard a range of arguments about the constitutionality of Biden’s $400 billion plan, which would have erased up to $10,000 in student loan debt for every borrower who earns less than $125,000 per year while canceling up to $20,000 for each Pell Grant recipient who meets that income standard.
According to a White House estimate, the plan would have provided a blanket relief to up to 43 million borrowers, with roughly 20 million of them seeing their full remaining balance wiped out.
Supreme Court Rules for Christian Web Designer in Forced Speech Case
The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in favor of a Christian website designer who said Colorado’s law requiring her to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings infringed on her constitutional rights.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion (pdf) in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (court file 21-476) which was decided June 30. The opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
The three liberal justices dissented. President Joe Biden called the new decision “disappointing.”
Supreme Court Justice John Roberts Says Recent Opinions Contain ‘Disturbing’ Feature
The Supreme Court’s chief justice said that some justices had been wrongly questioning colleagues, saying he’s disturbed by the development.
“It has become a disturbing feature of some recent opinions to criticize the decisions with which they disagree as going beyond the proper role of the judiciary,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote at the end of his majority opinion striking down President Joe Biden’s student debt relief program.
Six justices concluded that the Biden administration’s program, which canceled debt for tens of millions of borrowers, was not authorized by the federal law that the administration cited as authorizing it. The law lets the education secretary “waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision applicable to the student financial assistance programs.”
Exclusive: Arizona Republican Kari Lake Floats Possible U.S. Senate Run
Arizona Republican Kari Lake teased a possible run for U.S. Senate while appearing on Sirius XM’s Breitbart News Fourth of July Special, where she also spoke about her new book Unafraid: Just Getting Started.
Red and Blue State Divide Grows Wider in Voting and Election Laws
Next year’s elections are still 16 months away. But for voters, perhaps the most important developments took place during the first half of this year—when states drafted and passed the legislation that will shape how those contests are run.
“The rules that will govern the 2024 election are being written today,” said Megan Bellamy, vice president for law and policy at the Voting Rights Lab, which tracks state elections legislation and works to protect access to the ballot. “Already, based on what we’ve seen, it will look different from the 2020 election for many voters, all the way from how they vote to how their ballots are counted.”
With all but a few state legislatures now having wrapped up their sessions, it’s clear that for voters in some states, it will be easier to cast a ballot, while in others, it will be harder.
According to a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice, 21 bills that restrict voting or interfere with election administration were either signed into law, or await the governor’s signature, as of May 29. Meanwhile, 23 bills that expand access to voting became law or are on governors’ desks.
Red states and blue states “are moving in opposite directions in the regulation of election administration,” the election law scholar Edward Foley wrote recently, “with red states becoming more restrictive as blue states are becoming more expansive.”
2ND AMENDMENT
Baltimore Shooting Leaves 2 Dead, 28 Injured Over July 4th Weekend: Officials
Gunfire erupted at a block party in Baltimore on Sunday, killing two people, wounding 28, and leaving an extensive crime scene that marred the Fourth of July holiday weekend, police said.
US Supreme Court Takes Up Major Second Amendment Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on whether people under domestic violence restraining orders have the right to possess firearms, announcing Friday that it will hear a case on the matter during its next term.
The court on Friday agreed to review an appeal by President Joe Biden’s administration of a lower court’s ruling that found that the law ran afoul of the Second Amendment’s “right to keep and bear arms” because it fell outside “our nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
Federal Court Delivers Blow to ATF’s Ban on ‘Ghost Guns’
A federal judge delivered a blow to the Biden administration’s gun control policy by reversing a federal ban on so-called “ghost guns” and argued that the ATF overstepped its authority.
Texas-based United States District Court Judge Reed O’Connor on Friday ruled that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) erred by saying that unfinished gun parts are guns and can, therefore, be regulated. His ruling said that parts aren’t guns under federal law.
“This case presents the question of whether the federal government may lawfully regulate partially manufactured firearm components, related firearm products, and other tools and materials in keeping with the Gun Control Act of 1968,” wrote O’Connor in his order (pdf). “Because the court concludes that the government cannot regulate those items without violating federal law, the court holds that the government’s recently enacted final rule … is unlawful agency action taken in excess of the ATF’s statutory jurisdiction. On this basis, the court vacates the final rule.”
His order also stated that the ATF is trying to regulate a gun component as a “frame or receiver,” even after the agency determined “the component in question is not a frame or receiver.” Elaborating, he wrote: “It may not. Logic dictates that a part cannot be both not yet a receiver and receiver at the same time. Defendants’ reliance on that logical contradiction is fatal to their argument.”
Independence Day & the Second Amendment
Commentary – “During a Monday conversation with Elon Musk, Democrat presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Second Amendment is settled and that a Kennedy administration will not be trying to take away guns.”
RFK Jr. Says He Would Sign ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban if it Reached His Desk, June 29, 2023 – “Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a NewsNation town hall on Wednesday night he would sign an “assault weapons” ban if it reached his desk.”
I assume Kennedy means his pipe dream administration would include frying pans, baseball bats and anything else used to assault and kill someone. Rifle models like AR-15, AK-47 and handguns like a Glock are inanimate objects that cannot shoot by themselves. A person has to pull the trigger. Just like frying pans, baseball bats or a 2 x 4 requires a person take a swing.
Of course, that doesn’t matter to Illinois’ governor, a truly repulsive pile of dung who reeks of totalitarian control over the people of Illinois: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signs assault weapons ban as lawmakers shore up abortion rights, Jan. 11, 2023. AR-15 at the top of the list in the ban. Then again, allegedly the people of Illinois reelected him for a second term. Useful fools.
But, perhaps Kennedy is word-parsing. Not going to take away guns but would sign an “assault” weapon ban of which the AR-15 and AK-47 rifles have been targeted for decades. No doubt in my mind that’s what Kennedy is referring to. There is a big difference between a gun and a rifle.
Tomorrow is Independence Day commonly referred to as 4th of July. Below is a ten-year old column of mine and as you’ll see, nothing has changed because tens of millions of gun owners refuse to demand the solution, but instead seem content with lawsuits.
Blame for gun grab? Gun owners look in the mirror, January 13, 2013:
Once again, following yet another school massacre, the rabid dogs in the controlled media, NYC Mayor Fascist Michael Bloomberg and the usual vermin in the Outlaw Congress are pushing for something the global elite have wanted since this republic was founded: disarm everyone except police, military.
Those calling for their own destruction are so mentally unstable they can’t even comprehend their own stupidity:
We’ll ‘pry guns from cold, dead fingers’
“For 50 years, the left-leaning columnist Donald Kaul has raged against guns, but after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, he says, it’s time for “anger,” killing gun owners and dragging legislators who disagree with gun control behind pickup trucks until they get the message. The Pulitzer Prize-nominated columnist penned an alarming screed published in the Des Moines Register in which he further suggested the Second Amendment be repealed and the National Rifle Association be declared a terrorist organization.”
Had I penned such a piece, jackbooted thugs at the Department of Fatherland Security who have sold their soul for a paycheck would have kicked down my door, probably shot my dogs and thrown me in some federal jail.
Unfortunately, even individuals who supported the Second Amendment in the past, once again demonstrate complete and total ignorance regarding the Second Amendment. Former Congressional Band Aid pusher, Joe Scarborough, on another obscure cable network (MSNBC) with dismal ratings and dominated by sexual deviants, socialists and Marxists, ranted against gun manufacturers and the NRA after Sandy Hook: “I say, good luck to the gun lobbyist. Good luck to the Hollywood lawyer who tries to blunt the righteous anger of millions of parents, by hiding behind twisted readings of our Bill of Rights.”
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
UPS Hands Teamsters New Contract, Teamsters Respond With New Deadline
UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents some 330,000 UPS delivery drivers and warehouse logistics workers, are back at the negotiation table.
The teamsters had warned this that UPS needed to “exchange its last, best, and final offer no later than June 30″ or the drivers would walk away from negotiations.
UPS returned with a new contract, the Teamsters have confirmed.
“UPS came back with real movement, but it isn’t enough,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman in a statement on July 1.
The counterproposal had “significant movement on wages and other economic language,” according to the Teamsters.
UPS has pledged to reach a deal no later than July 5, and the Teamsters have agreed.
Glass Bottling Company Lays Off Hundreds After Bud Light Implosion
A glass bottling company has reportedly laid off over 600 employees in the wake of the fallout over Bud Light’s partnership with transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has announced plans to shut 450 stores worldwide to reduce costs as the company struggles with poor financial performance.
As part of the cost-cutting measures being implemented at the company, Walgreens is looking to “optimize our locations and opening hours, and expect to close an additional 300 locations in the UK and 150 locations in the U.S,” James Kehoe, Walgreens’ chief financial officer, said during a Q3 earnings call on June 27. Walgreens operates around 9,000 stores in the United States. The company has not revealed the locations of the stores it intends to shut down.
The cost-cutting and store closures come as Walgreens posted lower earnings for the third quarter this year amid a decline in demand for COVID-19 vaccines and lower customer spending. It is also forecasting lower earnings in the coming quarter.
IRS Sends Special Notice to Taxpayers in Eight States
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has sent out a special mailing to taxpayers in disaster-affected areas, letting them know they have more time to pay their taxes.
The IRS said in a statement Thursday that the special mailing was being sent out to California and seven other states as a follow-up clarification after an earlier message wrongly told them they had 21 days to pay.
“Although the initial notice indicated a payment deadline of 21 days, taxpayers in these disaster-declared regions actually have until a later date this year to make their payments within the designated timeframe,” the agency stated.
United canceled flights for thousands of passengers while the CEO took a private plane
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby apologized on Friday for hopping on a private plane to get out of the New York area earlier this week while thousands of United passengers were stranded because the airline canceled so many flights.
“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in a statement issued by the airline. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days – often through severe weather – to take care of our customers.”
Kirby concluded by promising “to better demonstrate my respect for the dedication of our team members and the loyalty of our customers”.
Ready to Finally Ditch PayPal and Venmo? Here are 3 Better Payment Processors
Remember when Paypal attempted to fine users $2,500 for disagreeing with the woke agenda? The radical leftwing company backed off, but we know how they work. Their punitive censorship policies will return when opportunity strikes.
That’s why no sane, patriotic American can remain on Paypal for much longer. Thankfully, there are four great alternatives:
Revere Payments is a Christian merchant services provider that offers a wide range of solutions for businesses in a variety of industries, including e-commerce, retail, restaurant, firearms, religious, political, CBD, and non-profit. They’re using the same innovative technology as their parent company, Metrics Global, to bring seamless, secure online payments to any industry.
AlignPay specializes in credit, debit, ACH, encryption, recurring donations, mobile payments, and reporting. AlignPay delivers market-leading APIs, security, integration tools, customer service, and compliance support. Their Free Speech Principles preserve and strengthen the rights of all users to interact freely within the law. Period.
GabPay is a cutting-edge P2P payment platform within the Parallel Economy. With GabPay, users can actively engage in the Parallel Economy, executing financial transactions and providing commercial payment solutions through this innovative service. GabPay enables users to seamlessly transfer funds from almost any US bank account to individuals or businesses using a mobile number, email address, or gab social @name*.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
If this thing operates like regular electric cars, these flying cars will use more juice to take off and you won’t have much flying time before the battery dies and you end up crashing!
FAA Approves World’s First Electric Flying Car for Testing
A California-based company, Alef Aeronautics, is building a flying electric car that now has approval for testing.
The company said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted it certification to begin testing the car on the road and in the air, Fox Business reported Saturday.
U.S. malaria cases reported for first time since 2003
Malaria has been spread by mosquitos locally in the U.S. for the first time in 20 years, per a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alert issued Monday.
A box of 200 mosquitoes did the vaccinating in this malaria trial. That’s not a joke! Coincidence?
Mom Warns Parents After Back Seat Mirror Reflects Sunlight, Causing Child Car Seat to Catch Fire
A concerned mom shared a warning worth reflecting on, regarding mirrors and child car seats.
In a video she posted on social media, Canadian mom Natausha Furlong, 30, said she opened the rear door of her car and saw smoke. The mom of two from Victoria, B.C., was about to put her daughter in her car seat but had to find the source of the smoke first.
Open AI And ChatGPT: The Shepherds Of The Singularity Or Highway To Doom?
Orwell said, “Don’t let it happen”. Well, it happened. The AI genie is out of the bottle and spreading like like wildfire throughout the world. It is being structurally embedded at all levels of society. For every potentially good use, there are multiple horrific uses, like creating a lethal bioweapon in as little as two hours or driving someone to suicide. There is no possibility of containing AI at this point because too many companies and countries are deploying it. Technocrats build because they are compelled to, not because there is demonstrated need to do so.⁃
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Cities Celebrating Fourth of July with Drones Instead of Fireworks
Cities across the country are ditching fireworks and opting for a more environmentally friendly patriotic celebration with a drone light show.
Both Salt Lake City, Utah, and Boulder, Colorado, will be celebrating the 4th of July with its first drone show. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said drones are a “safe and sustainable alternative to fireworks.”
Lawsuit Claims Open AI Stole ‘Massive Amounts Of Personal Data’ To Train ChatGPT\
OpenAI stole “massive amounts of personal data” to train ChatGPT, a lawsuit alleges.
The proposed class-action suit claims that Sam Altman’s company “secretly” harvested data to train its large language models so that its chatbot could replicate human language.
“Despite established protocols for the purchase and use of personal information, Defendants took a different approach: theft,” the lawyers wrote in the 157-page lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI crawled the web to amass huge amounts of data, including vast quantities taken from social-media sites. OpenAI’s propertiatary AI corpus of personal data, WebText2, for example, scraped huge amounts of data from Reddit posts and the websites they linked to, the lawsuit claims.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Geoengineering Watch Global Alert News, July 1, 2023, #412
And in case you missed it, the Supreme Court of Texas has declared that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is “an arm of the State” and thus, has sovereign immunity (from the suits involving the power outages of February 2021 and other related issues). See CPS et al v ERCOT, Sup Ct Tex No 22-0196 (Jun 23, 2023)
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
Growing Tomatoes (Organically) – 11 Tips for Success
We have a love affair with growing tomatoes. That first taste of a perfectly ripe, fresh off the vine, sun-warmed tomato is pure awesomeness!
We’ll take you through growing tomatoes from planting to harvest without chemicals, plus companion plants and organic fertilizer tips to give you tons of tomatoes.
HEALTH
Carrots and Other Carotene-rich Foods Can Keep Your Arteries Clean
Having high levels of carotene in your blood, which are pigments common in foods like carrots, may be the dieting secret to keeping your arteries clean. Researchers from the Open University of Catalonia in Spain found that carotene-rich diets have an association with lower fat levels in these vital structures.
Atherosclerosis occurs when fat builds up in the arteries on the interior walls of blood vessels. This buildup is more commonly referred to as plaque and causes vessels to narrow in diameter. This makes it more difficult for your blood to properly circulate. The plaques can also rupture and form clots that greatly obstruct the flow of blood, leading to heart attacks and strokes.
More than 2.5 million youth used vaping products in 2022, including 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students. Most use flavored e-cigarettes. Fruit flavors are the most popular, followed by candy and dessert flavors
Flavored e-cigarettes appear to be the most harmful. Research shows vaping with mango- or mint-flavored pods increases the inflammatory process in multiple organ systems, with the most striking changes happening in the brain, which may contribute to behavior changes and mood disorders
E-cigarette vapor disables the ability of macrophages to engulf bacteria and protect pulmonary function. This type of damage increases lung cells vulnerability to dust, bacteria and allergens. It also increases our risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Single-use and refillable vaping cartridges have been found to contain fungal contaminants associated with asthma, COPD, reduced lung function and inflammation of the lungs
One of the largest-ever studies conducted on the health effects of va
Why The New York Times Advises Complete Avoidance of Sunshine
The New York Times recommends you only venture out into the sun if you’re prepared to fully block its rays
In addition to applying sunscreen every two hours “across every exposed bit of skin, including your hands and the tips of your ears,” they suggest using a hat, long-sleeved clothing and an umbrella
A full face mask that covers your face up to your eyes — or one that goes completely over your head — is also recommended, along with sun capes, gloves, sunglasses and visors
The fear-based article, unfortunately, is doing an extreme disservice to anyone who reads it and comes away believing they must shun the sun entirely
Not enough sun exposure increases the risk of chronic diseases including certain cancers, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease and more
COVID RELATED NEWS
mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Should Be Labeled Gene Therapy Products: Peer-Reviewed Paper
Now that the pandemic has ended, researchers are urging regulatory agencies to consider the safety issues associated with the rapid approval of COVID-19 vaccines—and to correctly classify messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines as gene therapy products (GTPs) to prevent pharmaceutical companies from bypassing regulatory standards.
According to a paper published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences on June 22, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, by mode and action, are gene therapy products and should adhere to different regulatory standards. Yet U.S. and European regulatory agencies have not classified COVID-19 mRNA vaccines as gene therapy products, which has allowed them to be regulated as vaccines against infectious diseases instead of being subjected to the more stringent regulation of GTP.
CANCEL CULTURE
Fox News Host Says He ‘Quit’ Working at the Network
Longtime television personality Geraldo Rivera said that he was “fired” by Fox News’ “The Five” and has now “quit” the network, coming in the midst of lineup changes at the network.
“Bumpy day on the North Atlantic. Anyway, I got fired from [The Five] so I quit Fox,” Rivera, 79, wrote on Twitter. “After 23 years tomorrow ‘Fox and Friends’ could be my last appearance on the network. Thanks for the memories.”
Rivera, 79, had the “liberal” seat on “The Five,” which has recently been the highest-rated show on the cable news network. Others who sit in the seat include contributor Jessica Tarlov and former Democrat Rep. Harold Ford Jr.
Disney-Owned ESPN Announces Major Shakeup
ESPN announced Friday that it will part ways with some of its on-air personalities in a bid to cut costs, with some reports indicating that well-known sports personalities are among those departing the Disney-owned channel.
“Given the current environment, ESPN has determined it necessary to identify some additional cost savings in the area of public-facing commentator salaries, and that process has begun,” ESPN said in a statement. “This exercise will include a small group of job cuts in the short-term and an ongoing focus on managing costs when we negotiate individual contract renewals in the months ahead.”
GOOD NEWS
‘For God’s Glory’: 12-Year-Old Girl Bakes 2K Cinnamon Rolls to Raise Money for Christian Charities
A 12-year-old girl in Mobile, Alabama, is getting tons of attention after baking nearly 2,000 cinnamon rolls for a good cause.
Derek and Lindsay Allen are the proud parents of Meredith, who spent hours upon hours baking and selling her cinnamon rolls, the Alabama Baptist reported Saturday.
‘White Hat Hacker’ Uses Cyber Skills to Dismantle Child Predator Network, Bring Sickos to Justice
They are hooded cyber criminals in dark basements trying to crack your bank account PIN. They are insidious Russians stealing elections from offshore IP addresses. These are typically how we think of hackers, but Ryan Montgomery, also dubbed 0day, is different. He is what’s called a white hat hacker, or ethical hacker.
Ivanka Trump Dropped as Co-defendant in $250 Million Lawsuit
A New York appeals court has dismissed all claims against former President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump in a civil lawsuit brought by Attorney General Letitia James.
The New York Appellate Division’s First Department ruled unanimously this week to dismiss claims against Ivanka Trump because they were filed too late and she was no longer part of the Trump Organization during the relevant period.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) shared a photo of chalk artwork her children created on the ground outside the governor’s mansion.
“New artwork to welcome people into the Governor’s mansion! So proud of how hard the kids worked and how well their masterpiece turned out!” Sanders wrote when sharing a photo.
ICYMI
First Super Moon of 2023 Will Be Full ‘Buck’ Moon Around Summer Solstice—What You Need to Know
The upcoming July full moon, traditionally called the full “buck” moon, will arrive on the heels of the summer solstice. It will be the first of four super moons this year, and thus will appear bigger and brighter than most full moons. But as it falls so close to the solstice, it’s arc will hang low around the horizon.
We’ll unpack more about this moon so you can enjoy the spectacle more fully. Firstly, we should reveal how the full “buck” moon racked up its curious moniker.
Nebraska rodeo athlete and horse die after being struck by lightning
Terrel Vineyard was checking on cattle while riding his horse Shorty when both were hit by lightning in Oshkosh
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