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HEADLINE: Semafor Says It Wants To Fix the 'Crisis of Trust in News.' It Just Partnered With a Chinese Communist Influence Group. - WFB
2024: Youngkin resumes out-of-state travel amid mixed signals on 2024 plans
QUESTION: What sparked D.C.'s sudden, dramatic anti-China shift?
BREAKING: Chicago police officer killed while chasing armed teen suspect - Fox News
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Clip of the day: Biden flippantly discusses a mom who lost two sons to fentanyl.
The mom: Here’s more.
Merrick’s Bad Day
Merrick Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the United States is unable to designate Mexican drug cartels trafficking fentanyl across the border as terrorist organizations over diplomatic complications with the Mexican government. Garland went on to claim that the Justice Department currently has the tools to fight the drug cartels but was unable to explain why the problem is monumentally worse now than ever.
Note: Fentanyl trafficked by Mexican drug cartels is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45.
Bad to worse: The hearing seemingly went from bad to worse as Garland was unable to give coherent answers to Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and other Senators on the committee. Here are just a few examples:
Biden Vetos Democrats
Joe Biden is set to veto a GOP-backed resolution supported by two Senate Democrats that would undo a Biden rule allowing retirement managers to incorporate ESG requirements into retirement plans.
Details: Joe Manchin and Jon Tester - two Democrats up for reelection in red states - crossed the aisle and backed the GOP motion teeing President Biden up for his first veto.
Why this matters: Allowing retirement planners to consider climate and social factors in the screening process for allowing companies into their investment funds hurts the overall return and ultimately takes money out of the pocket of retirees.
🚨 MUST READ: Time to Unleash an Extraordinary Weapon Against Fentanyl
Politico has a guest essay from a Salvadoran guerrilla leader and a US Marine on the fentanyl crisis. Here’s an excerpt but you should read the whole thing here.
But one tool to combat fentanyl has been overlooked. If members of Congress or the Biden administration really want to take on this deadly drug, there is an opportunity to seriously debilitate the organized criminal syndicates that make, import and distribute it to the American people: Secretary of State Antony Blinken should designate these narco-syndicates as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The rest of the news:
Fox News election fraud revelations could take down the network’s embattled chief - CNN
Kellyanne Conway meets with Manhattan prosecutors investigating Trump - ABC
Trump is poised for a CPAC love fest or face plant. There is no in between. - Politico
Tesla’s stock falls 5% as Elon Musk’s ‘Master Plan 3’ is short on details about both cars and finances - Marketwatch
White House pitches $1.6 billion plan to combat Covid relief fraud - NBC
Japan births fall to record low as population crisis deepens - CNN
America Is In Over Its Head - NYT (paywall)
Tweets that caught my eye:
Market snapshot:
White House pitches $1.6 billion plan to combat Covid relief fraud.
And another $2 billion to study why inflation is not transitory.
Here's a suggestion, just cut off all COVID relief and call back any unspent funds. As for the fraud that has already occurred... Government, especially the Federal, should not be in the business of making direct payments to individuals.
Erick, you give a link to the following item (above): "What sparked D.C.'s sudden, dramatic anti-China shift?" It's Dossier by Jordan Schachtel on substack. Never heard of him.
But I'm sorry to tell, this author is a nut who sees conspiracies everywhere. His view of the Ukraine conflict is nothing but a collection of idiotic baseless opinions (examples: "...Kiev continues to find itself on increasing shaky ground, losing battle after battle...", "D.C. Uniparty has already “invested” well over $100 billion in taxpayer funds into the Slava Slush Fund", and so on). His latest schtick is Bakhmut, being valiantly defended by Ukraine, against huge advantage by Russia in both people and materiel, as an example of Ukraine misleading USA.
He doesn't deserve to be mentioned by you, imho. Or read by thinking people.