What a week to take a vacation! From RJK Debates to Attempted Russian Coups, Hunter Biden Plea Deals to Submarine Implosions, and a Musk v Zuck Cage Match to top it off.
Wall Street Journal Opinion on Instagram: “Why are we still drawn to the Titanic? Why, 111 years after it went down, doesn’t our interest fade? What is the endless lure that billionaires and explorers put their lives in their hands just to see it? What is it about that ship and that story? asks Peggy Noonan. The Titanic story is linked to themes as old as man. “God himself couldn’t sink this ship.” “If we eat the fruit against his command, then we’ll be in charge.” “Technology will transform the world; it’s a mistake to dwell on the downside.” It’s all the same story. The Titanic’s story has everything. Splendor and perfection meet a sudden, shocking demise. A behemoth, a marvel of human engineering, is taken down by a stupid piece of ice. We make ships in our pride and nature makes icebergs for her pleasure. No one is insulated from fate: There was no protection in wealth, the sea took who she wanted. It’s a story of human nature, of people who had less than three hours to absorb that they were immersed in a massive tragedy and decide how to respond. Some were self-sacrificing, some selfish, some clever, some fools. But ultimately, as on 9/11, they all died who they were. The brave were brave, the frivolous frivolous. The professionals in the band did what professionals do, play through to the end of the evening. Anyone who hears those stories wonders: Who would I have been if I’d been there? Read more at the link in our bio. #WSJOpinion Photo: ATLANTIC PRODUCTIONS/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock”
Wall Street Journal Opinion on Instagram: “President Biden’s son Hunter agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges that will likely keep him out of prison. The lenient treatment is firing up Republican claims of two-tiered justice, especially because there are no answers about the Biden family’s foreign influence peddling, writes The Editorial Board. U.S. Attorney David Weiss began investigating Hunter in 2018, and former Attorney General Bill Barr said Tuesday these charges could have been brought within months of his own confirmation in early 2019. In any case, is that all there is? What about the Biden family’s income windfall from Hunter’s foreign business deals? House and Senate Republicans have documented dozens of suspicious financial transactions related to Hunter’s overseas business while his father was Vice President. Congressional investigators have also revealed the existence of an FBI document in which a confidential FBI source says a Ukrainian oligarch claimed to have made bribery payments to Hunter and Joe Biden. Barr says that FBI document was sent to Weiss’s office. The bribery claim remains hearsay, but Hunter’s financial dealings with shady foreign actors—some connected to the Chinese Communist Party—contain enough smoke to warrant a thorough probe. DOJ said in a press release Tuesday that the “investigation is ongoing.” But Hunter’s attorney said “it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.” Which is it? Weiss ought to clarify matters and cooperate with Congress to put any suspicion of favorable treatment to rest. Read more at the link in our bio. #WSJOpinion Photo: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters”
Wall Street Journal Opinion on Instagram: “ProPublica has leveled two charges against me: first, that I should have recused in matters in which an entity connected with Paul Singer was a party and, second, that I was obligated to list certain items as gifts on my 2008 Financial Disclose Report. Neither charge is valid, writes Justice Samuel Alito. Read the full response at the link in our bio. #WSJOpinion Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters”
Washington Examiner on Instagram: “The Biden administration is making clear once again whom it fears the most. It is not China , Russia , or, needless to say, Republicans. No. Enemy No. 1 is America’s mothers and fathers. They stand athwart the administration’s mad dash to remake America, yelling, “Stop!” LINK IN BIO #biden#parents#kids#schools”
Fox News on Instagram: ”‘PULLING FOR YOU’: When you’re known as “Happy Gilmore” on the golf course, Adam Sandler is bound to take notice. Get the full story at the link in our bio.”
The Wall Street Journal on Instagram: “Fox News host Greg Gutfeld’s shtick is to poke fun at just about everyone—politicians, the media, his Fox News colleagues, himself—even his dog. It’s a formula that has turned him into a cable news success as host of Fox News’s late-night show “Gutfeld!” and co-host of late-afternoon roundtable “The Five.” Gutfeld often uses his monologues to make hay of culture-war controversies. A frequent target of his jokes lately has been the transgender community, which was at the center of recent segments about a Bud Light promotion with a trans influencer; Target selling a transgender-friendly swimsuit; and Sports Illustrated’s decision to have a trans pop star on its swimsuit issue cover. Gutfeld’s critics say his commentary sometimes crosses the line from edgy to offensive. The liberal media-watchdog site Media Matters keeps track of his most controversial comments, as when he recently likened climate activists to mass shooters and said President Biden has “put a target on whites.” “Gutfeld!” competes head-to-head in most of the country with other late-night shows. It averaged more than 1.8 million viewers from the end of February through early May. That’s higher than ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” whose audience was more than 1.5 million in the same period, and NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” which was watched by nearly 1.4 million people, according to Nielsen data provided by Fox. The 58-year-old has become even more important to Fox News since the exit in April of Tucker Carlson, one of its biggest stars. Since he left, a rotating set of hosts has anchored the 8 p.m. program, averaging about half of the three-million-plus audience that Carlson attracted, according to Nielsen data. Does Gutfeld want Carlson’s time slot? “Obviously, it’s crossed my mind,” he said. “If I did 8 o’clock, I would definitely not do ‘The Five’ and I would no longer do ‘Gutfeld!’ I would just do one show because I would prepare for that show like crazy.” Read more at the link in our bio. 📷: @victor.llorente for @wsjphotos”
Newsmax on Instagram: “Mark Zuckerberg’s mixed martial arts trainer is declining to say if his client will beat Twitter CEO Elon Musk in a cage match, but he does praise the Facebook founder’s training resolve. “My job is a trainer,” Khai Wu, 27, said, as reported in Forbes. “I just go and train and that’s it. I can only speak on how hard he works. He works really hard. For more on this story, visit the link in our bio.”
Newsmax on Instagram: “TRUMP POLL: A new survey finds former President Trump has expanded his lead on Florida Gov. DeSantis and the rest of the primary field to 29 points. For more on this story, click the link in our bio or visit NEWSMAX.com.”
Breitbart on Instagram: ”🟦🔵 The Biden regime lies so much they can’t keep their lies straight.🔵🟦 The White House appeared Friday to have changed its story on Joe Biden’s @potus role in his family’s business affairs, claiming that Biden was “not in business” with his son, Hunter. Previously, on the campaign trail in 2019-20, Joe Biden said: “I have never discussed, with my son or my brother or with anyone else, anything having to do with their businesses. Period.” But that story appeared to change on Friday. When reporters began asking the White House to respond to accusations by an IRS whistleblower that Joe and Hunter Biden were together when the latter pressured a Chinese contact to send money, the response changed. The whistleblower, IRS supervising agent Gary Shapley, cited a WhatsApp message — one not sourced from Hunter Biden’s laptop — in which Hunter Biden allegedly told Chinese businessman Henry Zhao: I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father. At the White House press briefing on Friday, Newsmax correspondent James Rosen asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre whether she stood by her own previous “reaffirmations” that Joe Biden had never discussed his family members’ business interests with them. She did not answer the question directly, but stated: “Nothing has changed.” She referred most of the other questions to the White House counsel’s office. In 2022, it was revealed that Joe Biden had left Hunter Biden a voicemail saying he thought a New York Times article about his son’s business interests was good, suggesting Joe Biden had lied about never discussing them.”
The Wall Street Journal on Instagram: “That Mercedes in the dollar-store parking lot isn’t an illusion. High-earners joined the rest of the country in flooding discount retailers such as Dollar General, Aldi grocery store and Five Below as prices for food and staples rose. Now, with inflation at half its peak, they aren’t letting up. InMarket, which tracks retailer foot traffic, measured a 4% average increase in the share of dollar-store visits this year among those making more than $100,000, compared with the second half of 2022. Households with six-figure incomes are 15% more likely to say they would shop at dollar stores than they were last June, going from 39% to 45%, according to daily surveys from Morning Consult of about 50,000 Americans. Wealthy Americans long viewed discount stores as “not for them,” says Michael Liersch, who consults with high-net-worth individuals as head of advice and planning at Wells Fargo. Yet paying $8 for a carton of eggs struck even many affluent people as ridiculous. Overspending on things was once fashionable for some, Liersch says. “These days, it’s about making the most of your money and not getting ripped off.” No matter how much you make, consumers say, there is no longer a stigma in going after a good deal. Read more at the link in our bio. Photo: Sadie Mantell/Shutterstock”
New York Post on Instagram: “With an abundance of research backing the importance of friendship to our sense of belonging, wellbeing, health and happiness, there is no doubt that for the majority of us, these social connections are integral to our lives. Find out more at the link in bio. 📸: Shutterstock”
Reason Magazine on Instagram: “Letting third parties pay our bills pushes prices higher and limits our options. “When the government buys goods or services for other people with other peoples’ money, special interest pleading, political concerns, and cronyism run the game,” says Jeffrey Singer, a surgeon and senior fellow with the Cato Institute. “But private insurance companies are also spending other peoples’ money—the premiums paid into a risk pool—on medical services for other people. When they negotiate compensation schedules with providers and facilities, they don’t have to bargain hard enough to reach the best price possible. They just have to reach a price that is good enough—one that allows them to charge premiums that compete well with rival insurance companies.” Tap the link in bio to read how private insurance and government programs drive up healthcare costs. 🎨: Lex Villena #healthcare#insurance#government#economics”
The Washington Times on Instagram: “The Border Patrol reported encountering 29 terrorism suspects along the southern border in May, setting a new single-month record even as the government said the overall pace of illegal border crossings dipped. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, said agents have now caught 125 people at the southern border whose names are flagged in the terrorist watchlist since the start of the fiscal year in October. Even with four months to go in this fiscal year, that number still shatters the previous record set under President Biden last year, when agents encountered 98.”
Wall Street Journal Opinion on Instagram: “Thursday’s White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is loaded with symbolic significance. After being denied entry to the U.S. from 2005 to 2014 because of anti-Muslim riots that took place on his watch, Modi will be feted by the leader of the free world, writes Sadanand Dhume for @wsjopinion. That Washington rolled out the red carpet for Modi seems to settle a debate about U.S.-India relations: Shared concerns about China matter more than fears about India’s democratic backsliding. But are these diplomatic gains durable? India remains a geopolitical prize too big to ignore—the world’s most populous nation, home to the second-largest military and the fifth-largest economy. The prime minister has reinforced that value to Washington. America and India have deepened collaboration on a range of issues including energy, high-tech research and climate change. But in the long term, India’s value as a counterweight to China depends on its getting a handle on economic underperformance and domestic unrest. India’s ability to play a larger role on the world stage also depends on its ability to control domestic strife. India is an important country, and the Biden administration is right to pursue closer ties. But unless Modi can find a way to close the gap with China and embrace all Indians equally, the durability of America’s bet on India will remain in question. Read more at the link in @wsjopinion’s bio. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg”
Newsmax on Instagram: “PUTIN VOWS TO DEFEND RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin vowed Saturday to defend Russia against an armed rebellion by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led his troops out of Ukraine and into a key city south of Moscow. For more on this story, click the link in our bio or visit NEWSMAX.com.”
Reason Magazine on Instagram: “We keep getting new evidence showing what pandemic school closures did to students’ test scores. The latest study found the more time kids spent in online school, the worse they did on standardized tests. Similarly, scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test showed the loss of two decades of progress in reading and math. And ACT test scores saw a similar drop, dipping to their lowest point in three decades in 2021. Click the link in bio to read how online learning during COVID lowered test stores. 🎨: Lex Villena #school#education#learning#publicschools”
The Washington Times on Instagram: ”“Do you have info linking CL0P Ransomware Gang or any other malicious cyber actors targeting U.S. critical infrastructure to a foreign government? Send us a tip,” the Rewards for Justice account tweeted. “You could be eligible for a reward.” CL0p is affiliated with cybercriminals who are believed to operate within a former Soviet Union country, but precisely where is unknown.”
The Washington Times on Instagram: “Scams targeting Pell Grants and federal student loans have surged as lawmakers pour more money into higher education to shore up flagging enrollment. Phony student aid applications using names taken by identity theft netted about $100 million over the past 12 months, said the LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ government group, which works with federal agencies to combat the schemes. That was up from $50 million a year during the COVID-19 pandemic and less than $10 million a year before 2020, the New York-based software company told The Washington Times.”
The Wall Street Journal on Instagram: “While Canada is experiencing a record outbreak of fires, land managers across the American West are taking advantage of unseasonably cool, moist weather to burn as much grass and other fuel as they can before the region’s fire season kicks into high gear in late summer and the fall. The aim of the prescribed burns is to rob natural infernos of the combustible material that has stoked the megafires that have ravaged communities in the region in recent years. The U.S. West is getting a breather from years of drought following an unusually wet winter. As of June 16, fires have blackened 644,918 acres in the U.S., a little more than half the 10-year average of 1.1 million acres at the same point in time, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The precipitation means there is less chance of large wildfires at high elevations where snow is still melting, but potentially more explosive ones at low elevations where a lot of grass and brush has grown, said Zeke Lunder, a wildfire consultant based in Chico, Calif. But for now, those low elevation areas are relatively moist and fire officials are taking advantage of the opportunity to burn as much as they can in controlled blazes. The wildfire threat in the West has grown significantly amid a confluence of overgrown forests, warming climate and housing construction in flammable areas. The amount of acreage scorched by wildfires in the U.S., primarily in the West, has more than doubled from an annual average of 3 million in the 1980s to 7 million over the past decade, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The fires have become more dangerous, too. In 2018, the 153,336-acre Camp Fire wiped out Paradise, Calif., killing 84 people and destroying more than 18,000 buildings in the deadliest and most destructive blaze in state history. The destruction helped prompt federal, state and local governments to call for more planned fire. Read more at the link in our bio. 📷: @andritambunan for @wsjphotos”
New York Post on Instagram: “Historic Big Apple pizza joints could be forced to dish out mounds of dough under a proposed city edict targeting pollutant-spewing coal-and-wood-fired ovens. Click th elink in our bio for the spicy details. 📸 Gregory P. Mango”
Newsmax on Instagram: “MASSIVE LOSSES FOR DISNEY: Disney has lost nearly $900 million on its past eight studio releases, including “The Little Mermaid” and “Guardians of the Galaxy,” according to box office analyst Valliant Renegade. For more on this story, click the link in our bio or visit NEWSMAX.com.”
Breitbart on Instagram: ”⬛️ Watch the videos at link in Story ⬛️ LGBT activists at the annual Drag March on Friday in New York City shouted a troubling message regarding children across the nation. As Pride Month comes to a close, the participants marched through Tompkins Square Park in the East Village while chanting, the New York Post reported Saturday. Video footage shows the flamboyantly dressed crowd moving through the area, and a woman among the group appeared to be topless. “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re coming for your children,” some of those in the crowd shouted. Another video shows marchers with a banner that reads “Drag March” as the crowd filled the street. The march came to an end at the Stonewall Inn located in Greenwich Village, whose website says it is “Where Pride Began.” Meanwhile social media users responded to the initial video, one person writing, “And they say ‘we’re not coming for the children.’” In July 2021, Breitbart News reported the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus unpublished a music video where singers promised to “convert” children to their LGBT ideology once the clip went viral online. Lyrics to the song include: “You think we’re sinful. You fight against our rights. You say we all lead lives you can’t respect. But you’re just frightened. You think that we’ll corrupt your kids if our agenda goes unchecked. It’s funny. Just this once, you’re correct. … We’ll convert your children. Happens bit by bit. Quietly and subtly, and you will barely notice it. You can keep him from disco, warn about San Francisco. Make him wear pleated pants. We don’t care. We’ll convert your children. We’ll make them tolerant and fair.” Meanwhile, RuPaul’s Drag Race champion Jinkx Monsoon recently accused conservatives of using children as political shields as debate rages over child grooming, according to Breitbart News. He claimed, “They’re using children as a shield, like they’ve done many, many times before. That has always been their tactic. What the GOP is doing is objectively evil.””
Campus Reform on Instagram: “The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is offering a day-long course titled “Lead with Racial Equity in Mind” for students to learn to “advance racial equity.” Link to story in bio. #conservativepolitics#dei#highereducation”