Cautiously optimistic.
From the article,
Former President Joe Biden isn’t riding off into the sunset just yet.
The 82-year-old ex-POTUS has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) — the Hollywood mega-talent agency that also represents former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
CAA announced the deal on Monday, calling Biden one of the “most respected and influential voices in national and global affairs.” Biden was previously represented by CAA prior to becoming president in 2021.
“His lifelong commitment to public service is one of unity, optimism, dignity, and possibility. We are profoundly honored to partner with him again,” Richard Lovett, co-chairman of CAA, said in a statement.
From the article,
The European Union is reportedly considering significant changes to its rules on asylum seekers and illegal immigration amid growing recognition that Brussels’ open borders philosophy has failed.
According to The Times of London, the EU is looking to overhaul the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, which is enshrined into EU law. Among other provisions, the convention prohibits member states from deporting failed asylum seekers, including illegal migrants and criminals, back to their native countries if their safety or freedom could be endangered by doing so.
An EU diplomatic document calling for reform to the system seen by The Times said: “It should be noted that these principles were developed after the end of the Second World War, and were characterised by a very different geopolitical situation to that of today.”
From the article,
Climate change is causing rat populations to spike in major cities around the world, according to a study by a team of biologists and experts in pest control.
The study, which inspected rat-related complaints, “found that increasing temperatures due to climate change are creating a ‘perfect rat storm,’” Euronews reported Monday.
The 19-person team responsible for the report studied changes in the rat populations in 16 major cities and determined that 11 of the cities — including Washington, DC, San Francisco, Toronto, New York City, and Amsterdam — had experienced a significant increase in the number of rats.
The team based its findings on the number of “public rat sightings” and inspection data in an attempt to “quantify changes in rat numbers for each city and to evaluate trends across cities,” while also acknowledging that the assertion that rat populations are growing is “untested.”
The study nonetheless confidently concluded that as human-induced climate change pushes temperatures higher, rat populations grow.
“The environmental variable that was most strongly linked to increases in rats was the change in temperature experienced by each city relative to long-term baseline average temperatures,” it stated.
“We’re seeing these increasing trends in rats in cities that are warming the fastest, probably because this is a small mammal that has physiological challenges in the cold weather months,” said Jonathan Richardson, lead author of the study and a biologist at the University of Richmond.
Three of the cities examined, however, namely New Orleans, Louisville and Tokyo, saw significant decreases in their rat populations despite rising temperatures.
From the article,
Could the Biden-era manufacturing slump be over so quickly?
Activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in January after 26 months of contraction, a survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) indicated on Monday. The ISM purchasing managers index for manufacturing rose to 50.9 percent from 49.2 percent in December, crossing the 50 percent threshold dividing contraction from expansion.
The improvement beat expectations. Economists had forecast a smaller gain to 49.5, which would have meant factory activity was still contracting.
The survey indicates that new orders grew for the third straight month after seven months in contraction. The production index crossed into expansion territory after eight months in contraction. The employment index jumped into expansion territory as well.
The index has surged since the election of Donald Trump, as manufacturers anticipate more business-friendly policies. Trump has said he will cut taxes, reduce regulation, and raise tariffs to protect U.S. manufacturers from unfair trade practices.
From the article,
A source within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says federal law enforcement agents assigned to assist their agency in the round-up of migrants in an illegal status in Houston have unofficially dubbed the mass deportation plan “Operation 47” in honor of President Donald Trump. The mass deportation operation carried out in parts of Houston has netted several high-profile criminal alien arrests but is also impacting local businesses.
The source says department stores, restaurants, and bars in some parts of Houston are nearly empty because migrants who frequent them have chosen to stay away out of fear of being apprehended. The source, who is not authorized to speak to the media, says the agents in the Houston area assigned to the ATF, DEA, and the U.S. Marshals Service, who were recently granted the authority to enforce immigration law, have humorously dubbed the mission “Operation 47.”
A recent news report by KPRC2 in Houston describes an empty Farmers market, usually bustling with consumers, as completely empty on Tuesday. In the report, the customers who failed to show out of fear of the ICE operations being conducted were referred to as “diverse consumers.” One vendor told KPRC2 the migrants who are in an illegal status are asking others who are legally in the United States to buy milk for them since they are afraid to come outside.
From the article,
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of employees at the U.S. Education Department were put on paid administrative leave in response to President Donald Trump’s order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, according to a labor union that represents hundreds of workers in the agency.
It’s unclear how many workers were put on leave or for what reasons, said Sheria Smith, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 252. The majority of employees placed on leave do not work in DEI initiatives and span all branches of the agency, she said, from an office that sends billions of dollars to K-12 schools to an investigative office that enforces civil rights laws.
At least 55 Education Department workers received an email Friday saying they were being put on paid leave effective immediately pursuant to Trump’s executive order. It wasn’t being done for “any disciplinary purpose,” according to a copy of the email obtained by The Associated Press.
From the article,
China’s DeepSeek AI has recently taken the tech world by storm, surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the most downloaded free app last week. Despite its sudden success, cybersecurity experts are warning that the app is a privacy nightmare. Many companies and governments have already banned DeepSeek, with more joining daily.
CNBC reports that the rapid rise of DeepSeek, a Chinese-developed generative AI application, has sent shockwaves through the tech industry and raised significant concerns among privacy advocates and national security experts. Despite its unprecedented success in surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the most downloaded free app last week, DeepSeek’s origins and potential data sharing requirements with the Chinese government have prompted warnings from cybersecurity professionals.
Developed by High Flyer, a Chinese-backed hedge fund, DeepSeek has reportedly achieved its breakthrough AI capabilities on a much lower budget than previously thought possible. However, skepticism remains regarding the actual development costs, with some estimates suggesting the company may have understated expenses by hundreds of millions of dollars.
The app’s sudden popularity has caught the attention of privacy advocates, who are cautioning Americans about the risks associated with sharing personal information through DeepSeek. Dewardric McNeal, managing director and senior policy analyst at risk management firm Longview Global, warns that the amount of data and information that could be harvested by bad actors in China is significantly greater than what could be collected from a Google search.
According to McNeal, who has studied the Chinese government’s data sharing requirements for domestic firms, DeepSeek represents a “rich trove of intelligence” that could be used for nefarious purposes. Beyond the obvious risks of personal banking or health information theft, McNeal emphasizes the potential for Chinese intelligence to exploit broader patterns of queries to gain insights into various American industries and even sow division among the public.
From the article,
Democrat lawmakers and establishment media personalities are angry the Trump administration appears poised to close the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), while America First Republicans celebrated the act as terminating part of the “fourth branch” of government.
MAGA Republicans believe USAID is one of the most egregious cudgels of the administrative state, accusing it of corrupting humanitarian aid, facilitating contractor fraud, wasting taxpayer funds, and bending to the wishes of the CIA.
The Trump administration demanded agency staffers remain home after Elon Musk said Monday that President Donald Trump agreed with him to close the agency. “It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm it in,” Musk said in an X Spaces session. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”
“It’s a coup,” whined a current USAID official to the Wall Street Journal about the potential shuttering.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) claimed that Trump has no authority to close the agency because taxpayers’ money was already earmarked to fund the fourth branch of government.
Establishment journalist Jamie Dupree said Trump’s actions might have caused a “Constitutional crisis.”
Vox reporter Dylan Matthews defended the agency as only “0.7% of the federal budget.”
From the article,
The EU will be forced into a“robust response” if the US imposes tariffs on the bloc’s exports, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Monday.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the EU unless the bloc reduces its trade deficit with the US by significantly increasing purchases of American oil and gas. On Friday, Trump reiterated his threat, saying he “absolutely” plans to levy tariffs on the EU and claiming that the bloc “has treated [the US] terribly” with its trade practices. He has not yet provided specific details regarding the targeted goods or the exact tariff rates, however.
Speaking to reporters ahead of an informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, Frederiksen warned that Trump’s insistence on placing levies on the bloc’s goods could trigger a trade war.
“I am not in favor of a trade war. I am actually in favor of the opposite, that we trade with each other... but it is clear that if there is very strong American pressure on the European market, we simply cannot do anything but respond harshly,” she stated.
“Unfortunately, we will have to give a very robust response” to US tariffs, Frederiksen added, without disclosing what that response could entail. She warned, however, that the bloc’s retaliatory measures would inevitably “affect ordinary people.”
From the article,
Independent journalists report that LAPD officers pulled back and surrendered the streets to Mexican flag-waving protesters Sunday night. Earlier reports showed the LAPD in riot gear carrying zip ties and threatening to arrest protesters blocking the city’s streets.
An independent journalist’s video post on X shows Los Angeles police officers wearing riot helmets and armed with nightsticks ordering a group of Mexican flag-waving protesters. The officers appear to be pushing the crowd back from an intersection as they issued a one-minute order to disband.
Journalist Anthony Cabassa posted that just as officers were about to make arrest, “all the police officers just … left.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “Hundreds of police with zip ties, and all of them have just left.
From the article,
The EU will be forced into a“robust response” if the US imposes tariffs on the bloc’s exports, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Monday.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the EU unless the bloc reduces its trade deficit with the US by significantly increasing purchases of American oil and gas. On Friday, Trump reiterated his threat, saying he “absolutely” plans to levy tariffs on the EU and claiming that the bloc “has treated [the US] terribly” with its trade practices. He has not yet provided specific details regarding the targeted goods or the exact tariff rates, however.
Speaking to reporters ahead of an informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, Frederiksen warned that Trump’s insistence on placing levies on the bloc’s goods could trigger a trade war.
“I am not in favor of a trade war. I am actually in favor of the opposite, that we trade with each other... but it is clear that if there is very strong American pressure on the European market, we simply cannot do anything but respond harshly,” she stated.
“Unfortunately, we will have to give a very robust response” to US tariffs, Frederiksen added, without disclosing what that response could entail. She warned, however, that the bloc’s retaliatory measures would inevitably “affect ordinary people.”
Now that's funny!
Fall of the Cabal has it all on the NGO game.
From the article,
Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested in a meeting with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Sunday that the administration of President Donald Trump may move to seize the Panama Canal on the grounds that the Panamanian government has violated the agreement that gives the country control over the waterway.
Panama took control of the Panama Canal, built by the United States prior to the establishment of the Panamanian state, under the 1978 Torrijos-Carter Treaties, a foreign policy priority for former President Jimmy Carter. The treaty requires Panama to keep the canal running as neutral territory without preference given to any foreign power and allows Washington to seize it if Panama violates the neutrality provision.
From the article,
South Africa is currently under threat as plans to terminate all future aid due to the country, which could affect approximately $440 million in assistance to South Africa, disrupting vital programmes including HIV/Aids and education supported by Pepfar and impacting dozens of NGOs in the country.
This follows US President Donald Trump’s announcement that his administration will stop all future funding for the country, where many organisations heavily rely on Western funding.
From the article,
Global leaders have been called on to force President Donald Trump to reverse his decision to withdraw U.S. taxpayer contributions to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), a report Monday details.
The U.N. agency’s chief is predicting a catastrophic financial outcome if Trump goes ahead with his campaign promise to suspend funding and recall all U.S. government personnel working with the institution.
AP reports for 2024-2025, the U.S. is W.H.O.’s biggest donor by far, putting in an estimated $988 million, roughly 14 percent of the U.N. agency’s $6.9 billion budget.
A budget document presented at a recent meeting showed W.H.O.’s health emergencies program has a “heavy reliance” on American cash.
From the article,
Thousands of FBI personnel have been instructed to provide details about their roles in the investigations into the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots, Reuters and AP reported over the weekend. The directive, issued via a memo seen by the outlets, reportedly requires employees to disclose their job titles and responsibilities in the probes, raising fears of potential firings.
According to AP, citing a person familiar with the matter, around 4,000 agents have now been ordered to fill out a questionnaire asking them to describe their office and title and to specify their involvement in the probes, including whether they took part in carrying out search warrants, conducted interviews, or testified at trials.
Always liked this one to be the "first arrest. "
Canadians must get away from the state run/funded media.
Everyone I know up there is adamant and convinced that they know everything about everything. It's really something to see.
But what they actually know is what they are being told to think.
Try to tell them otherwise and watch out!
"John 3:16"
In the stands behind the end zone.
I really miss the 70's
And the blueberries are going to be just fine.