BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Wall Street rallied Thursday as Argentina’s President Javier Milei traveled to Italy for the Group of Seven summit, buoyed by his first legislative victory after the Senate passed sweeping proposals to slash state spending and boost his powers.
Having hitched his political fortunes to the goal of cutting down Argentina’s bloated state, Milei hailed the vote as a “triumph” and “the first step toward the recovery of our greatness.”
Even so, opposition senators scrapped an income tax package and watered down other parts of the bill after a daylong debate marred by clashes between police and protesters in the capital of Buenos Aires.
The legislation aimed at overhauling Argentina’s long-troubled economy during its worst financial crisis in 20 years will return to Congress’ lower house for final approval, where it’s expected to become law.
In a further boost to Milei’s agenda Thursday, data released by the government statistics agency showed Argentina’s monthly inflation rate halving to 4.2% in May, the lowest rate since January 2022.
In the latest labor law brew-haha, the U.S. Supreme Court reconciled a circuit split by requiring the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to marshal substantial proof to win temporary injunctions against employers for alleged unfair labor practices. The decision weakens what has been one of the NLRB’s most potent tools in recent years during ongoing labor disputes.
Background
The National Labor Relations Act (the Act) prohibits employers and unions from engaging in certain “unfair labor practices.” 29 U.S.C. §§ 158(a), (b). The NLRB enforces the prohibition, and its authority kicks in when a person files a charge with the agency. 29 U.S.C. § 160(a). If the charge appears to have merit, the NLRB issues a complaint triggering adjudicatory proceedings within the agency. Because the administrative proceedings can take years, Section 10(j) of the Act permits the NLRB to seek a preliminary injunction in federal court while the proceedings unfold.
With its new unskippable ad feature, YouTube might end up killing ad blockers once and for all. Currently, the video platform is experimenting with server-side ad injection, which means the ads would appear directly in a video’s stream, bypassing ad blockers.
A Google spokesperson explained the test to Gizmodo: “YouTube is improving its performance and reliability in serving both organic and ad video content. This update may result in suboptimal viewing experiences for viewers with ad blockers installed. Ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service, and we’ve been urging viewers for some time to support their favorite creators and allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.”
While YouTube claims that watching ads helps support users’ favorite creators, a Redditor said they’re getting 90 seconds of unskippable ads “before every video,” which makes the platform pretty much useless.
Oracle’s founder and largest shareholder, Larry Ellison, has jumped two spots on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index after the tech behemoth posted a bumper outlook this week.
That’s largely because the 79-year-old entrepreneur owns more than 40% of the cloud applications business, which saw its shares surge 13% on June 11 after the company posted positive year-end financial results.
(The Center Square) – A lawmaker blaming climate change for the flooding in the state created legislation that will mandate landlords inform prospective tenants if their property is in a high-risk flood zone.
Senate Bill 2601 is on the governor’s desk awaiting further action. State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, D-Bridgeview, the bill’s sponsor, said a flood can be financially devastating and that this legislation will protect working families.
“Illinois will be joining numerous other states and offering this important information and protection for renters,” said Rashid.
State Rep. Travis Weaver, R-Edwards, said every year legislators pass legislation that regulates small business and landlords thereby increasing housing costs.
Cairo: Israeli tanks advanced deeper into the western area of Rafah, amid one of the worst nights of bombardment from air, ground, and sea, forcing many families to flee their homes and tents under darkness, residents said on Thursday.
Residents said the Israeli forces thrust towards the Al-Mawasi area of Rafah near the beach, which is designated as a humanitarian area in all announcements and maps published by the Israeli army since it began its Rafah offensive. The Israeli military denied in a statement it had launched any strikes inside the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.
Boeing’s latest potential scandal is out of this world – literally.
Its Starliner spacecraft – which carried two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) last week – is unable to undock after several faults were found on the ship.
The astronauts were set to return on June 14, but that has been delayed until June 22 while Boeing and NASA scramble to fix issues, leaving the astronauts stranded until then.
Now, experts have said that NASA could be forced to launch a rescue mission that would be a highly embarrassing blow for the embattled Boeing which is dealing with spate of issues plaguing its commercial jets.
Its Starliner spacecraft – which carried two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) last week – is unable to undock after several faults were found on the shipTeams have discovered five different leaks in the craft’s thruster systems which would allow it to navigate through space as it returns to Earth
Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in history. The creator of Facebook and owner of Meta (the company that also includes the social network Instagram) has managed to establish himself as one of the wealthiest men of our time, which is why he indulges in luxuries that most mortals can only dream of.
To celebrate his 40th birthday, the American has decided to give himself a luxury yacht called “Launchpad”, which is valued at 300 million euros. With this vessel, Zuckerberg plans to sail around much of the world while enjoying extreme comfort and glamour within reach of a few.
FILE – Pistols sit on display during the first day of the Silver Spur Gun and Blade Show, Jan. 22, 2022, in Odessa, Texas. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (TND) —
New research provides insight into how Americans store their weapons at home. According to a study published by the CDC, up to 43% of U.S. households store loaded guns and half of those households do not put them in locked containers.
Households in eight states were surveyed for the study. North Carolina, Oklahoma and Nevada had the highest rates of households storing loaded guns.
A member of the White House communications team went after The New York Post on Thursday after it posted on social media a deceptively edited video of President Joe Biden at the G7 economic summit in Italy.
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates responded to a post by the publication on X that had the caption, “President Biden appeared to wander off at the G7 summit in Italy, with officials needing to pull him back to focus.”
“The Murdoch outlets are so desperate to distract from @POTUS’s record that they just lie,” Bates wrote.
The Post is owned by News Corp, which has Australian billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch—the creator of Fox News—as its chairman emeritus.
During an interview with right-wing Fox News on Wednesday, June 12, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) offered some possible ways to “rein in” Jack Smith — the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel who is prosecuting two federal criminal cases against former President Donald Trump.
Johnson, a Trump loyalist, proposed using “the power of the purse” to defund Smith’s office. And some Democrats have been arguing that when Johnson threatens to defund the DOJ, he is doing something that Republicans often accuse Democrats of: defunding the police (in fact, many prominent Democrats, from President Joe Biden to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, have made it clear that defunding law enforcement is something they vehemently oppose).
Self-proclaimed anti-woke Disney Parks fans across the internet are lashing out after the company discontinued a ride based on a movie that contained harmful anti-Black racist tropes.
To date, it is the only movie removed from Disney’s catalog due to criticisms that it contains racist themes, The Daily Beast reports.
The new ride, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, is based on “The Princess and the Frog” and will open this summer. The move has received widespread praise, with many pointing out how meaningful it is to see Black women represented through Princess Tiana.
When former President Donald J. Trump was convicted in his New York criminal trial, it took Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois about 19 minutes to fire off a statement calling him a felon, a racist, a homophobe and a grifter.
Only one other Democratic governor issued a statement that night about Mr. Trump’s conviction, and the Biden campaign’s response — which came one minute after Mr. Pritzker’s — focused on what Mr. Trump would do as president rather than on the verdict.
Since then, as the Democratic Party and the Biden campaign have wrestled with how to wield the conviction to their advantage, Mr. Pritzker has emerged as the chief amplifier of Mr. Trump’s felon status.
Unlike other top surrogates who have followed Mr. Biden’s lead and kept the focus on Mr. Trump’s policies rather than his conviction, Mr. Pritzker has blazed his own trail of Trump insults — to great cheers from fellow Democrats who are hungry to attack.
When former President Donald Trump agreed to address a conference hosted by an organization that opposes abortion in all circumstances, President Joe Biden’s campaign cited the appearance as evidence of Trump’s extremism on the issue. But in his brief recorded remarks at the Danbury Institute’s Life & Liberty Forum in Indianapolis on Monday, Trump did not explicitly mention abortion at all, although he paid lip service to the value of “innocent life.”
That episode reflects the dilemma Trump faces as he tries to retain the support of pro-life activists without alienating voters who reject the hardline position of groups like the Danbury Institute. Trump has staked out a mushy middle ground that is more consistent with public opinion, even as he brags about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade and describes himself as “the most pro-life president in American history.”
The Danbury Institute’s understanding of “pro-life” is clear. “The greatest atrocity facing our generation today is the practice of abortion — child sacrifice on the altar of self,” it declares. “Abortion must be ended. We will not rest until it is eradicated entirely.”
The group emphatically opposes exceptions that Trump supports. “Abortion is never medically necessary to save the life of a mother,” it says, adding that “aborting an innocent child conceived in rape or incest only compounds the injustice and pain caused by the initial crime.”
Whatever their moral logic, those views are wildly unpopular, even among Republicans. And according to recent polling, voters dissatisfied with current abortion policies overwhelmingly say they are too strict, while 63% of Americans think “abortion should be legal in all or most cases.”
The latter view could be consistent with banning abortion after 15 weeks of gestation, since around 96% of abortions are performed before that cutoff. But Trump, after floating the possibility of a 15-week federal ban, reconsidered the idea.
Trump now says abortion regulation should be left to the states, which jibes with the federalist critique of Roe. Biden, by contrast, supports national legislation that would codify Roe’s limits, without much regard to the constitutional rationale for overriding state legislators in this area.
Roe is often described as recognizing a right to abortion prior to fetal “viability,” which nowadays is said to occur around 24 weeks. But Roe and its progeny also required that post-viability abortions be allowed when pregnancies “endanger the woman’s life or health” — a potentially sweeping exception that arguably mandates “abortion access for all pregnancies.”
That broad interpretation of the health exception underlies Trump’s charge that Democrats are “radically out of touch with the majority of Americans in their support for abortion up until birth,” as Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt put it. Beyond his rejection of abortion on demand, however, Trump is cagey about which restrictions he favors.
Trump has said “heartbeat” laws, which apply around six weeks into a pregnancy and rule out most abortions, are “a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.” But the mistake that Trump perceives seems to be more political than moral.
After Republicans’ disappointing performance in the 2022 midterm elections, Trump complained that his party’s candidates had “lost large numbers of Voters” because they “poorly handled” the “abortion issue,” especially when they “firmly insisted on No Exceptions.” Republican politicians who share Trump’s concern were relieved when he helped neutralize this electoral liability by accepting a wide range of state policies.
Although Trump’s federalist approach has a sound constitutional basis, his apparent agnosticism regarding exactly how abortion should be regulated suggests he has no firm convictions on the subject. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, was “deeply disappointed” by Trump’s position, while Live Action founder Lila Rose flatly declared that “President Trump is not a pro-life candidate.”
When push comes to shove, Trump is betting, such critics will swallow their reservations and turn out for the man who ensured Roe’s demise. But as his triangulation shows, that victory was just the beginning of the struggle to persuade Americans that “abortion must be ended.”
Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine.
The state of Indiana has passed a bill to end the sale of land to the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, a bill that was passed and signed after a CCP-connected company was caught trying to buy land. The company that was identified was Fufeng who had just attempted to purchase land in Grand Forks, North Dakota but had to exit the deal after the U.S. Air Force issued a memo referring to the company as a “significant threat to national security.”
The exposure led to more discoveries of CCP purchases of land in Indiana that seems to have resulted from an intentional concentration on the state by the CCP. The network of CCP-connected companies was built under the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, The website openly states it exists to connect Chinese American entrepreneurs with Chinese-owned businesses to come in partnership with one another.
Indiana’s speedy passage of House Bill 1183 in March, prohibiting certain land sales to companies from China and other adversarial countries, has halted a pending real estate deal with the China-owned company Fufeng, according to LaPorte County Assessor records. Fufeng was looking for real estate in Indiana after being booted out of Grand Forks, North Dakota, following a U.S. Air Force memo that called it a “significant threat to national security.”
Fufeng managed to implant itself in North Dakota with a land purchase before being tarred and feathered out of the state. Fortunately, it was legislated out of Indiana — for now.
Fufeng’s short-lived appearance in Indiana was a smoking gun. What else is going on? The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), an unelected upgrade to the traditional commerce department, helps select and develop businesses in Indiana. The IEDC has set up many China-owned companies in the state, including 25 currently operational, according to the IEDC general counsel.
The trend of China-based companies in Indiana has not developed organically but through centralized planning with the help of a Chinese Communist Party-linked nonprofit. A contract on the IEDC’s website shows that it has been paying the America China Society of Indiana (ACSI) to facilitate deals with China-owned businesses. The contract outlines IEDC’s interest in “identifying and creating a pipeline of [foreign direct investment] prospects in China” and preparing trip itineraries, among other tasks.
A state contract to fill a requested “pipeline” of China-owned businesses wishing to engage in foreign direct investment, including the purchase of U.S. land, is concerning. The 2017 National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China directs that “any organization or citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with the state intelligence work” and “state intelligence work institutions shall collect and handle the acts or acts of foreign institutions, organizations, and individuals….”
In other words, China-owned companies operating in the United States are expected to collect intelligence on the United States. Further, most large Chinese companies, especially those allowed to expand into the United States, have CCP members or even party committees within them ensuring loyalty to the CCP’s goals.
Beyond the concerns with Chinese companies taking root in the United States, an organization such as ACSI introduces additional issues when attached to state-level government. ACSI has implemented a series of influence operations and public relations events that may have compromised state decision-making through pressure, gain, or both.
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
ACSI’s 2018 board of directors paints a picture of the IEDC’s exposure to CCP influence.
A member of the IEDC is on the board, guaranteeing that the IEDC is not only aware of, but actively has influence in, ACSI’s activities.
Westfield Outdoors is one of the China-owned businesses that ACSI brought in as part of the “pipeline.” Westfield Outdoors, along with other China-owned businesses, is one of ACSI’s member sponsors, which in turn influence businesses ACSI recommends to Indiana.
Dr. Zao (Joe) Xu, founder of the Confucius Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, was on the ACSI board until 2018. The U.S. government defunded Confucius Institutes (CI) following expert testimony identifying CI as part of a CCP influence operation. The Confucius Institute at IUPUI closed in 2019 along with nearly all others in the United States.
A board that convenes Indiana government representatives alongside CCP-linked influence operators and oversees a society whose members include China-owned businesses with an intel-gathering mission is a recipe for compromised decision-making.
The Deepening
In 2019, Indiana Governor and IEDC Board Chairman Eric Holcomb took a trip to China likely arranged by ACSI “to renew the Indiana-Zhejiang sister-state relationship” established back in 1987. The Indiana legislature has since banned sister-city agreements with China, so Holcomb had to sign a bill that deeply criticizes the same kind of agreement he celebrated just five years ago.
During that trip, Holcomb visited with the president of the China People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), known as the “‘public face’ of the CCP’s United Front Work Department.”
In contrast to ACSI’s description of CPAFFC as “focused on deepening international friendships,” the CPAFFC’s mission in its own words is “to make the foreign serve China.” This stunning whitewashing is readily available on Wikipedia.
Why did Indiana’s governor meet with the leader of the part of the CCP’s influence operation concerned with making other countries serve China? ACSI would have added the CPAFFC stop to the itinerary as part of its role arranging IEDC’s China-bound trips, at the direction of the CCP. It is possible that Holcomb thought he was innocently “deepened” by a nice lady with a panda plate. But from the CPAFFC’s and CCP’s point of view, he declared his subservience.
‘Mask Diplomacy’
During early Covid days, China hoarded masks while companies like MyPillow diverted production to manufacturing masks for donation. Then China decided it was time to share. ACSI worked diligently to ensure Indiana participated in the geopolitical phenomenon later coined “Mask Diplomacy.”
Mask diplomacy, the CCP’s effort to look generous and deflect suspicions that Covid came from the Wuhan Lab, involved distributing small quantities of masks for a photo op. Indiana was among the favored states and countries to receive the honor of free masks, per the July 2020 news story on ACSI’s website.
In reality, this publicity stunt was a favor the CCP called in, likely among those trusted partners who have pledged allegiance to the CCP’s head of foreign submission (the CPAFFC) and could be counted on to promote this effort. With both the general public and the carefully selected recipients, the self-serving “favor” was an investment that would be expected to produce a return.
To the recipients, it was likely a nuisance. In context, 100,000 masks is a very small number. The IEDC reported in 2020 with macabre glee that it took fiduciary charge of spending $49 million on 27 million masks for the state, the smallest order of which was 1 million masks. The Chinese gift came with a very detailed receipt — the only mention of this event on IEDC’s website:
The IEDC likely had little “desire” for such a small quantity of masks, other than to satisfy the CCP’s desire to give masks and take credit. But in doing so, the state of Indiana (through its contractor ACSI) accepted a public gift from the Zhejiang Provincial Government of the CCP with an approximate value of nearly $200,000. What are the odds that the CCP would parlay that “favor” into a return gesture?
Far-Flung Fufeng
These are some of the more interesting elements within a long pattern of CCP-linked business development activities, advertised little if at all by the IEDC. It may also explain why the IEDC accepted the disgraced Fufeng earlier this year after its Department of Defense-directed expulsion from North Dakota.
Will the IEDC cancel its contract with ACSI for a “pipeline” of China-based companies in light of the HB 1183 restrictions? Do other states have similarly low-profile links to the CCP buried deep within unelected departments? The nearly two-thirds of all U.S. states currently advancing anti-China bills similar to HB 1183 may be doing so at odds with influence operations hidden within their own governments.
Vanessa Battaglia is a defense engineer with experience designing software, hardware, and airborne systems for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Special Operations Command, and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Following the retail apocalypse of 2023, 2024 is looking to be even worse, with the year-over-year comparison showing a 5.2 percent increase in store closures this year over last year.
The retail apocalypse of 2023 has continued in 2024, with thousands of stores across the United States set to shut their doors. Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the economic strain on the retail sector has only deepened, leading to a retail bloodbath.
Major retailers, including Macy’s, Walgreens, CVS, Family Dollar, Walmart, and 7-Eleven, have announced significant closures. A staggering 2,599 store closures are planned for this year, marking a 2.5% increase from the same period last year, according to the DailyMail. The closures reflect the persistent struggles brick-and-mortar stores face amid rising costs and shifting consumer habits.
Family Dollar and the bankrupt 99 Cents Only stores are among the hardest hit, with discount retailers particularly vulnerable in the current economic climate. The discount sector, often seen as a lifeline for low-income families, is reeling from the losses. The 99 Cents Only chain’s bankruptcy has already led to the planned shuttering of numerous stores, though a recent acquisition by Dollar Tree has saved 170 locations from closure.
Waterford, Pennsylvania, USA August 1, 2023 Two storefronts together, a Family Dollar and a Dollar Tree in a strip mall on a sunny summer day
Retail experts point to a variety of factors contributing to the closures, including increased competition from online retailers, rising operating costs, and changing consumer preferences. However, the Biden administration’s economic policies have exacerbated the situation, creating an environment where traditional retailers struggle to survive. The planned closures represent lost jobs, deserted shopping centers, and communities grappling with reduced access to essential goods and services. For many Americans, the closure of the stores is a reminder of the challenges facing the retail sector and the economy.
“A lot of this year’s closures are related to bankruptcies of chains that have been in trouble for a while, like Rite Aid and Rue21,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said to CBS. “We’re also seeing several retailers, like Family Dollar, take action to weed out underperforming locations.”
This year has already seen nearly 3,200 retail store closures, a 24% increase from last year, as reported by CoreSight, a firm that monitors retail activity in the U.S. In contrast, store openings are down by 4%, with many major chains holding back on expansion plans.
New Hartford, New York – Nov 23, 2023: Rite Aid Pharmacy storefront, is a well-known American pharmacy chain that provides a range of health and wellness products with over 2500 locations nationwide.
Driving these closures are several factors, including shifts in consumer behavior, management difficulties, and a spate of bankruptcies affecting companies like Rite Aid and Rue21. Notably, Dollar Tree announced the closure of over 600 Family Dollar stores, attributing the decision to inflationary pressures on shoppers and a rise in shoplifting incidents. While some retailers are still planning to open new locations, the overall trend points to a more cautious approach in the industry.
Amid the highest inflation rates seen in decades, many consumers have felt the financial squeeze. “Persistent inflation and reduced government benefits continue to pressure the lower-income consumers that comprise a sizable portion of Family Dollar’s” customer base, CEO Rick Dreiling said on a Wednesday call.
As the retail landscape continues to evolve, the impact of some closures could be felt across the country.
Argentina’s Central Bank renewed a US$5 billion tranche of the currency swap it has with its Chinese counterpart, US$3 billion of which matured in June and the rest in July. Now, Argentina will have to start paying the maturities in 2025 and over 2026.
Media reports cast doubt over the Argentine administration’s ability to renegotiate the swap, as President Javier Milei is facing a diplomatic row with China and Foreign Ministry Diana Mondino’s future in the cabinet is uncertain. If the government had failed to renew the deal, it would have had to pay US$5 billion between this month and the next.
The South American country’s monetary authority released a communiqué on Wednesday stating that, together with the Central Bank of the People’s Republic of China, it had renewed the swap for the next 12 months.
