Tuesday, August 13, 2024

August 13, 2024

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Trump says Biden ousting was a "coup" . . . Former President Donald Trump said President Joe Biden's ousting from the 2024 election "was a coup of the President of the United States," while speaking to Elon Musk in X Spaces on Monday. Harris "hasn't done an interview since this whole scam started," Trump said. "And say what you want, this was a coup. This was a coup of a President of the United States." Biden "didn't want to leave," Trump continued. "And they said, 'We can do it the nice way, or we can do it the hard way.'" Breitbart

Trump promises to close Department of Education, socks Harris for avoiding press . . . "It's pretty sad when you think that somebody that does this for a living can't answer a question or is afraid to do an interview, and in her case, with a very friendly interview. She's got all friendly interviewers," Trump said of Harris Monday evening during his roughly two-hour interview with Musk on X Space. On education, he said: "I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states. … Of the 50 [states], I would bet that 35 would do great. And 15 of them, or, you know, 20 of them, will be as good as Norway. You know, Norway is considered great." Fox News

Trump says he's 'more of a believer' in God after surviving assassination attempt . . . Donald Trump said he's "more of a believer" in God after surviving an assassination attempt last month — calling the fact that only his ear was struck with a bullet a "miracle." "It hit me at an angle that was far less destructive than any other angle," the 78-year-old former president told Elon Musk in an X livestream conversation. "So that was the miracle — so those people who don't believe in God, I think we got to all start thinking about that," he said. "You know, I'm a believer. Now I'm more of a believer, I think." New York Post

X melts down after Trump-Musk's interview 'Space' immediately crashes

Musk said the breakdown was a result of a denial of service attack, but after the DeSantis debacle, politicians won't be lining up for their X interviews.

Politics

EU sends warning letter to Elon Musk ahead of Trump interview . . . The European Union sent a warning letter to X owner Elon Musk on Monday reminding him of the bloc's rules against promoting "harmful content" ahead of the billionaire tech mogul's interview with former President Trump on the social platform. X CEO Linda Yaccarino pushed back on the letter in a post on the platform, calling it an "unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US." "It also patronizes European citizens, suggesting they are incapable of listening to a conversation and drawing their own conclusions," she added. The Hill

It's a direct attack on free speech. Europe is giving up on ideas advanced by Western Civilization. It's worse than here, but maybe not for long.

Walz called Hitler-promoting cleric a 'master teacher' at Islamic center event . . . As he campaigned to be Minnesota's next governor, Tim Walz called a Muslim cleric who promoted a pro-Adolf Hitler film a "master teacher" who offered Walz lessons over the time they "spent together," according to footage at a 2018 event. News of the footage comes after a spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign said in a Friday statement that Walz does not "have a personal relationship" with Asad Zaman of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. Washington Examiner

Attack on Walz military service claims just getting started, Trump insiders say

Walz education record shows teachers union capitulation and left-wing priorities . . . Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), the Democratic nominee for vice president, is beloved by teachers unions, but his dedication to them and their left-wing policy preferences have deteriorated education in Minnesota, critics say. From dropping reading and math scores to pandemic-era lockdowns and controversial school curriculums, including critical race theory and transgender ideology. Washington Examiner

Progressives face an existential threat from AIPAC. And there's nothing to stop it . . . Various groups, chiefly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's super PAC, spent a combined $25 million on ads to defeat Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) this summer in what became the two most expensive House primaries ever. After both Bowman and Bush crumbled under that avalanche of spending, prompted by their criticism of Israel in the country's war with Hamas, progressive Democrats have awoken to a bleak new reality that could haunt them for years to come: They have no organized way to counter that kind of money. And they fear AIPAC and allied groups will be more empowered to take on even bigger targets next cycle and beyond because they know their strategy works. Politico

Break-in reported at Trump campaign office in Virginia . . . Authorities said Monday they are investigating a burglary at a Donald Trump campaign office in suburban Virginia, circulating surveillance video of a man inside the building with what appears to be a full backpack. The break-in was reported late Sunday at the campaign office in Ashburn, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. The building, in a suburban office park about 30 miles west of downtown Washington, also serves as the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee. Politico

National Security

Smugglers drugging kids to sneak them into the US . . . Parents are paying $10,000 apiece to have their children drugged and smuggled across the border to join them in the U.S. Some smugglers use cold medicine, but the go-to appears to be melatonin gummies. Drivers feed children as many as four before crossing the border. The goal is to keep the children asleep and hope that sympathetic border officers will wave through the vehicle without trying to verify the relationships of those inside. Washington Times

International

Ukraine claims to control 600 square miles of Russia . . . Ukraine's top commander has said Kyiv's forces control 600 square miles of Russian territory as they press their biggest cross-border incursion in two-and-a-half years of full-scale war. Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukraine continued to "conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk region" seven days after it began. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had brought war to others and now it was coming back to Russia. But Russian leader Vladimir Putin described the offensive as a "major provocation" and ordered Russian forces to "to kick the enemy out of our territory". BBC

Russia evacuates 180,000 civilians as Putin decries attack in Kursk region

Ukrainian offensive raises morale but poses dangers . . . For now, Russia is struggling to contain Ukrainian advances. But some Ukrainian soldiers waiting to join the battle from Sumy, the Ukrainian regional capital on the border, said they had been pulled from already threadbare units on the eastern front in Ukraine, suggesting Kyiv was already facing challenges finding fresh troops to maintain momentum. Still, images of Ukrainian soldiers charging through Russian territory and tearing down Russian flags from village halls have raised morale. Wall Street Journal

Israel puts military on high alert . . . Israel put its military on high alert and the Pentagon said it is sending a guided-missile submarine to the region and speeding up the arrival of a second aircraft carrier, amid heightened concerns about a possible Iranian and Hezbollah response to the killing of militant leaders in Tehran and Beirut. Israel set the high-alert level for its military for the first time this month after observing preparations by Iran and Hezbollah to carry out attacks. Wall Street Journal

Money

Hospitals new push: Treating patients in their homes . . . Around the country, more than 300 hospitals are deploying or preparing to dispatch paramedics, nurse practitioners and other medical staff to treat patients at home instead of in hospital settings. The efforts are part of a nationwide experiment that began with the pandemic, when hospitals were overcrowded and under financial strain. Federal regulators proposed a fix: Hospitals could temporarily take care of Medicare patients at home, but still get paid the same hospital-stay rate. Policymakers say they fear hospitals are overpaid and will overuse the home-based services. Wall Street Journal

Huawei readies new chip to challenge Nividia on AI . . . China's Huawei Technologies is close to introducing a new chip for artificial intelligence use, overcoming U.S. sanctions to challenge Nvidia in the Chinese market. Chinese internet companies and telecommunications operators have been testing Huawei's latest processor, called Ascend 910C, in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Huawei told potential clients that the new chip is comparable to Nvidia's H100, which was introduced last year and isn't directly available in China, the people said. Wall Street Journal

You should also know

Mars study suggests an ocean's worth of water may be hiding beneath surface . . . Mars may be drenched beneath its surface, with enough water hiding in the cracks of underground rocks to form a global ocean, new research suggests. This water — believed to be seven miles to 12 miles down in the Martian crust — most likely would have seeped from the surface billions of years ago when Mars harbored rivers, lakes and possibly oceans, according to the lead scientist

4,000-year-old Babylonian tablets deciphered to reveal omens . . . The omens inscribed on the tablets include "a king will die, destruction of Elam," an area in Mesopotamia in what is now Iran, if "an eclipse becomes obscured from its center all at once [and] clear all at once," Live Science reported. Another predicts the "downfall of Subartu and Akkad," two other regions of the time, if "an eclipse begins in the south and then clears." Other concerning omens indicate "there will be an attack on the land by a locust swarm," "there will be losses of cattle" and that "a large army will fall." New York Post

Let's all pray for the people of Akkad.

Guilty Pleasures

Wienermobile crashes near Chicago . . . The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was involved in a rollover crash Monday morning on the Tri-State Tollway near Oak Brook, officials said. About 11:15 a.m., state troopers were called to I-294 near Roosevelt Road for a crash involving the Wienermobile and a Hyundai, according to Illinois State Police. The Wienermobile and a car were both going north on the tollway when the Wienermobile struck the car, lost control and rolled over, state police said. No injuries were reported.

Let's be frank. The fewer of these on the road, the better.