Friday, May 16, 2025

May 16, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Ex-FBI chief Comey's '86 47' social media post condemned by White House as attempt to put 'hit' on president . . . The Secret Service is investigating after ex-FBI Director James Comey posted an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to show the numbers "86 47," a message White House officials swiftly condemned as an attempt to put out a "hit" against the 47th president. Comey later deleted the post after online backlash from government officials, lawmakers and President Donald Trump's son. Trump has faced two assassination attempts in the past year, one of which resulted in him being shot and a bystander being killed. The post including the alleged "hit" showed the numbers in question etched into the sand at a beach using seashells. Fox News

Gabbard says Comey should be 'put behind bars'

Politics

Trump's birthright order gets frosty reception, but justices appear ready to limit nationwide blocks . . . President Donald Trump's executive order purporting to end birthright citizenship found no traction Thursday at the Supreme Court, but the justices sounded inclined to rein in a legal remedy judges have used to halt many of Trump's early policy moves, from restricting immigration to cutting federal spending to ending anti-diversity initiatives. The conservative justices seemed intent on devising a way to prevent, or at least limit, district judges from issuing nationwide injunctions against federal policies. Politico

5 Takeaways From Oral Arguments on Injunctions in Birthright Citizenship Case

Megabill teeters after hard-liners make their stand . . . Conservative objections surrounded missing fiscal scores for the legislation and ongoing concerns about the depth of Medicaid cuts that Republicans are prepared to make. One option under serious discussion as a concession to fiscal hard-liners is moving up the onset of work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries by two years — from 2029 to 2027. Politico

They'll get it worked out. They always do. The House for years has specialized in cliffhangers with a happy ending. They're not going ruin the story by sending Trump biggest agenda item crashing down.

Republicans Could Secure About $1.4 Billion in Savings by Defunding Child Transitions . . . Republicans could net approximately $1.4 billion in savings through cutting Medicaid coverage for child gender transitions, a senior legislative aide familiar with the unofficial figure told The Daily Signal. The House Energy and Commerce Committee's markup Tuesday of budget reconciliation includes a provision from Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, that would block federal dollars from funding child sex-change procedures, such as hormone-replacement regimens and irreversible transition surgeries. Daily Signal

Seems like a place to start.

Democrats want to focus on Trump. Instead, they're being asked about Biden's mental acuity . . . A new book that alleges White House aides covered up Biden's physical and mental decline. Many Democrats would prefer to focus on Trump's second term. Trump has done his best to prevent that — mentioning Biden's name an average of six times per day during his first 100 days in office, according to an NBC News analysis — and Republicans have followed his lead, betting that voters frustrated by Trump's policy moves will still prefer him over memories of an unpopular presidency. Associated Press

Trump Announces $200 Billion In Commercial Deals With UAE, Bringing Total Gulf Investments To Massive Sum . . . The "transformative deals" include Boeing and GE Aerospace securing a $14.5 billion commitment from Etihad Airways for 28 Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft and a $4 billion investment by Emirates Global Aluminum in Oklahoma to build one of the first new American aluminum smelters in 45 years. Other deals announced relate to the energy, technology, and mineral sectors. The deals are in addition to the UAE's March commitment to investing $1.4 trillion in American energy, manufacturing, and technology over the next decade. Daily Wire

Fetterman on reported health concerns: Former staffers have a 'bizarre grudge' . . . Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) says former aides who voiced their concerns about his mental health have a "bizarre grudge" against him. Fetterman, who was hospitalized in 2023 for clinical depression, nine months after he suffered a stroke, says he's doing well and plans to serve out the rest of his Senate term, despite a warning from his former chief of staff that he's acting erratically and could pose a danger to himself. The Hill

Culture

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Orders 'Complete Review' of Abortion Pill . . . A study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center found that 10.93 percent of women who had mifepristone abortions — the first drug used in a two-drug medication abortion regimen — experienced severe complications including sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days following the abortion. Breitbart

DeSantis Bans Fluoride In Florida Water

Microsoft Faces Ultimatum From Lawyers: Address 'Widespread Anti-Semitism' or We'll See You in Court . . . A legal organization accused Microsoft of violating federal anti-discrimination laws and contributing to "widespread anti-Semitism" in its workplace, warning it will sue unless the tech giant fixes the problem. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law wrote in a Monday letter to Microsoft that its refusal to allow employees of all races and ethnicities—including Jews—to establish resource groups is illegal. Washington Free Beacon

The Left Can't Tell If They Hate Femininity or Just Conservative Women . . . The New York Times, which long ago gave up any pretense of objectivity, has once again reminded us what truly keeps the Left up at night: beautiful, confident, conservative women. In a recent style column that reads more like an entry from The Babylon Bee, a writer wrings her hands over a horrifying cultural crisis—no, not the invasion of our southern border or the collapse of American family formation, but the possibility that wearing a sheath dress might make her look like a Trump supporter. Daily Signal

National Security

Kash Patel delivers fiery warning after FBI disrupts mass shooting terror plot targeting military . . . Patel told Fox News Digital that any individual targeting the U.S. military or conspiring with foreign terrorist organizations will be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." The director's warning comes after a former Michigan Army National Guard member, Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, was arrested for allegedly planning a mass shooting near the U.S. Army's Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) center at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan. Fox News

International

Russia and Ukraine hold their first direct peace talks in 3 years amid low expectations . . . Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years Friday, gathering in Istanbul for Turkish-brokered negotiations, but officials and observers expected them to yield little immediate progress on stopping the more than three-year war. A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov sat down with a low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. Associated Press

An Israeli woman on her way to give birth is killed in a West Bank attack . . . Tzeela Gez was on her way to the hospital to bring new life into this world when hers was suddenly cut short. As her husband drove their car through the winding roads of the occupied West Bank late Wednesday, a Palestinian attacker shot at them. Within hours, Gez, nine months pregnant, was dead. Doctors barely saved the life of the baby, who is in serious but stable condition. Associated Press

Police investigate disappearance of Melania Trump's statue in her native Slovenia . . . Police in Slovenia are investigating the disappearance of a bronze statue of U.S. first lady Melania Trump that was sawed off and carried away from her hometown. The life-size sculpture was unveiled in 2020 during President Donald Trump's first term in office near Sevnica in central Slovenia, where Melanija Knavs was born in 1970. It replaced a wooden statue that had been set on fire earlier that year. Associated Press

Money

Walmart's Price Hikes Open Door to Increases From 'Everybody Else' . . . President Trump's trade war has yet to make a real dent in the American economy. That is about to change. On Thursday, the retail giant Walmart said that the cost of tariffs was forcing the company's hand, and that it would hike prices on all sorts of goods later this month and into the summer. So far, Trump's tariffs have had a muted effect on inflation. Walmart's announcement suggests that a dam is breaking and that a flood of higher prices could soon follow. Wall Street Journal

More than 2,000 Starbucks baristas go on strike to protest new dress code . . . More than 2,000 Starbucks baristas at 120 U.S. stores have gone on strike since Sunday to protest the new dress code, according to Starbucks Workers United, a union representing the coffee giant's U.S. workers. Starbucks put new limits starting Monday on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons. The dress code requires employees at company-operated and licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms. The Hill

This is a Gen-Z hissy fit over a normal requirement for a good job that pays well. Give them each a farewell latte and fire them.

You should also know

High-profile stalking cases skyrocket as popularity of women's sports reaches new heights . . . An explosion in popularity has brought fame and fortune to women's sports, but a dark side has emerged as more female athletes become the targets of unhinged fans, who are almost always male. Tennis star Emma Raducanu brought the issue into the spotlight during the Dubai Championships in February. She was brought to tears and hid behind the umpire's chair after spotting her stalker in the stands during a match. Washington Times

These are the most popular baby names in every state, birth records reveal

Guilty Pleasures

Video Of Roaches Crawling Walls Of Spirit Airlines Flight Goes Viral; Airline Responds . . . A Spirit Airlines passenger posted a video which has since gone viral showing cockroaches crawling around on the inside of the aircraft, which prompted a response from airline reps. Symoné Beez originally shared the post to X on May 11. "Never again will I fly [Spirit Airlines]," she wrote in the video caption. "I've flown over 500,000 miles on Delta and have never in my life seen roaches on a plane this is crazy." Daily Wire

Symoné was given a $60 voucher by the airline. It doesn't seem this quite addresses the problem.