May 22, 2025
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Welcome to the news for independent thinkers
Leading the News . . .
Gunman shouting "Free Palestine" kills two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington . . . The two Israeli Embassy staffers who were gunned down by a pro-Palestinian terrorist outside the Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday night have been identified as "friends and colleagues" who fell in love and were just days away from getting engaged. Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Milgrim were fatally shot in the street as they left the American Jewish Committee's ACCESS Young Diplomats Reception just after 9 p.m. in Washington, DC. "Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives," the Embassy of Israel to the USA wrote on X.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, the suspected terrorist, has ties to a radical left-wing group
Witness recounts moment staff members of Israeli embassy killed
Shooting parks outrage from Trump, Israeli president
Israelis Shocked and Horrified
Video shows moment suspected gunman outside Jewish Museum is arrested while shouting 'Free,free Palestine'
Politics
House Passes 'Big, Beautiful' Budget Bill . . . The House of Representatives passed a budget reconciliation bill that, if signed into law, would secure a number of President Donald Trump's campaign promises, such as extending his first-term 2017 tax cuts and funding border security. The bill passed by 215-214 margin, with one "present" vote. It will now go the Senate. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie, Ky., and Warren Davidson, Ohio, joined all Democrats in voting against the bill. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, voted "present." Daily Signal
Inside the last-minute changes to the GOP megabill
Senators to Introduce Bill Promoting Holistic Fertility Methods . . . Two Senate Republicans will introduce legislation to promote a holistic approach to healing infertility. Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and James Lankford, R-Okla., will introduce the Reproductive Empowerment and Support Through Optimal Restoration (RESTORE) Act on Thursday to address underlying causes of infertility like endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Daily Signal
Senate panel concludes health officials downplayed COVID vax risks despite early warnings . . . Senate subcommittee's interim report has disclosed that federal health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration received warnings as early as February 2021 about the potential for patients to develop myocarditis in the wake of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. It also concludes that they delayed issuing a public warning about the deadly heart disease, and downplayed the risks of the vaccine and the condition, new records show. Just the News
RFK Jr.'s big report is coming. The GOP's farm and food allies are sweating . . . An expected report Thursday from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. assessing the causes of chronic disease in children could test whether Republicans in Congress can get along with a health secretary keen on regulating farm and food companies.
Republican lawmakers representing agriculture and food manufacturing districts have warned Kennedy to lay off. They worry it will point to pesticides and food dyes as potential causes for kids' diseases and propose regulation that could cut profits and cost jobs. Even if Kennedy steers clear of regulatory proposals, they fear his report could dampen demand for the products their constituents make. Politico
Former Florida congressional candidate sentenced to prison for threatening to kill opponent . . . A former Florida congressional candidate was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday for threatening to kill his opponent in a primary race in 2021. William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg, was sentenced in Tampa federal court after being charged with interstate transmission of threat to injure. He pleaded guilty in February. According to court documents, Braddock viewed Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who was the Republican frontrunner in Florida's 13th Congressional District, as "his only obstacle to winning that race." The Hill
This would seem like election interference.
Culture
These Posh Private School Alumni Were Among the Arrested Columbia and Barnard Students . . . Emma Biswas grew up in a life of luxury. She led the robotics team at the Harker School, which bills itself as one of the nation's top college prep schools and where tuition can reach $65,000. While there, she interned with a biotech company that boasts, "Prospective Nobel Prize Winners Work Here." And until she left for Barnard College, Biswas lived in a San Francisco Bay Area mansion worth about $5.8 million, according to a Redfin estimate. Then she was arrested for storming a Columbia University library, along with 80 other radicals. Washington Free Beacon
It's such an old story, people raised with all the comforts and wonders American capitalism supplies them with and then deciding they want to tear it all down. This syndrome has been identified by researchers as "spoiled brat."
Inside the Fight to Pass the Laken Riley Act
National Security
The Fortress That China Built for Its Battle with the US . . . China has raced ahead in many strategic sectors—and in some cases is catching up with the U.S. Its electric-car companies are among the world's best. Chinese AI startups rival OpenAI and Google. The country's biologists are pushing the boundaries of pharmaceutical research, and its factories are being filled with advanced robotics. At sea, Chinese-made cargo vessels dominate global shipping. In space, the country has been launching hundreds of satellites to monitor every corner of the Earth. Wall Street Journal
Pentagon Has Taken Possession of 747 From Qatar . . . The Pentagon said Wednesday that it had formally accepted a donated $400 million luxury airliner from Qatar that President Trump has said will serve as Air Force One. "The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. The Air Force said it was preparing to award a contract to modify the jet so it can serve as Air Force One. It didn't provide further details about the plans, saying information related to the aircraft was classified. Wall Street Journal
Judge scolds DOJ in dismissing ICE facility trespassing charge against Newark mayor . . . A federal judge chided the Department of Justice during a Wednesday hearing where he agreed to dismiss a trespassing charge against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) that stemmed from his visit to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility earlier this month alongside three Democratic members of Congress. U.S. District Judge Andre Espinosa said the arrest suggested a "worrisome misstep" by the New Jersey's U.S. attorney's office, noting the "apparent rush" in bringing the case. The Hill
International
White House meeting disquiets Ramaphosa when Trump emphasizes disputed 'genocide' reports . . . President Trump put South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the spot Wednesday by screening a video of Black leaders calling for White Afrikaner farmers to be killed, an eyebrow-raising presentation that forced the visiting dignitary to answer for reports of genocide in his country. Mr. Ramaphosa was caught by surprise during a visit he said he hoped would "reset the strategic relationship between the two countries." Mr. Trump has given credence to reports of atrocities against Afrikaners, canceled U.S. aid to South Africa and offered asylum to White farmers. Washington Times
Money
What Sam Altman Told OpenAI About the Secret Device He's Making With Jony Ive . . . OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman gave his staff a preview Wednesday of the devices he is developing to build with the former Apple designer Jony Ive, laying out plans to ship 100 million AI "companions" that he hopes will become a part of everyday life. Employees have "the chance to do the biggest thing we've ever done as a company here," Altman said after announcing OpenAI's plans to purchase Ive's startup, named io, and give him an expansive creative and design role. Wall Street Journal
Altman hopes the device will be something everyone carries, like the iPhone, though it won't be a phone. It's not clear to me exactly what it will do.
Guilty Pleasures
French Woman Stuck with English Accent 11 Years after Tonsil Surgery . . . A 47-year-old woman from Western France has been speaking with a distinctively English accent ever since she had her tonsils removed 14 years ago. Laetitia, a cashier from Montval-sur-Loir, in France's Sarthe Department, doesn't speak English. She only knows some basic words that she learned in school decades ago, but hearing her speak in her native tongue would have you believe she was born in England. For 14 years, Laetitia has been speaking with an English accent that makes most people think she is Anglo-Saxon. Oddity Central
There are worse things that could happen. Like, she could be stuck with a French accent. Sorry, the French are just easy targets.
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