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Thursday, April 13, 2023

President Putin Himself Green Lit the Arrest of the WSJ Reporter

Bloomberg: Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the arrest of a US reporter on espionage charges for the first time since the Cold War. The Russian president’s endorsement of the move reflects the growing influence of Kremlin hardliners who push for deepening a confrontation with Washington they view as irreversible, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t public. The detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on March 29 triggered angry denunciations from the US and its allies (Bloomberg). Hill: Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted of espionage. Russia’s more than 99 percent conviction rate has been internationally criticized as part of a criminal justice system widely seen as unfair. He is the first U.S. journalist to be arrested in Russia on allegations of spying since the Cold War (Hill).

Anheuser-Busch Loses $5 Billion Since Announcing Sponsorship of Trans Influencer

New York Post: Beer colossus Anheuser-Busch saw its value plummet more than $5 billion since the company announced its branding partnership with controversial transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Since March 31, shares of Bud Light’s parent company have fallen by nearly 4% — knocking down the company’s market capitalization from $132.38 billion to $127.13 billion on Wednesday. Anheuser-Busch stock fizzled more than 1.5% on Wednesday (New York Post). Will Hild: The entire supply chain that helps take Anheuser-Busch’s products to market is feeling the impact of Bud Light’s choice to go woke: “I’ve never seen such little sales as in the past few days… when people don’t buy this beer…I can’t feed my family” (Twitter).

Biden Looking to Impose Additional Limitations on Tailpipes on Vehicles

Wall Street Journal: The Biden administration is proposing new limits on vehicle tailpipe emissions, seeking to spur U.S. auto makers to generate two-thirds of their sales through electric vehicles in a decade. The new standards for light-duty vehicles, announced Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, will apply to the 2027 to 2032 model years. They would be the nation’s toughest-ever restrictions on car pollution and one of President Biden’s most aggressive moves yet to combat climate change. The proposal moves beyond Mr. Biden’s ambitious target for half of all new-vehicle sales to be electric-powered by 2030. The EPA projects that the EVs could account for 67% of new- vehicle sales by the 2032 model year (Wall Street Journal). National Review: The aggressive plans raise a number of concerns for automakers and consumers. Gas-powered vehicles still make up over 90 percent of the market share of new vehicles, reflecting the fact that electric vehicles are more expensive (National Review). RNC Research: Rep. Ryan Zinke: Biden’s war on gas-powered cars makes us “vulnerable to China on the supply chain,” empowering the Chinese Communist Party (Twitter).

NPR to Halt Use of Twitter

Daily Wire: National Public Radio (NPR) said on Wednesday it would no longer use Twitter after being slapped with labels linking the media organization to the U.S. government. NPR expressed outrage and has not tweeted links to its reporting since last week when Twitter added a “state-affiliated media” tag to NPR’s profile, a label that put NPR in the company of foreign state-run media outlets such as Russia’s TASS and China Xinhua News (Daily Wire). David Harsanyi: Why not suspend taking tax dollars so you can lose the label (Twitter)? Spencer Brown: NPR’s leaders said this week that, even if Musk removes the label, NPR won’t immediately resume posting on Twitter, making its move appear even more ideologically motivated rather than a direct response to a policy decision NPR disagreed with (Townhall). NPR Reporter Steve Inskeep: John Lansing, NPR CEO, at the Morning Edition meeting. NPR says it will de-emphasize Twitter. Aside from the misleading label, NPR says Twitter isn’t used by most Americans; drives little traffic to NPR; and “no longer has the public service relevance that it once had” (Twitter).

European Countries Looking to Build Walls Along Their Borders

HotAir: Building border walls is a racist, sexist, heteronormative evil capitalist pig thing to do. At least if you are an American. Everybody else in the universe thinks it’s a good idea, and that perhaps the illegal immigrants should shuffle off to the Mexican border to enter the United States. Donald Trump was famously a fan of border walls, which made them a very very evil thing for all right-thinking people. But somewhere along the way, the hard experience of being invaded by unwelcome and very expensive squatters shaped the actual behavior of European countries, if not exactly what they were willing to say to the TV cameras. Europe is slowly but surely coming around to the idea that border walls are a necessary evil (HotAir). Reporter David Strom: EU Countries Are Building Fences All Around Their Borders With Third Countries & This Is How They Look (Twitter).

Elon Musk Calls Journalist Out for Not Being Able to Provide a Single Instance of Hate Speech on Twitter

National Review: Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday poked holes in a BBC reporter’s suggestion that there is more hateful content on the social-media app since Musk’s takeover. The reporter, James Clayton, could not name a single example of hateful content he’d seen on the site (National Review). Chuck Callesto: Elon eats BBC reporter for dinner. BBC JOURNALIST: There’s been a rise in hatful content on Twitter.” ELON MUSK : “Give me an example.” JOURNALIST: “I can’t.” ELON MUSK: “You just lied” (Twitter).

DNC Cuts Ties with Lawyer Marc Elias

Washington Examiner: The Democratic National Committee is cutting ties with lawyer Marc Elias, who heavily pushed the discredited Steele dossier that sought to link the former president to Russia falsely. Elias, who has represented the DNC since 2009, has had several disagreements with the committee. Elias Law Group, his firm founded in 2021, works on behalf of many Democratic lawmakers and entities, such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Between November 2021 and February 2023, the DNC paid Elias Law Group over $2 million. And since October 2021, the firm has pulled in over $34 million from campaigns and committees, including those linked to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) — solidifying itself as a Democratic legal powerhouse (Washington Examiner). Daily Caller: His law firm will continue working with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Attorneys General Association and other party organizations (Daily Caller).

Donald Trump Files Lawsuit Against Former Lawyer Michael Cohen

National Review: A source close to Donald Trump has revealed that the former president filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against his ex-attorney, Michael Cohen, demanding more than $500 million in damages. The 30-page legal filing submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida accuses Cohen of breaching attorney-client privilege and unjustly enriching himself at Trump’s expense. The lawsuit points to Cohen’s “public statements, including the publication of two books, a podcast series, and innumerable mainstream media appearances,” which demonstrated “malicious intent” for entirely “self-serving ends” (National Review). Fox News: Cohen resigned as counsel for the Trump Organization in January 2017, when Trump was inaugurated, but continued to represent him personally until June 2018. The lawsuit points to statements made by federal prosecutors, who claimed Cohen’s crimes were “motivated…by personal greed” and effectuated by “repeatedly using his power and influence for deceptive ends” (Fox News).

68 Percent of Parents Delve Into Their Savings to Help Adult Children

Bankrate: Parents are stepping in to help their adult children when they’re in a financial pinch, but many are sacrificing their own savings in the process. Over two-thirds (68 percent) of parents of adult children have made or are currently making a financial sacrifice to help their kids financially, according to a new Bankrate survey. Parents say they sacrificed retirement savings (43 percent), emergency savings (51 percent), paying down their own debt (49 percent) or reaching a financial milestone (55 percent) (Bankrate). RNC Research: BIDEN ECONOMY: 68% of parents say they are sacrificing their own savings to support their adult children (Twitter).

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Disneyland Announces Closing Date of Historic Splash Mountain Attraction

KTLA: The Disneyland Resort is saying goodbye to Splash Mountain: the 33-year-old attraction is set to close on May 31 for an extensive reimaging process, Disneyland officials announced on Wednesday. The last day of operation will be on May 30 and the ride will officially close on May 31, Disneyland officials said. While the attraction itself isn’t getting torn down, it will undergo a complete makeover and return re-themed as a “Princess and the Frog” attraction titled “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure,” which is scheduled to open in late 2024 at the U.S. Disney Parks (KTLA).