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Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Trump Signs Executive Order Eliminating Federal Funding for Gain-of-Function Research

The order will: ….end Federal funding of dangerous gain-of-function research conducted by foreign entities in countries of concern (e.g., China) … to ensure that the countries are compliant with United States oversight standards and policies… (White House). RFK, Jr: A historic day, the end of end of function research funding by the federal government and also controls by private corporations on getting function studies (X). Trump was flanked by Marty Makary, U.S. Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health of the United States and RFK, Jr, Director of HHS. The signing will be hailed as a victory for the MAHA movement. New York Post: The order will yank funding from “any present and all future” gain-of-function research — money which federal agencies have had difficulty tracking — as well as deputize the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies to identify biological research harmful to public health or threatening to national security. “These measures will drastically reduce the potential for lab-related incidents involving gain-of-function research, like that conducted on bat coronaviruses in China by the EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology,” according to a White House fact sheet reviewed by The Post (New York Post).

IDF Strikes Houthi Target at Yemeni Port

In the wake of the missile strike on Ben Gurion International Airport a day earlier. Wall Street Journal: The attack targeted the port city of Hodeidah and included about 20 Israeli fighter jets and the dropping of 50 munitions, Israel’s military said. The Israeli attack came as the U.S. carried out separate strikes in Sanaa on Sunday night local time, a U.S. defense official said, continuing an air campaign that has been underway since March. Israel informed the U.S. of its strikes but didn’t coordinate the attacks, a defense official said. The Israeli attack hit Hodeidah’s port, as well as a cement factory, Israel and the Houthis both confirmed. The strikes injured 21 people, according to the Houthi-run ministry of health (Wall Street Journal). Times of Israel: It was the sixth Israeli strike in Yemen since the beginning of the war, and the first since January. The IDF had stopped responding to the Houthis missile and drone fire on Israel, after the US launched a major aerial campaign against the Iran-backed group several months ago (Times of Israel). Also … somehow: A fire broke out at an underground ammunition depot belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps near the city of Kazerun in southern Iran, the exiled Iranian media outlet Kayhan London reports…. If confirmed, the incident would mark yet another explosion in a growing series of similar events throughout the Islamic Republic in recent days. Chief among them was last week’s massive blast at the Shahid Rajaee port, which claimed dozens of lives and brought one of the country’s main ports to a standstill (Israel Hayom).

Israel’s Security Cabinet Approves Plan to Capture, Hold Gaza

Axios: Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan Sunday night to gradually reoccupy all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely if no deal is reached by May 15. Plans for the operation call for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to flatten any buildings that remain standing and displace virtually the entire population of 2 million people to a single “humanitarian area.” The alternative to remaining in the humanitarian zone is for Palestinians to leave the enclave “voluntarily” for other countries “in line with President Trump’s vision for Gaza,” an Israeli official said. Such departures could hardly be considered voluntary, and no country has agreed thus far to accept displaced Palestinians. Israeli officials claim there are ongoing negotiations with several countries on that front (Axios). Netanyahu: “One thing will be clear — we’re not going in and out just to call up reserves so they’ll come and seize territory, we withdraw from territory, and carry out raids on what remains… That’s not the intention. What’s our intention? The opposite,” he concluded (Times of Israel). Breitbart: The Israeli government says that it will carry out the operation if Hamas does not agree to a hostage deal by the end of the forthcoming visit of President Donald Trump to the region, which will be from May 13 to 16. Military analysts describe “Gideon’s Chariots” as a classic “clear, hold, build” strategy to root out Hamas and create new, credible, demilitarized civilian authorities to govern the Palestinian communities in Gaza (Breitbart).

Letitia James Gearing Up for Another Round of Lawfare Against Trump

The New York Attorney General is spoiling for another fight. Her office: is now in the second month of an “inquiry” — that’s a step short of a formal investigation — into whether members of Mr. Trump’s camarilla illegally benefited from the market turmoil engendered by the administration’s tariff policy. The attorney general is now “looking into” the matter. The attorney general, who won a half-billion-dollar fraud judgement against the Trump Organization that is under appeal, has something of a trump card to play in respect of building a new case for insider trading. In 1921 the New York legislature passed the Martin Act, which grants the state’s attorney general expansive power to investigate securities fraud and bring civil or criminal prosecutions. Used infrequently for eight decades, it became a favorite tool of Eliot Spitzer while he served as attorney general (New York Sun).

Trump Admin Offering $1,000 to Illegals Who Self-Deport

Stephen Miller: The choice facing illegals: A. Leave now and get free flight + exit bonus. B. Refuse to leave and face a fine of 1K daily, prosecution and imprisonment, forfeiture of all assets, garnishment of all wages, confiscation of all property, deportation whenever and wherever we choose (X). Sarah Arnold of Townhall: Travel assistance will be managed through the CBP One app, allowing illegal immigrants to notify the government of their intent to return to their home country. Those who opt into the self-deportation program will be “deprioritized” for detention and removal by immigration enforcement, placing them lower on the list for ICE action as long as they follow through on their departure. “If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest, and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. “DHS is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App” (Townhall). Ed Morrissey: this is probably worth a try. The costs alone for forced deportation, not to mention the impacts on communities in the US, justify the creations of incentives for those here illegally to rectify the situation on their own. And it has one other benefit: anyone complaining about getting arrested and ejected had a better option at hand, one that would have been facilitated by the US government, not to mention rewarded (Hot Air).

California Democrats Unwilling to Support Harsher Penalties for Solicitation of Sex With a Minor

Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature: Republicans tried to push Democrats to increase penalties for soliciting 16- and 17-year-olds for sex or prostitution. That crime is a misdemeanor punishable by between two days to a year in jail. Solicitation involves asking for or arranging sex in exchange for money or something valuable; a host of other sex crimes involving minors of any age are felonies, including paying for and having sex with a minor. This time, Republicans had the backing of freshman Democratic Assemblymember Maggy Krell, of Sacramento, who authored Assembly Bill 379. Krell objected on Tuesday when her colleagues removed the provision on soliciting older minors, saying fellow Democrats had forced her to agree to it on the threat the Public Safety committee would refuse to hold a hearing otherwise (Cal Matters). Democrats are looking to water it down: CA Democrats gutted AB 379, a bill that would’ve made it a felony to buy 16- & 17-year-olds for sex. The bill’s own author, Asm. Maggy Krell (D), voted NO after Dem leadership forced watered-down amendments. Watch the 7-min highlight of the explosive 1-hour debate (California Family Council).

GOP May Hand Anti-Trump Judge Boasberg Opportunity to Hand Pick Our Top D.C. Prosecutor

That is, if the GOP can’t garner sufficient support to confirm interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin. Mike Benz: People thought I must have misspoke or exaggerated…. If Ed Martin is not confirmed by Senate Republicans in the next 14 days, Judge Boasberg gets to hand-pick the Top DC Prosecutor (X). Washington Post: Interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin’s nomination to serve full-time as top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital faced fresh doubts Thursday from key Senate Republicans ahead of a looming May 20 deadline. President Donald Trump’s White House dug in for a fight. Signs of trouble emerged from several quarters over Martin’s past statements and qualifications, including from individual senators (Washington Post). For context: Among the cases that Boasberg has been assigned include not only the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) for deportations, but also to do with administration officials’ handling of the Signal app. The letter notes that Boasberg was assigned such “high-profile” cases less than two weeks apart. He was also assigned cases to do with the Department of Government of Efficiency and federal funding for programs that violate civil rights laws (Townhall).

How the U.S. Can Squeeze Iran and China on Oil

Saeed Ghasseminejad and Matthew Zweig: To squeeze the Islamic Republic’s oil revenues, U.S. policy must understand that no Chinese company is too big to sanction. President Donald Trump has embraced a strategy combining diplomacy and sanctions to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb. For such a strategy to be successful, it will be necessary to curb Iran’s illicit oil exports … By targeting corporate officers of major Chinese firms involved in the Iran oil trade, the United States can disrupt Beijing’s willingness to help Tehran evade sanctions. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) can designate these executives as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) for facilitating sanctions evasion, financial transactions with Iran, or providing sanctioned entities with financial services. OFAC’s 50 Percent Rule would then block entities with an ownership composed of 50 percent or more SDNs from U.S. dollar transactions and freeze their assets. Even if the SDNs do not have majority ownership, sanctions can apply if the sanctioned individual exerts significant control. This approach forces firms to purge SDN-linked leadership or face crippling penalties…. Such proactive efforts by the Treasury to couple sanctions with the provision of general licenses and other tools to mitigate market impact can help the United States achieve its goals while both minimizing market shocks and diplomatic resistance among allies. Iran’s oil exports thrive on China’s complicity, but the United States has the tools to act decisively. The question now is not one of ability but rather will (National Interest).

Biden’s Decline: We’re Still Waiting for the Real Inside Story

And we’re not getting the most transparency. Jen Psaki is not helping matters. “Cover up,” she says, “It’s a very loaded term, I think. A cover-up is often like a crime. People use that term when they refer to Watergate or the covering up of not sharing public information and about a war,” she said.” Ed Morrissey: You better believe it’s a crime. A cover-up of a president’s incapacity is a fraud on the American people. Voters put Joe Biden in office, and if he was not the person exercising the executive authority, then someone or some others were doing so illegitimately. That would be worse than Watergate, exponentially so. It violates the Constitution (especially the 25th Amendment), and strips the electorate of their agency in choosing the person to hold and use executive authority. Not only that, but the same people tried to prop Biden up for a second term in office, so that they could continue to exercise presidential authority through fraud and deception (Hot Air). Byron York: There is an inside story of Biden’s decline and an outside story of Biden’s decline. The inside story is the effort by the White House staff, plus its Democratic allies, plus its supporters in the press, to conceal Biden’s problem. The outside story is the many public appearances — moments of Biden appearing confused, lost, or frozen — during which millions of viewers could see for themselves that the president had a serious problem. Another way to put it would be to say that the inside story was the effort to deny that the outside story existed. That was the strangest thing about the whole situation (Washington Examiner).

10.

The Case Against Profanity

Physician Robert Hamilton: First, words evoke images and have meaning. Humans have advanced through verbal communication, and this ability has allowed us to survive. When someone shouts the word “wolves,” I, along with everyone else, immediately visualize a pack of wolves coming and seek shelter. Likewise, when a scatalogical term is employed to describe a situation, I envision the physical form of that word too, and while having dinner, my appetite isn’t enhanced. Second, as a pediatrician, I know that young ears listen to what adults say and mimic what they hear… Third, foul language is cheap. Comedians employ it to get nervous laughs, teenagers to seem cool and to get their parents’ attention. But dirty words don’t impress. They’re anti-intellectual and uncreative. Fourth, it’s the language of the insane. Living in a city with lots of homeless people, I encounter mentally unstable people daily. Most are silently absorbed in their own thoughts, but some sound off. Their diatribes consist of a truncated “shock vocabulary” of five to 10 vulgarities—the exact same potty words that my dinner-mate from the Ivy League used (Wall Street Journal).

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