Authored by Pepe Escobar,

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s New York moment performed the diplomatic equivalent of bringing the house down…

Now picture a true gentleman, the foremost diplomat of these troubled times, in total command of the facts and endowed with a delightful sense of humor, taking a perilous walk on the wild side, to quote iconic Lou Reed, and emerging unscathed.

In fact, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s New York moment – as in his two interventions before the UN Security Council on April 24 and 25 – performed the diplomatic equivalent of bringing the house down. At least the sections of the house inhabited by the Global South – or Global Majority.

April 24, during the 9308th meeting of the UNSC under the agenda “Maintenance of international peace and security, effective multilateralism through the protection of the principles of the UN Charter”, was particularly relevant.

Lavrov stressed the symbolism of the meeting happening on the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, deemed quite significant by a 2018 UN General Assembly resolution.

In his preamble, Lavrov noted how “in two weeks, we will celebrate the 78th anniversary of Victory in World War II. The defeat of Nazi Germany, to which my country made a decisive contribution with the support of the Allies, laid the foundation for the post-war international order. The UN Charter has become its legal basis, and our organization itself, embodying true multilateralism, has acquired a central, coordinating role in world politics.”

Well, not really. And that brings us to Lavrov’s true walk on the wild side, pinpointing how multilateralism has been trampled. Way beyond torrents of denigration by the usual suspects, and their attempt to submit him to an ice cold shower in New York, or even confine him to the – geopolitical – freezer, he prevailed. Let’s take a walk with him across the current wasteland. Mr. Lavrov, you’re the star of the show.

Our way or the highway

That “rules-based order”:

“The UN-centric system is going through a deep crisis. The root cause was the desire of some members of our organization to replace international law and the UN Charter with a kind of ‘rules-based order.’ No one saw these ‘rules’, they were not the subject of transparent international negotiations. They are invented and used to counteract the natural processes of the formation of new independent centers of development, which are an objective manifestation of multilateralism. They are trying to contain them with illegitimate unilateral measures, including cutting off access to modern technologies and financial services, ousting them from supply chains, confiscating property, destroying competitors’ critical infrastructure, and manipulating universally agreed norms and procedures. As a result, the fragmentation of world trade, the collapse of market mechanisms, the paralysis of the WTO and the final, already without disguise, transformation of the IMF into a tool for achieving the goals of the United States and its allies, including military goals.”

Destroying globalization:

“In a desperate attempt to assert its dominance by punishing the disobedient, the United States went on to destroy globalization, which for many years was extolled as the highest good of all mankind, serving the multilateral system of the world economy. Washington and the rest of the West, which has submitted to it, use their ‘rules’ whenever it is necessary to justify illegitimate steps against those who build their policies in accordance with international law and refuse to follow the selfish interests of the ‘golden billion’. Dissenters are blacklisted according to the principle: ‘Whoever is not with us is against us.’ It has long been ‘inconvenient’ for our Western colleagues to negotiate in universal formats, such as the UN. For the ideological justification of the policy of undermining multilateralism, the theme of the unity of ‘democracies’ as opposed to ‘autocracies’ has been introduced. In addition to the ‘summits for democracy’, whose composition is determined by the self-proclaimed Hegemon, other ‘clubs of the elite’ are being created, bypassing the UN.”

“Garden” vs. “Jungle:

“Let’s call a spade a spade: no one allowed the Western minority to speak on behalf of all mankind. It is necessary to behave decently and respect all members of the international community. By imposing a ‘rules-based order’, its authors arrogantly reject a key principle of the UN Charter – the sovereign equality of states. The quintessence of the ‘exclusivity complex’ was the ‘proud’ statement by the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, that ‘Europe is the Garden of Eden, and the rest of the world is a jungle.’ I will also quote the NATO-EU Joint Statement of January 10 of this year, which states: the ‘United West’ will use all the economic, financial, political and – I pay special attention – military tools available to NATO and the EU to ensure the interests of ‘our one billion’.

NATO’s “line of defense”:

“At last year’s summit in Madrid, NATO, which has always convinced everyone of its ‘peacefulness’ and the exclusively defensive nature of its military programs, declared ‘global responsibility’, the ‘indivisibility of security’ in the Euro-Atlantic region and in the so-called Indo-Pacific region. That is, now the ‘line of defense’ of NATO (as a defensive Alliance) is shifting to the western shores of the Pacific Ocean. Bloc approaches that undermine ASEAN-centric multilateralism are manifested in the creation of the AUKUS military alliance, into which Tokyo, Seoul and a number of ASEAN countries are being pushed. Under the auspices of the United States, mechanisms are being created to intervene in maritime security issues with an eye to ensuring the unilateral interests of the West in the South China Sea. Josep Borrell, whom I have already quoted today, promised yesterday to send EU naval forces to the region. It is not hidden that the goal of the ‘Indo-Pacific strategies’ is to contain the PRC and isolate Russia. This is how our Western colleagues understand ‘effective multilateralism’ in the Asia-Pacific region.”

“Promoting democracy”:

“Since World War II, there have been dozens of criminal military adventures by Washington – without any attempt to gain multilateral legitimacy. Why, if there are ‘rules’ unknown to anyone? The shameful invasion of Iraq by the U.S.-led coalition in 2003 was carried out in violation of the UN Charter, as was the aggression against Libya in 2011. A gross violation of the UN Charter was U.S. interference in the affairs of post-Soviet states. ‘Color revolutions’ were organized in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, a bloody coup d’état in Kiev in February 2014, and attempts to seize power by force in Belarus in 2020. The Anglo-Saxons, who confidently led the entire West, not only justify all these criminal adventures, but also flaunt their line of ‘promoting democracy.’ But again, according to its ‘rules’: Kosovo – to recognize independence without any referendum; Crimea – not to recognize (although there was a referendum); Do not touch the Falklands/Malvinas, because there was a referendum there (as British Foreign Secretary John Cleverly said recently). That’s funny.”

The geopolitics of the “Ukrainian issue”:

“Today, everyone understands, although not everyone talks about it out loud: this is not about Ukraine at all, but about how international relations will be built further: through the formation of a stable consensus based on a balance of interests – or through the aggressive and explosive promotion of hegemony. It is impossible to consider the ‘Ukrainian issue’ in isolation from the geopolitical context. Multilateralism presupposes respect for the UN Charter in all the interconnectedness of its principles, as mentioned above. Russia has clearly explained the tasks that it pursues as part of a special military operation: to eliminate the threats to our security created by NATO members directly on our borders and to protect people who have been deprived of their rights proclaimed by multilateral conventions, to protect them from the direct threats of extermination and expulsion from the territories where their ancestors lived for centuries publicly declared by the Kyiv regime. We honestly said what and for whom we are fighting.”

The Global South fights back:

“True multilateralism at the present stage requires the UN to adapt to the objective trends in the formation of a multipolar architecture of international relations. The reform of the Security Council must be accelerated by increasing the representation of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The West’s current outrageous overrepresentation in this main UN organ undermines multilateralism. At the initiative of Venezuela, the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter was created. We call on all States that respect the Charter to join it. It is also important to use the constructive potential of BRICS and the SCO. The EAEU, the CIS, and the CSTO are ready to contribute. We are in favor of using the initiative of the positions of regional associations of the countries of the Global South. The Group of Twenty can also play a useful role in maintaining multilateralism if Western participants stop distracting their colleagues from topical issues on its agenda in the hope of muffling the topic of their responsibility for the accumulation of crisis phenomena in the world economy.”

So who’s breaking the law?

After this concise tour de force, it would be immensely enlightening to track what Lavrov has been telling the world since February 2022, in consistent, excruciating detail: the serial international law breakers, in contemporary history, have been the Hegemon and its sorry gaggle of vassals. Not Russia.

So Moscow was completely within its rights to launch the SMO – as it had no alternative. And that operation will be brought to its logical conclusion – inbuilt in the new Russian Foreign Policy Concept published on March 31st. Whatever may be unleashed by the Collective West will be simply ignored by Russia, as it regards the entire combo to be acting outside the norms of international law laid down in the UN Charter.

The downfall of Vice Media Group (VMG) is a perfect example of the challenges media organizations face that shift focuses towards ultra-left-wing ideologies. Despite being worth billions of dollars just several years ago, the company has followed a similar fate as Buzzfeed, now undergoing broad restructuring.

In 2017, Vice Media secured a funding round at $5.7 billion. One of its founders joked about “hockey stick” growth and a “sexy” IPO debut. But that never happened, and fast forward to today, top executives told employees in a memo that the popular TV program “Vice News Tonight” will be canceled, as well as a number of employees will be fired. 

“In response to the current market conditions and business realities facing VMG and the broader news and media industry, we are moving forward on some painful but necessary reductions, primarily across our News business,” co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala told employees. They didn’t specify how many job cuts. 

Dixon and Lokhandwala emphasized, “We are NOT exiting the news business, but we are changing the shape of VICE News to position the whole Company for long-term opportunities and improve how we deliver important, ground-breaking journalism well into the future.” 

A person familiar with the upcoming layoffs told CNN that the digital media company plans “dozens” of cuts to reduce operational costs. 

VMG joins a slew of other media companies that have had no other option but to restructure in recent months due to mounting macroeconomic headwinds and a weak advertising market. Also, many of these firms went ‘woke’ and are quickly going broke. 

Last week, BuzzFeed’s CEO Jonah Peretti told employees about restructuring plans that called for a reduction of headcount and the cancellation of BuzzFeed News. 

VMG and BuzzFeed are some of the best examples of how to destroy billions of dollars in valuations through woke and rubbish content. 

But it’s not just VMG and BuzzFeed hemorrhaging workers. HuffPost’s senior editor Philip Lewis highlighted a list of other media organizations undergoing restructuring efforts. 

media layoffs in 2023
-VICE Media
-Insider
– Many local newsrooms across the U.S.
-Buzzfeed (Buzzfeed News, Complex)
– Paper Magazine
-Vox Media
– Disney (ABC, ESPN, National Geographic, FiveThirtyEight)
– NPR
– Fandom
– Gannett
– The Washington Post
– NBC News
– E.W. Scripps

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 27, 2023

*     *     * 

Read VMG’s Dixon and Lokhandwala’s memo in full below:

Team, 

In response to the current market conditions and business realities facing VMG and the broader news and media industry, we are moving forward on some painful but necessary reductions, primarily across our News business. We are transforming VICE News to better withstand market realities and more closely align with how and where we see our audiences engaging with our content most. To be incredibly clear, VICE News is core to VICE Media Group and fundamental to our business. We are NOT exiting the news business, but we are changing the shape of VICE News to position the whole company for long-term opportunities and improve how we deliver important, ground-breaking journalism well into the future.

As part of this process, we’ve decided to streamline VICE News and make reductions in roles across our global News team to focus on our growing digital video business and our News documentary and series production business for VTV and distribution partners worldwide. We’re also discontinuing VICE News Tonight on VICE TV (the last VNT broadcast will be in May). It’s clear that we need to accelerate VICE News’ transition to the platforms where its biggest audiences are — on our owned and operated channels where we have a direct relationship with our audience, on Paramount+ with Showtime, FAST Channels, YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and via documentary programming for streaming platforms such as Netflix, HBO Max and Tubi. We believe this strategic focus strongly positions VICE’s incredibly important news coverage for the future.

Going forward, VICE News will be produced by our News Productions and Publishing divisions jointly under Subrata De, EVP, News, and Global Head of Programming and Development, and Cory Haik, COO for News and Entertainment — two of the most talented media executives in our industry. Our longform documentary and premium series work will be produced out of our News Productions division under Subrata, who will continue to oversee global news production for all linear and streaming platforms, including VICE TV. Our daily global VICE News journalism will be produced out of our Publishing division, under Cory, with VICE News and Motherboard now organized alongside our other digital brands: VICE, Refinery29, Unbothered and i-D, delivering our digital content across platforms and our VMG network. We will also be unifying all of our news content under VICE News, which will now be our single overarching global News brand. The teams will continue to work closely together, in a coordinated and collaborative manner focused on the shared vision for VICE News’ important role in global news coverage. 

Our global Human Resources team will begin notifying employees whose jobs are directly impacted by these changes. If you have questions, you should reach out to your manager and HRBP. 

We hope you understand that these changes were not made lightly, and that it is extremely painful to see our colleagues leave. VICE News began as a small team committed to shining a light on news in corners of the world that were being ignored by the mainstream press. Our team is part of our family and an important part of what built the VICE News brand into what it is today, but as the media industry continues to rapidly evolve and our audience consumes content in new ways, this transformation is a necessary step to safeguard the journalism for which VICE has always excelled and the future of VMG. 

Thank you, 

Bruce & Hozefa

*     *     * 

Readers will appreciate this… 

The City of Asheville, situated in North Carolina, is facing severe challenges due to soaring crime and a dwindling police force in the aftermath of the 2020 George Floyd murder, which sparked the nationwide ‘defund the police’ movement. In response to the rampant lawlessness, city officials have declared an emergency plan, beginning next week and lasting for two months, to tackle the crime wave. 

“There are complex circumstances contributing to the safety issues that Asheville is currently seeing downtown, and it will take a community response to address these complexities,” the city stated in a press release. 

Next Monday, city officials are rolling out a 60-day initiative to address safety downtown:

“Our efforts in downtown should in no way suggest that we aren’t focused on safety across the entire community. This intensive effort is driven by data that suggests a disturbing trend of increases in both property and violent crime in our downtown,” said Asheville Police Chief David Zack. 

Here are some initiatives the city will implement to combat criminal activity on its streets:

• Increased law enforcement presence by utilizing foot, bike, and vehicle patrols as well as enhanced security in downtown parks.

• Launch of a Community Responder Pilot Program led by the Asheville Fire Department to support individuals in crisis and provide a more visible City public safety presence downtown. The pilot will be used to inform a longer-term Community Responder initiative past the 60 days.

• Focused attention on the removal of litter, needles and biological waste and general Downtown cleanliness; as well as increased maintenance activities in downtown parks. 

• Partner with any private or non-profit organization to identify key locations in downtown where there are public safety concerns and/or to schedule community clean-up efforts.

• Enforcement of illegally parked cars with a specific focus on the areas in and around Pritchard Park.

• Enhanced frequency of monitoring City-owned and operated public parking garages, including stairwells in these facilities.

• Focused attention on quickly removing graffiti on public property and graffiti code enforcement on private property in the downtown area.

• Concentrated effort to identify streetlight outages in the central business district and coordination of necessary streetlight replacements with Duke Energy.

The announcement comes as local newspaper Mountain Xpress recently warned of a severe police shortage due to the polarizing defunding of the police movement during the pandemic. 

On an ordinary day in Asheville, 16 to 18 police officers patrol the entire city, an area covering 46 square miles.

That’s down from 30 cops on duty three years ago, when Asheville first started losing officers faster than it could replace them.

The Asheville Police Department has been operating at a reduced capacity, now just 60%, for more than two years — and the Police Chief, David Zack, told Asheville Watchdog that it could be another decade before the force returns to pre-pandemic levels.

Crime in Asheville

Remember, Democrats ensured everyone that defunding the police movement would make communities safer, but in reality, it has unleashed nationwide crime waves. This is evident in Baltimore, Chicago, and numerous West Coast cities. 

Looking forward, it’s important to hold Democrats responsible for their role in promoting failed social justice reforms that have led to more dangerous metro areas. The best way is to vote these folks out of office in the next election cycle. 

Despite the slowest growth in US home prices in ten years and significant price drops in numerous West Coast cities, luxury property values in New York’s Hamptons marched higher in the first quarter. 

As per a Bloomberg report, citing appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate, luxury property transactions in the top 10% of the Hamptons housing market reached a median price of $8.54 million, an 11% increase compared to the previous year. The average price of the highest-end homes in the seaside playground for Wall Street’s billionaires jumped 33% to a record of $16.1 million. 

Todd Bourgard, Elliman’s chief executive officer for Long Island, explained mansion demand is “very strong.” He added prices are soaring because of low inventory:

“We have more buyers in that market right now than we do inventory. So when something comes on that is priced reasonably for the luxury market, we’re getting great interest.” 

Limited inventory and strong buying pressure could suggest that prices are on an upward trajectory — unless macroeconomic headwinds continue to mount and a deep recession unfolds later this year. 

Meanwhile, the combination of low inventory and rising prices sent luxury sales tumbling in the quarter to 18 from 40 in the same quarter a year ago. Overall, sales in the Hamptons plummeted by 57% to 171. This marked the second-lowest total since the firms started monitoring the area’s sales in 2005. 

At the end of the quarter, there were only 894 homes on the market, still 33% higher than the first quarter of 2022 but significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels. 

Some wealthy buyers seem unphased by high mortgage rates and threats of recession as low supply drives luxury home prices higher in one of the top vacation spots for wealthy New Yorkers. 

Inventory is so scarce that even tiny homes in the beach community are selling for $3.75 million.

Authored by Sundance via The Last Refuge (emphasis ours),

In the game of test-match cricket, a game that can last three days at peak professional level, you have to ‘get out‘ to ‘get in‘.   

You have to ‘get out‘ of the clubhouse in order to ‘get in‘ to the game.  The same is true for this story about Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan Rice, leaving the Biden administration.   

Rice has to get out of the administration in order to get in to the 2024 game.

Readers here will likely remember all previous discussion about the likely Democrat field for 2024.  Susan Rice and Gavin Newsom are both key players in the DNC big club game.  There is only one question at the core of the dynamic you need to ask, how will they off-ramp Joe Biden?

First, the White House announcement: […] “As the only person to serve as both National Security Advisor and Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan’s record of public service makes history. But what sets her apart as a leader and colleague is the seriousness with which she takes her role and the urgency and tenacity she brings, her bias towards action and results, and the integrity, humility and humor with which she does this work. I thank Susan for her service, her counsel and her friendship. I will miss her.” (link)

Susan Rice is the pliable foot soldier, the protege’ of the Lightbringer, Chicago Jesus.  Rice is the female version of the entire apparatus of the Obama team.  Susan Rice is Barack Obama in female form, and as Ric Grenell said eloquently, Susan Rice is “the shadow president.”

A Newsom/Rice or Rice/Newsom ticket is a no brainer.  Both are foot soldiers for the Lightbringer movement’s fundamental change agenda, although Rice is the apex player and Newsom is the ideological, intellectual and cognitive equivalent of John Fetterman with better style.  Most people still do not understand that Barack Obama is not just a person, he is a complete political construct -a movement in a box- consisting of multiple component groups all working in synergy.

The focus of the Obama movement is domestic and ideological.  The “fundamental change“, as outlined previously by the front man for the group, is domestic – exclusively domestic.  The Lightbringer doesn’t care about foreign policy stuff; all of that angle is sold to the multinationals and highest bidders.

Foreign policy is not a thing for Teh One true bringer of enlightenment; their focus is USA domestically centered. In her capacity as Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan Rice was the guiding hand behind every element of Biden domestic policy.

The microphone from the Obama basement does not transmit into the earpiece of Biden; it communicates into the two-way radio of Rice.

If Susan Rice is departing, the question becomes how the club removes Biden from the 2024 race?  There are a multitude of approaches and leverages available for the Lightbringer’s team, which includes Deputy AG Lisa Monaco at Main Justice.

The criminal activity of Hunter Biden, and the potential for outcomes – or lack therein, can be leveraged.  The direct connection to the action of the principal, “the big guy” Joe Biden, could be leveraged.

The Biden administration’s interference in any number of related investigations can be leveraged, and… keep in mind…. it is not coincidental the evidence of the interference is manifest by the same team that would remove the principal.  Yeah, think about that for a moment.

Put aside the 2024 contest participants for a moment (ie. the shiny things), and instead focus on what peripheral risks exist to Joe Biden that could be deployed at any moment to push him to a graceful off ramp.

There are many club-installed insurance policies, political landmines all around Joe Biden.  Which one will they show him?

China has issued a blistering statement in response to the agreement between Washington and Seoul for the US to send a nuclear ballistic missile submarine to South Korea. Chinese Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said it shows the US is undermining the nuclear non-proliferation system and damaging regional peace and stability. 

“The United States has put regional security at risk and intentionally used the issue of the [Korean] peninsula as an excuse to create tension,” Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing.

“What the US does is full of Cold War thinking, provoking bloc confrontation, undermining the nuclear non-proliferation system, damaging the strategic interests of other countries, exacerbating tensions on the Korean peninsula, undermining regional peace and stability, and running counter to the goal of the denuclearization of the peninsula,” the Thursday statement said.

She said it also highlighted Washington’s “selfish geopolitical interests” which puts the world at risk, given the new deployment of “US strategic assets”. 

South Korean President Yoon’s visit to the White House on Wednesday culminated in the “Washington Declaration” agreement for deterring North Korea from carrying out an attack on the south, by erecting a “nuclear umbrella” that includes the Pentagon sending bombers and aircraft carriers, or nuclear submarines. 

A nuclear-armed submarine has not docked in the Korean peninsula since the 1980s. President Biden on Wednesday attempted to introduce some nuance which is surely not going to provide any level of comfort for the Kim Jong-Un regime: 

“We’re not going to be stationing nuclear weapons on the peninsula,” he said in a joint press conference with Yoon at the White House. “But we will have visits to ports, visits of nuclear submarines and things like that.”

This is insane. Biden and his militaristic advisers are pushing an extremely dangerous policy in Korea. Once a hawk, always a hawk. “S. Korea, U.S. to form nuclear consultative body amid N. Korea’s growing threats.” https://t.co/kneGVsWj2R

— Tim Shorrock (@TimothyS) April 26, 2023

Now the region is bracing for an expected fierce response from Pyongyang, likely in the form of more threatening ballistic missile tests. There’s also speculation that Kim will order a nuclear weapons test, which would mark a first since 2017.

Authored by May Mailman via RealClear Wire,

As a woman who spent her formative years in Kansas, taught Kansas City sixth-graders, and mentored hundreds of young girls through the Chiefs Cheerleaders organization, I was (and still am) devastated when I saw Kansas Governor Laura Kelly veto the Women’s Bill of Rights.

That bill defines a woman, biologically.

And while yes, I’m concerned that without a definition, the next generation of Kansas women will be harmed–without a say in preserving women’s shelters, women’s sports, girl’s schools, women’s scholarships, sororities, and so on–there’s something deeper than that.

The truth.

Do we live in such politically correct times that we must eliminate truth? That we must pretend that women, who are biologically unique from men, do not exist?

Kansans are better than that. We have fought for truth since our establishment. We joined the Union as a free state (because of the truth that slavery is evil) despite the ugly battles to ensue. And, as Governor Kelly mentioned in both of her inaugural addresses, Kansas has long recognized the truth that women are equal citizens and was one of the first states to give women the vote.

The truth is women exist as biologically distinct from men. We all know this, and we know it is important. Even Transportion Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He wants to dedicate federal transportation money to create female-shaped crash dummies for car safety tests, a move applauded by Democrats. Why? Because women are, on average, shorter and lighter than men. Cars are engineered to protect male-shaped dummies, leaving females 73% more likely to be injured in a car crash. We have this data because government agencies, for now, use biological definitions of men and women. Those definitions are worth preserving — lives depend on it.

While female-shaped dummies are hardly the women’s rights issue of our day (and a questionable use of federal dollars), the underlying reality is undeniable. Women are biologically unique from men. We are in general smaller and lighter. Only we get pregnant and breastfeed. These biological truths leave us vulnerable and in need of respect and protection.

We are vulnerable to domestic abuse: more than three women are killed by their husbands or boyfriends every day. We are not always able to participate in the full range of jobs, due to physical lack of strength or the need to protect our babies in the womb. And try as we might, even our Olympic record holders are outpaced by thousands of high-school boys every year.

I recognize that Kansans face another moral calling: we are kind. The media has defamed the Women’s Bill of Rights as “anti-trans,” leaving some Kansans wondering whether supporting the bill is kind.

Let’s be clear: it absolutely is.

All Kansans are deserving of love and protection. By defining “woman,” the public can make informed and sometimes sensitive decisions about how best to accommodate trans-identifying individuals, while preserving safety, fairness, and privacy for women and girls. Failure to transparently define “women” leaves these high-stakes decisions in the hands of unelected judges and bureaucrats—whose interests often diverge from those of Kansas families.

Despite the governor’s failure, the Kansas Legislature can still do the right thing. They can override Gov. Kelly’s veto this week. They can stand up for truth.

The very First Amendment to our Constitution protects speech. Why? Because truth is vital to our nation. Today we face a basic question. Do women exist as distinct from men? We do. By recognizing that truth, we can protect and celebrate our mothers, wives, grandmothers, daughters, and granddaughters.

Please, Kansas Legislature, do not erase us.

May Mailman is a senior fellow at Independent Women’s Law Center. A former presidential legal advisor and litigator, Mailman also taught 6th grade in Kansas City through Teach for America and served as Student Body Vice President at the University of Kansas.

The Biden administration has taken initial action in response to Russia’s detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been in custody since his arrest March 29 in the city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges. The end of this week marks one month since he’s been imprisoned.

New sanctions have been imposed on Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) for taking Americans “hostage”, with a senior admin official telling Axios, “We do think it’s significant that the first round of sanctions are being announced specifically for this type of behavior, because we’re really concerned about this type of behavior.”

The sanctions are intended to deter and punish those who hold Americans hostage, officials said. Gershkovich as well as Paul Whelan have been declared “unlawfully detained”. 

However, the FSB is already under sanctions, thus these new measures are likely more targeted or an expansion after the initial wave. 

Simultaneously on Thursday more sanctions were also unveiled for the intelligence arm of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and additionally four IRGC leaders, for their roles in the arrest and imprisonment of Americans. 

The US is “showing that one cannot engage in this sort of awful behavior of using human beings as pawns, as bargaining chips, without paying consequences,” according to another a senior US official.

A Moscow court this month denied a request that Gershkovich be placed under pre-trial house arrest…

A Moscow court rejected an appeal from US journalist Evan Gershkovich to be freed from pre-trial detention, meaning he will stay in a former KGB prison until at least May 29 while a spying case against him is investigated https://t.co/ODD5UMqbnb pic.twitter.com/87gJ6oQftF

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 18, 2023

It appears the US and UK coordinated dual action against Russian officials, with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announcing sanctions the same day against five Russian officials, saying they have “utter contempt for basic human rights.”

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Two Democrat 2024 candidates issued warnings on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection launch won’t energize younger voters and has strayed from traditional Democrat values.

“I think that video was very out of touch, and that’s what people are feeling,” self-help author Marianne Williamson, a Democratic candidate, told The Hill on Tuesday.

“I think an entire younger generation would stay home in droves in response to what that video is advancing as the administration’s pitch to the American people.”

Her remarks came after Biden announced that he will run for reelection, releasing a pre-recorded video that criticized former Republicans. Biden’s video and statement did not specifically name any of his GOP rivals, but he used images of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and posted images of former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

“Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours. That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job,” Biden, 80, wrote on social media. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is joining Biden, is also featured prominently in the clip.

“For those of us committed to Democrats winning the White House in 2024, the president’s campaign announcement today was concerning,” Williamson, considered a long-shot candidate, wrote Tuesday. “His remark that he has fought so that everyone ‘is given a fair shot’ contradicts his refusal to fight for a higher minimum wage, permanentize the child tax credit, or side with railroad workers trying to negotiate for sick pay.”

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Williamson was also a Democrat candidate but eventually bowed out in early 2020 before endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who announced a Democratic 2024 presidential bid last week, also criticized Biden’s launch. Like Williamson, Kennedy—the son of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of John F. Kennedy—is viewed as a long shot against Biden.

“I have known and liked Joe Biden for many years, but we differ profoundly on fundamental issues such as corporate influence in government, censorship, civil liberties, poverty, corruption, and war policy, among others. I look forward to engaging him in debates and town hall meetings,” he wrote.

Read more here…

Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified US intelligence documents online, is being called a flight risk by the Justice Department. The DOJ in a Wednesday night court filing also said it fears he could possibly leak more info if he’s allowed release before he is tried. That’s what is currently before a federal judge in Massachusetts.

During a Thursday hearing in a federal court in Worcester, the DOJ asserted that if he is released on bail, he might “further disseminate classified information” and “take refuge with a foreign adversary.”

The DOJ further compared him to Edward Snowden, who for years has taken refuge with his wife and child in Russia, having also recently been granted Russian citizenship.

ABC News described Thursday’s court hearing as follows: “Teixeira walked into the courtroom for his Thursday detention hearing handcuffed, wearing a long rosary necklace and an orange jumpsuit.” Further, “The 21-year-old looked at his family members sitting in the first two rows, and one woman in the front row began to cry.”

Teixeira faces 25 year in prison and “potentially far more,” according to a DOJ detention memo, which argues further: 

The lengthy potential maximum sentence could make him a significant flight risk, prosecutors argue, and the value of the information he obtained — as well as his low current net worth of about $19,000 — could make him vulnerable to offers from countries unfriendly to the U.S.

As has become common in leak prosecutions, the US Justice Department maintains that Jack Teixeira must remain in pretrial detention because he has “knowledge” of classified information that he may continue to disclose to the press or public if released from jail pic.twitter.com/HKIylqQXZc

— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) April 27, 2023

The memo lays out that “He accessed and may still have access to a trove of classified information that would be of tremendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbor and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States.”

The government says it has proof that he intended to circulate classified or sensitive information among foreign countries and entities. According to DOJ filings…

After hearing from both sides, federal magistrate judge David Hennessy said he needs more time to make a final decision on pretrial detention.

Federal judges rarely, if ever, allow for bail in cases of federal or military employees caught leaking government secrets. Even an alleged leaker’s “knowledge” of the classified intel means they are kept locked up on fears they could still communicate secrets to outside entities. 

Meanwhile, there are reports that the US Air Force has suspended two leaders of the national guard unit in which Teixeira served, pending the ongoing investigation into the extent of the unauthorized disclosure. Presumably the government is also looking into any possible co-conspirator scenarios, but so far he’s been presented as a lone actor.