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“If his name was not Donald Trump and if he wasn’t running for president… that case would have never been brought.”

Former governor of New York from 2011 to 2021 Andrew Cuomo appeared on Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday where he discussed the implications of the New York City Trump trial with host Maher. 

Maher’s mostly liberal audience is caught quiet when Maher and Cuomo start frankly discussing whether or not the trial was helpful for the Trump campaign. 

“The trial in New York, the one he [Trump] got convicted for, was the greatest fundraising bonanza ever. He was lagging behind Biden, and now he’s pulled quite a bit ahead,” Maher said to Cuomo during the show. 

“That trial was the greatest reason people had to send their checks for $5, $10, 2$5, whatever dollars to Donald Trump. So I was always with you [Andrew Cuomo] on the one in New York, the hush money trial. I don’t think they should have brought that one,” he continues. 

To which Cuomo, who was elected as New York State Attorney General in 2006, replied: “That case, the attorney general’s case in New York, frankly, should have never been brought.”

Cuomo continued: “If his name was not Donald Trump and if he wasn’t running for president. I’m the former AG in New York. I’m telling you, that case would have never been brought. And that’s what is offensive to people. And it should be!”

“Because if there’s anything left…it’s belief in the Justice system!”

In the same episode, Maher also asks how Joe Biden could be ahead in the polls when he is losing votes with so many key demographics.

“And yet I read in the polls he pulled ahead this week. Explain that to me,” Maher says.

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Government Contractor Exposes Planning of Profitable Lethal Injections

US officials are worried that the Israeli leader could stage a “politically dicey spectacle” just months ahead of the election

The White House is reportedly becoming increasingly concerned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could use his upcoming speech in the US Congress to publicly criticize President Joe Biden and his administration’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza. 

Netanyahu is set to address a joint session of Congress next month, and “no one knows what he’s going to say,” an unnamed US official told Politico on Saturday. 

Earlier this week, the Israeli leader posted a video accusing Washington of “withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel” for several months, calling it “inconceivable.” Netanyahu defended his public criticism as “absolutely necessary after months of quiet conversation that did not solve the problem,” in an interview published on Friday.

The claim “was not helpful at all,” and Netanyahu “could make it far worse up there in front of Congress,” another senior official reportedly told the outlet. Politico added that the speech could create a “diplomatically complicated and politically dicey spectacle for a president running for reelection.”

Biden has yet to officially invite Netanyahu to the White House during his visit, but officials who spoke with Politico noted that a face-to-face meeting is likely to take place, since refusing would be a major slap in the face.

The White House is concerned that Netanyahu’s rhetoric is deepening the rift between the two allies, according to Axios. While US officials have publicly stated that they “do not know what [Netanyahu] is talking about,” privately, Biden’s team is reportedly “angry and shocked” at the prime minister’s “ingratitude,” with some officials describing him as “unhinged.”

The US paused the delivery of 3,500 bombs to Israel in early May amid calls for it to scale back its assault on the densely-populated city of Rafah in southern Gaza. However, despite Biden’s public warnings he would halt arms shipments, the US reportedly kept the majority of other weapons and ammunition flowing. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the US proceeded with a transfer of $1 billion worth of arms for Israel in May, the same month it stopped the delivery of bombs.

Israel declared war on Hamas after militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages in a surprise attack on October 7. More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in the months of fighting that followed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. 

Last week, CBS News reported that Washington was growing “increasingly concerned” over the possibility of the Israel-Hamas war spiraling into a larger Middle East conflict involving Hezbollah and potentially American troops.

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Government Contractor Exposes Planning of Profitable Lethal Injections

The taxpayer money will be used to make folk music “more accessible”

Around £1.5 million (c.$1.9 million) in taxpayer funding has been awarded to an academic research project aimed at “decolonizing” the British folk music tradition.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield will “take an unflinching look at the white-centricity of folk music repertory, performers and audience by conducting fieldwork to shed light on long-standing vernacular singing practices of ethnic minority cultures in England,” according to Britain’s Daily Telegraph.

The project will also aim to “increase accessibility to the folk club scene and take the first step in a process of decolonisation within the folk music canon.”

News of the project was greeted with a mixture of anger and derision. Professor Dennis Hayes, director of the organization Academics for Academic Freedom, told The Telegraph,

“Journalists will be pleased to know that there will be an endless supply of stories about disciplines being told by universities to ‘decolonise’ and of money being spent on studies of ‘whiteness’ in any and every conceivable subject.

“The reason for this is institutional groupthink in universities. Universities have adopted the need for decolonisation, and the victim hierarchy of intersectional theory, as essential to upholding their inclusive values. This groupthink is a threat to academic freedom. It silences almost all opposition as academics fear being charged with racism if they speak up against being told what to think.”

Professor Hayes said that “the only solution is for academics to speak up” and then put in “time-consuming work” in the university bureaucracy to prevent such projects being funded.

He added that academics who speak up would soon discover that “they are not alone.”

Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said that taxpayers are “fed up” with research councils funding these kinds of projects with taxpayer money.

“Time and time again, these institutions force hard-pressed households to pay millions for academics to rewrite history and achieve minute goals in return.”

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Government Contractor Exposes Planning of Profitable Lethal Injections

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Taiwan is making its upcoming war games as true to predicted invasion scenarios as possible

Taiwan’s annual war games, which commence next month, will be as realistic as possible, as the threat of a Chinese invasion of the island grows.

A senior Taiwanese official told Reuters that “in recent years, the enemy threat has changed rapidly,” which he said meant urgent changes to military training and preparedness are needed.

“Our defence combat plan must also be continuously revised on a rolling basis, and the urgency of comprehensive combat training is becoming more and more important.”

“Showy” elements of the annual war games, such as rehearsal drills, have been scrapped, and there will be nighttime drills and exercises within the capital Taipei, which doesn’t normally happen.

“It’s not about scoring points,” the official continued.

 “We want the soldiers to wonder whether this is for real.”

The drills will also practise establishing “kill zones” at sea to smash a naval blockade in the event that China turns one of its naval drills off the coast of the island into an actual invasion.

China has been carrying our regular exercises in the seas off Taiwan for the last four years. China staged a two-day event last month after the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president Lai Ching-te. Beijing said the event was “punishment” for his inauguration speech which contained large amounts of “separatist” content.

China continues to consider Taiwan a separatist region and not a sovereign state.

Taiwan’s war games begin on July 22.

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Government Contractor Exposes Planning of Profitable Lethal Injections

Mothers who experienced more stress during the pandemic gave birth to babies with smaller brains

Vital parts of the brain are significantly smaller in babies born to mothers who reported suffering stress during the pandemic, according to a new study.

The left amygdala, which is linked to anxiety risk in adulthood; the right hippocampus, responsible for spatial visual and verbal memories; and the white matter, which provides structural connectivity in the brain, were all reduced in babies whose mothers reported stress. The decrease in volume of the left amygdala was significant.

The research is further clear evidence that the pandemic will have long-lasting developmental effects on children who live through or were born during it.

Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the brains of just over 100 babies born between 2014 and 2019 and nearly 60 babies born during the pandemic, 2020-2022. The babies’ brains were imaged in utero and after delivery.

Their mothers were evaluated for stress using the Spielberger State-Train Anxiety Inventory and other tests.

Before the pandemic, 21% of mothers reported elevated anxiety, whereas 62% of mothers who were pregnant during the pandemic reported elevated symptoms.

These figures corresponded with decreases in brain volume.

The study shows that an entire generation of children born during the pandemic may require extra support because of the negative health consequences of the lockdowns, social restrictions and heightened stress and anxiety.

“Looking ahead, we want to use this information—and studies with similar findings—to empower pregnant mothers to request support to mitigate their stress, especially in the event of another global health crisis,” said Nickie Andescavage, one of the study authors.

“We also want to make sure babies born during COVID-19 get the services that they need in life if they develop anxiety or other mental health disorders.”

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Government Contractor Exposes Planning of Profitable Lethal Injections

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The Hawaii Department of Transport has agreed stringent conditions for emission-reduction with a group of 13 teenagers

Hawaii’s Department of Transport (DoT) has reached a settlement with 13 teenagers who alleged it was violating the state constitution by operating a transportation system that harms the environment and infringes their right to a pollution-free environment.

Under the settlement, the Hawaii DoT will adopt a plan to hit net-zero emissions by 2045 for ground, air and marine transportation. Emissions targets are set for five-year intervals.

The DoT has promised to take “any actions necessary” to meet the emissions targets, including creating a volunteer youth council to advise the department and the establishment of a special unit under the direction of a “Climate Change Mitigation and Culture Manager.”

The settlement agreement also includes a pledge for immediate investment in “clean” transportation. New pedestrian, bicycle and transport networks will need to be completed within five years, and $40 million will be spent to expand the electric-vehicle charging network.

The 13 youths  alleged that their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment” had been violated after the Hawaiian state legislature declared that “an existential climate emergency threatens humanity and the natural world.”

They were represented in their suit by two non-profit law firms, Earthjustice and Our Children’s Trust.

“We got what we came for, and we got it faster than expected,” said one of the plaintiffs, in a press release.

In a statement commenting on the settlement, director of the DoT Ed Sniffen said, “Climate change is indisputable.”

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Government Contractor Exposes Planning of Profitable Lethal Injections

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