Ron DeSantis Joins the Wage War on Mexico Chorus

In a post last week, I pondered whether Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis would stand up against talk by frontrunner Donald Trump, and several other Republican presidential primary candidates, favorable to the United States going to war against Mexico.

A week later, it appears the answer is “no.” Instead of opposing the call for war on Mexico, DeSantis is advocating for it.

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Could Follow His Own Advice and Not Call Vladimir Putin a Gangster and Thug

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. posted at Twitter on Friday some advice for President Joe Biden: Don’t refer to the leader of China’s government with the insulting descriptor of “dictator.” And the advice went further, indicating Biden should avoid using similar language to describe leaders of other nations as well.

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NCAA Committee Recommends Stopping Marijuana Testing of College Athletes

In May, I wrote about how the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) had earlier in the year significantly eased the marijuana testing and punishment for marijuana use to which college athletes are subjected. Those changes were made upon the guidance of the NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. Now that same committee is recommending quickly retiring the NCAA’s remaining marijuana testing requirement and marijuana use prohibition.

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Watching The Wall

As has happened with other individuals who have prominently challenged pro-authoritarian and pro-war narratives pushed by major politicians and media figures, marquee musician Roger Waters has ended up the target of a campaign to tar him as antisemitic. The campaign even includes an effort to prevent Waters from performing his music across the world.

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Poll: Americans Don’t Want a Central Bank Digital Currency

poll from the Cato Institute indicates that, while about half of Americans do not have an opinion regarding whether the Federal Reserve should “begin offering a government-issued digital currency, called a ‘central bank digital currency’ (CBDC),” among those with an opinion on the matter over twice as many — 34 percent of poll participants — oppose the prospect as support it — 16 percent.

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The FBI, Ukraine’s Censorship Assistant

After Elon Musk gained control of Twitter, he made available to a small group of reporters Twitter records known as the Twitter Files. Among the Twitter Files is information regarding efforts by the United States government along with Twitter to censor communication on the social media platform in the time before Musk gained control of Twitter. The newest revelations from the Twitter Files, detailed by Aaron Maté, concern the US government, via the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), having acted as an assistant to the Ukraine government’s main intelligence agency, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), to seek censorship of 163 targeted Twitter accounts — Maté’s included — as well as personal information related to those Twitter accounts.

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The Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus Shot is Kaput

Last week, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revoked the Emergency Use Authorization for Johnson & Johnson coronavirus shots. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, noted in a Thursday letter that the FDA made the revocation at the request of Janssen Biotech, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, that had related that the company would not be updating its shots, the latest “lots” purchased by the US government have expired, and “there is no demand for new lots.”

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