Morning Brief 2022-07-20

TOP OF HOUR 2

GUEST: Vivek Ramaswamy
TOPIC: What is behind BlackRock's earnings downturn? Is it the economy or their push for ESG?

BOTTOM OF HOUR 3

GUEST: Eric July
TOPIC: BlazeTV contributor, July, brings in $2.5 million in sales in first week with his launch of 'non-woke' Rippaverse Comics.

CB, RR, JB, SK, BM, KD

Domestic News...

Most say Biden profited off Hunter’s deals — will get away with it
As much as the media and Democratic leaders have tried to hide the issue, not only are most voters paying attention to first son Hunter Biden’s money scandals, but they believe President Joe Biden cashed in and that they won’t face any charges.

Joe Biden and Hunter's Colombia connection
Hunter and his partners began corresponding about the OAS/Colombia business in Feb 2011. They planned to pitch OAS - $20k a month, plus a 5% "success fee" - for Hunter's help in getting the Colombia projects. "If it works, we'll all be rich," one of Hunter's partners emailed him.

Indiana passerby rescues five children from burning home
An Indiana man who was driving by a burning house sprung into action and rescued five people trapped inside before first responders had the chance.

15 seconds: Police correct timeline of armed civilian stopping Indiana mall shooter
The armed bystander credited with ending a shooting at Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana on Sunday killed the suspect in just 15 seconds of the gunman opening fire.

A Young Gun Owner In Indiana Did What Uvalde Police Wouldn’t
Dicken had “no police training and no military background,” according to Police Chief James Ison. "He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun, [and] was very tactically sound, and as he moved to close in on the suspect, he was also motioning for people to exit behind him.”

Lone Mississippi abortion clinic drops lawsuit against state ban
The clinic, which was at the center of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case, was the last operating abortion clinic in Mississippi.

Man found dead in Georgia house used by black nationalist communist group 'Black Hammer'
Police were dispatched to the home after a man called 911 saying he had been kidnapped by a group of people.

New details emerge in California thieves’ $150M ‘Ocean’s 11’-style jewel heist
The apparently highly skilled robbers made off with a massive haul from an armored car that included diamond, sapphire and gold necklaces, as well as a horde of luxury watches.

Politics...

White House pressed on declaring climate and abortion emergencies, claims nothing imminent
Press Secretary was asked if the White House is concerned it will anger female voters if Biden declares a climate emergency before declaring a public health emergency on abortion access.

Biden declaring ‘climate emergency’ will be pure politics at the expense of democracy
If President Joe Biden goes ahead and declares a “climate emergency” Wednesday, it’ll be one more sign he’s putting the extremist demands of his party’s base ahead of democracy, science and common sense.

Biden Has No Right To Declare A ‘National Climate Emergency’
There’s no “It’s Summer” clause in the Constitution, empowering the president to ignore the will of Congress and unilaterally govern when it gets hot.

Place Where Biden Face Planted Off Bike Is Named ‘Brandon Falls’ On Google Maps
At time of writing, ‘Brandon Falls’ is still listed as a ‘historical landmark’

House Republicans Prepare Next Salvo In War On Woke Capital
Members of the Republican Study Committee detailed steps to combat Environmental, Social and Governance investing, which critics refer to as “woke capital,” during a Monday round-table discussion.

AOC talks a big game, but she'd rather fake being handcuffed than do her job
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the former barmaid, and Ilhan Omar, who allegedly married her brother, spent Tuesday cosplaying as revolutionaries.

Dem Congressman Mocked For Wearing Bandana Like ‘The Office’ Character
Andy Levin became the target of a swarm of “The Office” related jokes after he was arrested outside the Supreme Court Tuesday looking like an idiot.

Rashida Tlaib campaign events in 2018 were organized by alleged terror financiers
Two men who held key positions at nonprofit groups that were found liable in a Hamas terror financing scheme helped organize campaign fundraising events for Tlaib in 2018.

DeSantis threatens Trump's hold on Michigan and Florida
DeSantis will likely continue to deny his interest in 2024 during his reelection campaign. For now, time is Trump’s best friend. Should Trump get ahead of DeSantis and announce his candidacy before November, he will be multiple steps ahead of the only man who can defeat him.

George Soros donates $1 million to Beto O'Rourke's bid for Texas governor
Nearly half of O’Rourke’s record-breaking $27.6 million fundraising haul came from out-of-state donors, with Soros’s hefty donation helping the Democratic challenger best Abbott in fundraising over the past six months.

House passes bill codifying same-sex marriage with significant GOP support
If enacted, the Respect for Marriage Act would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defined marriage for federal purposes as a union between one man and one woman.

Clinton lawyers deny involvement with dossier source Danchenko ahead of Durham trial
Clinton's lawyers are denying any connection to British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s alleged main source Igor Danchenko following a lawsuit brought by Trump in the lead-up to Danchenko's October trial.

Salena Zito: The upside-down world of the Pennsylvania Senate race
Fetterman leads Oz in the race for the seat by 6 points in a recently published AARP poll. The result shows the race tightening from a USA Today poll earlier that had Fetterman leading by 9 points.

"Women and non-men" invited to conversation with Pennsylvania Democrats
"Join us tomorrow evening for a phone bank where we will be talking to women and non-men about issues affecting our communities that highly impact non-men in PA," PA House Democrats said Tuesday on Twitter.

Former NYC mayor Bill de Blasio drops out of Congressional race due to low polling
"I’ve listened really carefully to people," de Blasio said. "And it’s clear to me that when it comes to this congressional district, people are looking for another option."

Economy...

US housing market could be headed for ‘meltdown,’ economist warns
“Homebuilders have been in denial about the extent of the drop in demand, despite mortgage applications falling by more than a quarter over the first half of the year, with no end in sight to the decline,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Biden Praised GM Over Tesla. Now, GM Is Building Newest EV In Mexico
In response to the news of GM’s expansion in Mexico, Elon Musk commented on social media that “Teslas are the most made-in-USA vehicles.”

WAR News... 

Putin gets Iranian endorsement for war in Ukraine during Middle East trip
"If you had not taken the initiative, the [West] would have caused the war with its own initiative," Iran's supreme leader said.

Russian lawmakers blame losses on experimental Ukrainian super-soldiers
Two Russian lawmakers told reporters this week that the Kremlin is investigating the blood of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and has found “evidence” of experimentation.

John Kirby: 'Climate change is a national security issue'
"The Pentagon has noted not just in this administration, but even the previous one, that climate change is a national security issue."

MONKEYVID-19...

Researchers say students will take 3-plus years to recover academically from pandemic
For some, “full recovery” isn’t attainable before the end of high school.

Secret docs reveal FBI investigated decision to give cash to Wuhan lab linked to COVID-19
NIH emails show the bureau was investigating possible gain-of-function research at the lab and possible failures to comply with reporting rules.

Masks are back: San Diego says kids and staff must comply with school mandate
Mandatory masking will be required through at least the end of summer school due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in the county.

DC has highest number of monkeypox cases nationally per capita
According to the most recent CDC data, DC is only behind New York, California, Florida, Illinois and Florida for total case count, despite its much smaller population.

Commie Update...

China accuses US of being security risk after Taiwan Strait sailing
The US Navy's 7th Fleet said the destroyer USS Benfold conducted a "routine" Taiwan Strait transit through international waters "in accordance with international law."

China threatens ‘strong measures’ if Pelosi visits Taiwan
I know we're supposed to support and defend all Americans when they're threatened by foreign nations... but... come on, this is really pushing it.

China’s homebuyers are running out of patience with the real estate slump
Last week, a spike in reported numbers of homebuyers halting mortgage payments prompted many Chinese banks to announce their low exposure to such loans. But the bank stocks fell.

Bill Gates shoots down rumored Chinese ‘security risk’ link to North Dakota farmland
Gates’ $13.5 million investment in 2,100 sprawling acres of North Dakota land has raised questions — as the purchase coincided with a controversial Chinese company buying 370 acres of farmland just 40 miles away.

Entertainment...

Arnold Schwarzenegger ‘deliberately farted in my face,’ Miriam Margolyes claims
“I was playing Satan’s sister, and he was killing me, so he had me in a position where I couldn’t escape and lying on the floor. And he just farted.”

Capitol Police chief says ‘Colbert 9’ lied about having credentials before arrest
Biden's Justice Department refused to prosecute and instead dropped all charges.

Netflix loses nearly 1M subscribers, forecasts return to growth
That was better than the 2 million subscriber loss it had predicted.

Media...

AP Spreads Disinformation By Adopting J6 Committee’s Fabricated Timeline
Trump’s supposed three-hour delay in responding to the riot has been repeatedly highlighted by members of the Jan. 6 Committee, is contradicted by detailed timelines from both The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Former Intelligence Officer Blasts Pulitzer Board After Refusing To Take Back Russiagate Prizes
“Pulitzer’s refusal to take back the award given for the inaccurate coverage of the Russiagate Hoax is a big win for Putin”

CIA Discusses Covert Location With NYT In Order To Racially Virtue Signal
CIA director William Burns issued a warning to the agency last week after discovering what is believed, but not confirmed, to be a noose outside a secret facility in Virginia.

Europe...

EU to ask countries to reduce energy usage as Putin tightens grip on gas supplies
European countries will reportedly have to quickly curb their consumption of natural gas as part of a wider plan to deal with reduced supplies from Russia.

UK inflation hits new 40-year high of 9.4% as cost-of-living crisis deepens
The most significant contributors to the rising inflation rate came from motor fuels and food.

Environment...

Professor: ‘Unbearable’ that white people dominate discussions about ‘climate anxiety’
There’s a new concern in the relatively new field of so-called “climate anxiety”: Those interested in it are very white.

LGBTQIA2S+...

Merriam-Webster Changes the Definition of ‘Female’
In order to appease woke activists, the dictionary publisher has added a secondary definition of “female” that defines the term as “having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.”

Gender activists push to bar anthropologists from identifying human remains as ‘male’ or ‘female’
Argue scientists cannot know how an ancient individual identified themselves

Lia Thomas is not a woman and should not be honored as one
Since bursting into the public news cycle, Thomas has done nothing but take away opportunities from women. That is his actual legacy.

Left-Wing Activists Urge Big Tech To Censor Anti-Pedophile ‘Smear’
Media Matters is urging Twitter to censor the word “groomer,” which it characterizes as anti-LGBT.

Education...

Republicans have advantage over Democrats regarding confidence in handling education, survey shows
A survey commissioned by one of the nation's largest teachers union found that Republicans have an advantage over Democrats in regard to voters' confidence in handling education.

Technology...

Global chip shortage is not over and the slowdown is ‘going to bite,’ IDC says
Citing supply chain challenges due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, Gupta said the two countries capture a large part of the market share, with Russia and Ukraine being the largest exporters of krypton — a gas used in the chip production.

Google will once again test augmented reality glasses in public
Google seems to be attempting to avoid a repeat of the “Glasshole” debacle that plagued the company’s infamous Google Glass headset, which debuted nearly a decade ago.

Science...

On This Day: One giant leap for mankind in 1969 moon landing
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon with Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin inside.

Google and Chevron invest in nuclear fusion startup that’s raised $1.2 billion
TAE was founded in 1998 and aims to have a commercial scale fusion reactor delivering energy to the grid in the early 2030s.

Travel...

Six Nations Where U.S. Says Its Citizens Most Likely to Be Wrongfully Held
Here's the top 6 places to buy an all-expenses paid vacation for unwanted in-laws: China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.

Top 10: Worst tourist destinations for pickpockets
Spain and France have some of the world's worst pickpocket hotspots

Sports...

NBA Star Says He ‘Didn’t Like That It ‘Wasn’t My Choice’ To Put Vaccine In ‘My Body’
Andrew Wiggins said Monday that he still wished he hadn’t gotten the COVID vaccine so he could play last year.

Donald Trump tells golfers to ‘take the money’ and join LIV Golf
“All of those golfers that remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year,” Trump wrote.

Woke NASCAR to Hit the Streets of Chicago With Downtown Race in 2023
The city’s letter addressing the upcoming NASCAR races in Chicago was sure to note that they’re committed to executing the event “in a safe and secure manner,” so fear not, NASCAR fans.

Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax explored in ‘Untold’ Netflix documentary
"Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist" is set to chronicle the elaborate hoax involving the former Notre Dame star whose terminally ill girlfriend, “Lennay Kekua,” never existed.

Animals...

I slept with my pit bull - until he tried to eat me alive
The dog tore off two-thirds of Tya’s right arm, ate her bicep and sank its teeth into her leg and foot. She was screaming, “Help me, I’m dying” when her daughter, Tana, 20, and her husband, Harley, 21, rushed into the living room.

Bears Eat Star Athlete, Rich Tourist Couple After Helicopter Crash In Russia
What happened after the helicopter crashed is unclear. The victims may have survived the fiery crash, but by the time rescuers arrived, all three bodies had been dragged, mauled, and eaten by wild bears.

July 20, 2004 - Predictions about the future of technology... What will the world look like in 2019? Self driving cars, computers embedded in everything, paper is rarely used, people will be in relationships with AI / bots... Sandy Berger stuffs classified docs in his pants...

July 20, 2009 - Our system has been pushed to a breaking point... There's a shift coming, and it starts with you... What role will you play?... $700 million for horse condoms...

PHOTOS: Glenn’s rare tour reveals White House history

Image courtesy of the White House

In honor of Trump's 100th day in office, Glenn was invited to the White House for an exclusive interview with the President.

Naturally, Glenn's visit wasn't solely confined to the interview, and before long, Glenn and Trump were strolling through the majestic halls of the White House, trading interesting historical anecdotes while touring the iconic home. Glenn was blown away by the renovations that Trump and his team have made to the presidential residence and enthralled by the history that practically oozed out of the gleaming walls.

Want to join Glenn on this magical tour? Fortunately, Trump's gracious White House staff was kind enough to provide Glenn with photos of his journey through the historic residence so that he might share the experience with you.

So join Glenn for a stroll through 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with the photo gallery below:

The Oval Office

Image courtesy of the White House

The Roosevelt Room

Image courtesy of the White House

The White House

Image courtesy of the White House

Trump branded a tyrant, but did Obama outdo him on deportations?

Genaro Molina / Contributor | Getty Images

MSNBC and CNN want you to think the president is a new Hitler launching another Holocaust. But the actual deportation numbers are nowhere near what they claim.

Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews, in an interview with CNN’s Jim Acosta, compared Trump’s immigration policies to Adolf Hitler’s Holocaust. He claimed that Hitler didn’t bother with German law — he just hauled people off to death camps in Poland and Hungary. Apparently, that’s what Trump is doing now by deporting MS-13 gang members to El Salvador.

Symone Sanders took it a step further. The MSNBC host suggested that deporting gang-affiliated noncitizens is simply the first step toward deporting black Americans. I’ll wait while you try to do that math.

The debate is about control — weaponizing the courts, twisting language, and using moral panic to silence dissent.

Media mouthpieces like Sanders and Matthews are just the latest examples of the left’s Pavlovian tribalism when it comes to Trump and immigration. Just say the word “Trump,” and people froth at the mouth before they even hear the sentence. While the media cries “Hitler,” the numbers say otherwise. And numbers don’t lie — the narrative does.

Numbers don’t lie

The real “deporter in chief” isn’t Trump. It was President Bill Clinton, who sent back 12.3 million people during his presidency — 11.4 million returns and nearly 900,000 formal removals. President George W. Bush, likewise, presided over 10.3 million deportations — 8.3 million returns and two million removals. Even President Barack Obama, the progressive darling, oversaw 5.5 million deportations, including more than three million formal removals.

So how does Donald Trump stack up? Between 2017 and 2021, Trump deported somewhere between 1.5 million and two million people — dramatically fewer than Obama, Bush, or Clinton. In his current term so far, Trump has deported between 100,000 and 138,000 people. Yes, that’s assertive for a first term — but it's still fewer than Biden was deporting toward the end of his presidency.

The numbers simply don’t support the hysteria.

Who's the “dictator” here? Trump is deporting fewer people, with more legal oversight, and still being compared to history’s most reviled tyrant. Apparently, sending MS-13 gang members — violent criminals — back to their country of origin is now equivalent to genocide.

It’s not about immigration

This debate stopped being about immigration a long time ago. It’s now about control — about weaponizing the courts, twisting language, and using moral panic to silence dissent. It’s about turning Donald Trump into the villain of every story, facts be damned.

If the numbers mattered, we’d be having a very different national conversation. We’d be asking why Bill Clinton deported six times as many people as Trump and never got labeled a fascist. We’d be questioning why Barack Obama’s record-setting removals didn’t spark cries of ethnic cleansing. And we’d be wondering why Trump, whose enforcement was relatively modest by comparison, triggered lawsuits, media hysteria, and endless Nazi analogies.

But facts don’t drive this narrative. The villain does. And in this script, Trump plays the villain — even when he does far less than the so-called heroes who came before him.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Can Trump stop the blackouts that threaten America's future?

Allan Tannenbaum / Contributor | Getty Images

If America wants to remain a global leader in the coming decades, we need more energy fast.

It's no secret that Glenn is an advocate for the safe and ethical use of AI, not because he wants it, but because he knows it’s coming whether we like it or not. Our only option is to shape AI on our terms, not those of our adversaries. America has to win the AI Race if we want to maintain our stability and security, and to do that, we need more energy.

AI demands dozens—if not hundreds—of new server farms, each requiring vast amounts of electricity. The problem is, America lacks the power plants to generate the required electricity, nor do we have a power grid capable of handling the added load. We must overcome these hurdles quickly to outpace China and other foreign competitors.

Outdated Power Grid

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Our power grid is ancient, slowly buckling under the stress of our modern machines. AAI’s energy demands could collapse it without a major upgrade. The last significant overhaul occurred under FDR nearly a century ago, when he connected rural America to electricity. Since then, we’ve patched the system piecemeal, but it’s still the same grid from the 1930s. Over 70 percent of the powerlines are 30 years old or older, and circuit breakers and other vital components are in similar condition. Most people wouldn't trust a dishwasher that was 30 years old, and yet much of our grid relies on technology from the era of VHS tapes.

Upgrading the grid would prevent cascading failures, rolling blackouts, and even EMP attacks. It would also enable new AI server farms while ensuring reliable power for all.

A Need for Energy

JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / Stringer | Getty Images

Earlier this month, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt appeared before Congress as part of an AI panel and claimed that by 2030, the U.S. will need to add 96 gigawatts to our national power production to meet AI-driven demand. While some experts question this figure, the message is clear: We must rapidly expand power production. But where will this energy come from?

As much as eco nuts would love to power the world with sunshine and rainbows, we need a much more reliable and significantly more efficient power source if we want to meet our electricity goals. Nuclear power—efficient, powerful, and clean—is the answer. It’s time to shed outdated fears of atomic energy and embrace the superior electricity source. Building and maintaining new nuclear plants, along with upgraded infrastructure, would create thousands of high-paying American jobs. Nuclear energy will fuel AI, boost the economy, and modernize America’s decaying infrastructure.

A Bold Step into the Future

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Contributor | Getty Images

This is President Trump’s chance to leave a historic mark on America, restoring our role as global leaders and innovators. Just as FDR’s power grid and plants made America the dominant force of the 20th century, Trump could upgrade our infrastructure to secure dominance in the 21st century. Visionary leadership must cut red tape and spark excitement in the industry. This is how Trump can make America great again.

POLL: Is K2-18b proof of alien LIFE in the cosmos?

Print Collector / Contributor | Getty Images

Are we alone in the universe?

It's no secret that Glenn keeps one eye on the cosmos, searching for any signs of ET. Late last week, a team of astronomers at the University of Cambridge made an exciting discovery that could change how we view the universe. The astronomers were monitoring a distant planet, K2-18b, when the James Webb Space Telescope detected dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide, two atmospheric gases believed only to be generated by living organisms. The planet, which is just over two and a half times larger than Earth, orbits within the "habitable zone" of its star, meaning the presence of liquid water on its surface is possible, further supporting the possibility that life exists on this distant world.

Unfortunately, humans won't be able to visit K2-18b to see for ourselves anytime soon, as the planet is about 124 light-years from Earth. This means that even if we had rockets that could travel at the speed of light, it would still take 124 years to reach the potentially verdant planet. Even if humans made the long trek to K2-18b, they would be faced with an even more intense challenge upon arrival: Gravity. Assuming K2-18b has a similar density to Earth, its increased size would also mean it would have increased gravity, two and a half times as much gravity, to be exact. This would make it very difficult, if not impossible, for humans to live or explore the surface without serious technological support. But who knows, give Elon Musk and SpaceX a few years, and we might be ready to seek out new life (and maybe even new civilizations).

But Glenn wants to know what you think. Could K2-18b harbor life on its distant surface? Could alien astronomers be peering back at us from across the cosmos? Would you be willing to boldly go where no man has gone before? Let us know in the poll below:

Could there be life on K2-18b?

Could there be an alien civilization thriving on K2-18b?

Will humans develop the technology to one day explore distant worlds?

Would you sign up for a trip to an alien world?

Is K2-18b just another cold rock in space?