Battlegrounds Watch is a collection of stories and topics in today’s news Chuck & Sam are tuning in to.
VICE: Here is the FBI contract to buy mass internet data
U.S. foreign and domestic intelligence agencies have been (illegally) gathering data, suppressing speech, and performing warrantless surveillance on U.S. citizens with the help of Big Tech. Latest revelations from Vice show just how extensive these efforts are, and highlight a major civil rights issue that our government would like you to ignore.
“The documents provide more insight into the often overlooked trade of internet data. Motherboard has previously reported the U.S. Army’s and FBI’s purchase of such data. These new documents show the purchase was for the FBI’s Cyber Division, which investigates hackers in the worlds of cybercrime and national security.”
THE SPECTATOR: Jim Cramer vs. the World
How did one of the top talking heads on markets become a punching bag for the internet? Jim Cramer’s bark has long exceeded the (data) bites he’s taking, and the poor performance of his picks has reached the point that there are multiple sites and an ETF fund dedicated to doing the opposite of what he recommends each day…
“Tesla’s IPO had raised some $225 million and the stock had traded up around 40 percent on its first day. Musk still had most of his dark hair back then and was obviously feeling good about things. “Well, I think, you know,” Musk responded, “as Jim might say, ‘Ya, sure, Jim, we’re no Bear Stearns.’” Burn. Major burn. Sick burn, as CNBC’s sophisticated viewers would have known all too well.”
LA TIMES: Where are the green jackets stored?
LA Times gets an exclusive inside look at the off-limits-to-the-public storage, fitting and storytelling area where Augusta National keeps the green jackets that will be handed out to winners.
“Tucked away in the back of the Augusta National pro shop is an unmarked wooden door. Behind it is a staircase that used to lead to an underground storage room. Now, it’s a portal to an inner sanctum. The ultra-exclusive golf club has created a secret space for green-jacket storytelling and tailoring that’s as richly appointed as a Savile Row clothier and has the high-tech touches of a Disney ride.”
JUSTTHENEWS.COM: Arkansas House passes bill requiring minors to seek parental consent to use social media
Good intentions, meet reality. Parents need to pay careful attention to what their kids are doing online, but this bill is likely to be a nightmare to enforce.
“The Arkansas House of Representatives approved a bill Wednesday that would require minors to obtain parental consent to use social media. The bill would also require social media companies to contract with third-party companies to perform age verification. The legislation will need approval from the Senate before being sent to Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who has publicly expressed support.”
WSJ: March Jobs Report Shows Hiring Gradually Cooling
Business owners and America keep working despite DC. That is the message
“Employers added 236,000 workers last month, a historically strong gain but the smallest in more than two years, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5%.”
POLITICO: How Gen-X Became the Trumpiest Generation
We were raised saying ‘sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me’. We were raised to ignore drama queens and crazy people. We were raised to fend for ourselves. None of this is a secret, unless you work in corporate media or academia.
“Now, though, there is no confusion: Generation X is safely Republican. One model from 2014 measuring only white voters through the 2012 election shows those born in the mid-to-late 1960s being the most Republican-leaning of all, more so than the older Boomers and Silent generation. In a poll released in late April by Marist/NPR that separated voters by generation, Generation X had the highest level of disapproval for Biden and were the generation most likely to say they would vote for a Republican candidate in the midterms if they were held that day.”
JUDICIAL WATCH: Colorado to settle lawsuit over ineligible voters
Democrats have done everything they can to prevent ineligible voters from being removed from the voter rolls in multiple states. Judicial Watch has been filing suit to get them to clean their voter files and remove duplicate registrations, dead people, and those who have moved to other states
“Judicial Watch announced today that Colorado’s secretary of state agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging that Colorado failed to remove ineligible voters from its rolls. As part of its settlement Colorado will report to Judicial Watch on its yearly progress in cleaning up its rolls for the next six years. Since Judicial Watch filed its lawsuit, Colorado voter roll removals increased by 78%, from 172,379 to 306,303 per reporting period.”
REUTERS: With lavish treatment of Macron, China’s Xi woos France as “counter” to U.S.
While Joe Biden ruminates about chocolate ice cream and blames Donald Trump for his disastrous Afghan pullout, China’s global ambitions are in overdrive.
“China's Xi Jinping has given French President Emmanuel Macron an unusually lavish welcome on a state visit, which some analysts see as a sign of Beijing's growing offensive to woo key allies within the European Union to counter the United States.”
NATIONAL REVIEW: IRS to hire 30,000 more agents
Democrats love affair with the IRS continues. Flush with cash, the Tax Man decided they needed another 30,000 agents to properly badger people over their side gig income.
“The massive cash infusion from the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022 along party lines, was intended to overhaul the federal agency’s auditing capabilities and upgrade outdated technology to transform the IRS into a “world-class” customer-service provider as well as to enhance tax enforcement.”
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