Welcome to Battlegrounds Watch, a new column available on our Substack and at BreakingBattlegrounds.vote we hope will become a daily feature on weekdays. Simply put, Battlegrounds Watch is a collection of stories and topics in today’s news Chuck & Sam are tuning in to.
AXIOS: Badwill Hunting: the difference between the bank failures of 2008 and today
One big difference between 2008 and this year’s banking crisis is that bond and shareholders of the failed banks are taking a major haircut while banks willing to step up and take on the assets of the failed institutions are getting a major boost to their balance sheet. Protecting the banking system, not the bankers, is a major step forward.
REUTERS: China's Alibaba to break up empire into six units as Jack Ma returns home
Chinese supergiant Alibaba looks to recover from recent government-induced doldrums with a massive restructuring plan
“Alibaba said the biggest restructuring in its 24-year history would see it split into six units - Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group. The revamp comes a day after its founder Jack Ma returned home, ending a year-long stay abroad and as Beijing looks to spur private sector growth after a two-year-long crackdown on its showpiece private enterprises.”
WSJ: Sam Bankman-Fried Charged With Conspiring to Bribe Chinese Officials
SBF banked on Chinese government greed to unfreeze his trading accounts in the country, instead he gets another charge added to his rap sheet
The indictment, the third Mr. Bankman-Fried has faced since the collapse of the crypto exchange, alleges that in 2021 he authorized bribing one or more Chinese government officials with at least $40 million in cryptocurrency to regain access to accounts that the country’s law enforcement had frozen as part of a continuing investigation. The trading accounts were tied to his crypto investment firm Alameda Research and held more than $1 billion on two of China’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, prosecutors said. Mr. Bankman-Fried directed Alameda employees to pay the bribe after months of failed attempts to regain control of the accounts, according to the indictment. The accounts were unfrozen at the time a first illicit payment was made, the indictment alleges. Mr. Bankman-Fried then authorized an additional payment of tens of millions of dollars to complete the bribe, the indictment alleges.
DAILY SIGNAL: 40 State Legislatures Have Passed or Introduced Legislation to Restrict Transgender Child Abuse
Allowing young children to permanently mutilate their bodies with ‘gender affirming’ drugs and surgery is big money biz for hospitals and trans advocates who ignore the lifelong damage they’re inflicting on children. Republican legislators are fighting back.
“Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been outraged at shocking videos and other images of permanently scarred children who have undergone “transgender treatments” as adults encouraged those children to abandon all reason in the pursuit of affirmation. In response, 40 state legislatures have passed or introduced legislation to restrict the practice of transgender child abuse. Although 10 states currently ban transgender experiments on minors, 21 others are considering legislation that would ban minors from receiving transgender hormonal “treatments” or surgery.”
AZCENTRAL: Judge orders cleanup of Phoenix’s largest homeless encampment
Residents and business owners around The Zone – Phoenix’s sprawling, lawless, homeless hellscape – sued the city for creating a public nuisance, and won. Court orders Phoenix to remove tents from public right of ways, enforce laws against public drug use, indecency and a host of other crimes. We’ll see what Phoenix does in response, but the ruling has implications far beyond Arizona, potentially setting a legal precedent to allow cities far more leeway in clearing out homeless encampments nationwide.
“The City of Phoenix shall maintain its public property in the Zone in a condition free of (a) tents and other makeshift structures in the public rights of way; (b) biohazardous materials including human feces and urine, drug paraphernalia, and other trash; and (c) individuals committing offenses against the public order,” the court order states. The city is reviewing the court’s ruling and remains “committed to addressing the needs of all residents and property owners,” said city spokesperson Kristin Couturier in an emailed statement. “We continue to work with local and regional partners to address the complex issues surrounding those experiencing homelessness and to connect people in need with safe, indoor spaces and resources to help end their homelessness,” Couturier said.”
AZCENTRAL: Rising tensions over fentanyl smuggling expose rifts in US-Mexico relationship
Mexican President AMLO claims Mexico does not produce fentanyl. Thousands of dead Americans and their families know the truth of this deadly drug pouring across our border.
"Although the Biden administration has desperately tried to avoid a visible rupture to the relationship, including because it relies on the Mexican government to stop migrants from getting to the US border, on the counternarcotic side the relationship continues to be very low, and it hit a new level of crisis over the past two weeks," Vanda Felbab-Brown said.”
WaPo: Newly Elected Scottish Leader Humza Yousaf, is the grandson of a Pakistani immigrant who arrived barely speaking English to work in a sewing machine factory in Glasgow
He’s living the American Dream, in Scotland
SUN-SENTINEL: DeSantis signs massive school choice bill
More and more states are jumping on the “fund students, not systems” bandwagon. Florida was one of the first states with a robust system of public charter schools. Now, every Florida family will have total school choice.
WSJ: Russia’s economy is starting to come undone
Sanctions and a massive labor shortage due to conscriptions and battlefield losses in Ukraine are taking a toll on the Russian economy. It’s going to keep getting worse as long as Putin continues his flailing crusade.
Are you getting ready for retirement? Invest in a portfolio with a high, fixed rate of return, that’s not correlated to the stock market. Visit investyrefy.com or call CALL 888-YREFY-24. Make sure you tell our friends at Yrefy that Chuck and Sam sent you.