Bessent explained that the 1.7 percent increase is the strongest growth in 60 years.

'This is not a role that the government may play'

'Massive impact on virtually every business'

Excerpts Science Fiction Read an Excerpt From Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon With nothing but a limping ship and an outdated mask to her name, Wylla needs a big pay day. By Seth Haddon | Published on June 17, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon, a sapphic science fiction action adventure novella out from Tordotcom Publishing on July 22nd. With nothing but a limping ship and an outdated mask to her name, Wylla needs a big pay day. When the alert goes out that a lucrative piece of tech lies hidden on a nearby planet, she calls on all the swiftness of her prey-animal instincts to beat other hunters to it.What you found wasn’t your ticket out—it was my corpse wearing an AI mask. When you touched the mask, you heard my voice. A consciousness spinning through metal and circuits, a bodiless mind, spun to life in the HAWK’s temporary storage. I crystallized and realized: I was alive.Masks aren’t supposed to retain memory, much less identity, but the woman inside the MARK I HAWK is real, and she sees Wylla in a way no one ever has. Sees her, and doesn’t find her wanting or unwhole.Armed with military-grade tech and a lifetime of staying one step ahead of the hunters, Wylla and HAWK set off to get answers from the man who discarded HAWK once before: her ex-husband. You weren’t the only one to receive the signal, but you were the first to respond. Your fingers moved, in the automatic and unconscious way of a lifelong scavenger, and had already plugged in the coordinates to your dingy spacecraft before you realized where the signal was coming from. You had a MARK I RABBIT, the oldest and crappiest mask on the market, nearly a decade old by the time you’d bought it, and going on another decade since. You had never been able to afford another one. Not on a scavenger’s pay. A good mask overcame the limitations of the human physiology. New RABBITs gave the wearer prey-animal instincts that meant you were always aware, always vaguely tracking threats in the back of your mind. But your mask’s processing was sluggish with age and the expanse of decades of technical improvements. Seconds instead of milliseconds. And that meant you were slow in understanding the significance of the signal. It was coming from Pholan’s World, an outskirt moon just within the Beta sector of Corporate Federation territory—a nothing satellite, too freezing for a corporate holdout, and too barren for anything else. No ore to mine. No precious stones. No drinkable water. Pholan’s World was a dumping ground for scrap and waste. But this signal was bright and strong, like a scream in the void of space. rabbit’s internal threat system flared in a way you had come to understand as panic, a warning that the signal was potent. New. You played the recording to yourself and felt, for the first time in a while, true excitement. “I have a MARK I HAWK,” said the voice. MARK Is usually indicated old tech. But hawks didn’t exist. So this—this tech, this signal—felt portentous. A new mask. A new future calling out to you. The message ended with a teasing challenge. “Do you want it? Come and get it, scavenger.” Buy the Book Volatile Memory Seth Haddon Buy Book Volatile Memory Seth Haddon Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget And something about the call, how the woman said “scavenger,” felt spiritual. You knew almost innately that the voice called specifically to you. The revelation sent you whirring at new speed toward the planet, and your heart was a mess of anticipation and fear. If this signal was right—and it was, you knew what you were doing—then you were about to own something priceless. That was, if you got to it first. Though you’d responded quickly, your ship was, put simply, a piece of shit. It would take an hour at this speed. You were lucky you were nearby, but there was no telling how many scavengers had heard it, or how close they were to intercepting it. Your class was close knit, outsiders unified through struggle, though you worried this many credits might erode those bonds. After all, you were only a scavenger because you had to be; the dregs of a system that lauded unchecked capitalism. Many of you were free spirits, or refugees, or born so deep into debt that indentured slavery to a corporate power was inevitable. But you, scavenger, were different. Or were marked different. Corporate Federation punished you for the divide in your body and mind; they called you man when you were woman and you had made your body your own, had altered it to recognize yourself, had evolved to a place of comfort, and this made you unemployable in their eyes. Conformity over comfort. Homogeny over evolution. Anyone altered in such a way proved they were unwilling to comply, and anyone like that was difficult to control. But this mask was a lottery win. Brand-new technological development, a signal you’d never heard before sent out over the feed; and the way RABBIT responded meant it was good quality, a mask with enough power to make RABBIT panic. When you breached the atmosphere of Pholan’s World, you learned others had thought the same. A flier below you broke apart when a shot pierced something vital. A firestorm blared up toward you, roaring, and you had to yank hard on the controls to veer out of the way. The move sent you careening down at an angle; you got an upside-down vista of the broken flier hurtling to the ground with a droning whine. It crashed in the snow and skidded for a few hundred meters before exploding again. One down, at least. You were still nearly a kilometer out from the signal, but there was no hope of getting closer: a large carrier craft circled the air above the site. That giant ship was in poor shape itself, smoking and tilting—its main engine was on fire. But the carrier’s impressive guns made you realize, if belatedly, exactly what had shot down that other flier, which was at least a few years younger and sturdier than yours. Your flimsy ship had little hope of survival. Just as you thought this, the carrier noticed you and its guns locked on. In a panic, you fired off one shot, but you watched your photon do nothing more than gently graze the carrier’s outer hull. “Fuck,” you said, with a sort of resigned embarrassment. Then the carrier returned fire. Excerpted from Volatile Memory, copyright © 2025 by Seth Haddon. The post Read an Excerpt From <i>Volatile Memory</i> by Seth Haddon appeared first on Reactor.

A law preventing government collusion with media gatekeepers will go to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk. The Florida legislature approved its 2025-2026 budget on Tuesday, which included a provision prohibiting state agencies from using funds “to contract with an advertising agency or other contractor who acts as or uses the services of media reliability and bias monitors.” The law stated that a “media bias monitor” is any contractor “whose primary or principal function is to rate or rank news and information services for the factual accuracy of their content.” The bill stipulates that the law’s application “does not include any contractor that rates media outlets for audience size, viewership, and demographic information; or that monitors media outlets for the purpose of compiling press or video clippings or aggregating news sources for the purpose of public relations and public awareness.” If signed into law, this provision would go into effect immediately but would be set to expire in 2026 at the end of the budget cycle. It is doubling down on a move by the DeSantis administration last year to ensure that government money isn’t going to biased organizations looking to censor Americans. Florida’s then-Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who now serves in the Florida legislature, announced in 2024 according to the Federalist that the governor’s office would not partner with news rating agencies that “are often rooted in political disagreements, subjective biases, and viewpoint discrimination, rather than factual inaccuracies, thereby amounting to censorship and blacklisting.” Federal agencies have been accused of working with various media gatekeeping companies to shut down dissent. For instance, The Daily Signal reported in March that the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, worked with the Global Engagement Center to “counter-propaganda” and “disinformation and COVID-19 related products.” “The Global Engagement Center along with the National Endowment for Democracy—a nonprofit almost entirely funded by the State Department—reportedly gave a combined $330,000 to the British-based nonprofit Global Disinformation Index,” The Daily Signal reported in 2023. “That organization attacks center-right news outlets, including The Daily Signal, the Washington Examiner, and the New York Post, along with Real Clear Politics (which published commentary from both the Right and Left) and a libertarian magazine, Reason.” The post Florida Bill Will Prevent Government Money Going to Media ‘Bias Monitors’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Clayton Kershaw may not have pitched Friday night, but he still made more headlines than most of his teammates. The Dodgers’ star, who happens to be an outspoken Christian, made a splash at the team’s Pride Night by putting a unique twist on Los Angeles’s gear. It was a simple but powerful statement that June will never be the same—not in Major League Baseball, and frankly, not anywhere. When the cameras first panned to Clayton in the dugout, fans were probably shocked to see number 22 donning the Dodgers’ Pride hat. But a closer look revealed that the navy blue cap had been adapted. There, next to the bright rainbow logo was Kershaw’s handwritten scrawl in metallic silver: “GEN 9:12-16.” Anyone who grabbed their Bible to investigate would have discovered these famous verses about Noah and the flood: And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” (ESV) Clayton’s spiritual take on Pride lit up social media, launching hundreds of appreciative comments. Most people were thrilled with the pitcher’s attempt to reclaim one of God’s most beloved symbols. One user, who described himself as a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan, said he had every reason to hate Kershaw on the field, but he finds it impossible now. “I’m a huge fan. He’s principled and relentless in the pursuit of his convictions.” Others wondered whether he was forced to wear the hat, which would run counter to one of the biggest news stories of 2023 when the MLB discouraged teams from creating an uncomfortable situation for players. Asked whether the league would start “standardizing Pride celebrations” for all franchises, Commissioner Rob Manfred made it clear that however teams recognize June, they need to leave their athletes out of it. “We have told teams, in terms of actual uniforms, hats, bases, that we don’t think putting logos on them is a good idea just because of the desire to protect players,” he told The Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes two seasons ago. At the end of the day, Manfred said, we should not be “putting them in a position of doing something that may make them uncomfortable because of their personal views.” That was a colossal shift from the previous summer, when players were expected to put up and shut up when it came to the league’s LGBT pandering. Now, two years after the no-Pride tide in the NHL and the consumer backlash upending major brands, sports have largely reconsidered their toxic ideology.  That’s not to say that there still aren’t woke holdouts. A firestorm erupted at the Mets’ Citi Field on Friday night when the team put a Pride flag on the jumbotron during the national anthem instead of the Stars and Stripes. Fans were furious, calling for Americans to boycott the MLB. “This is a disgrace to our country,” one insisted, posting a video of the moment.  That was only mildly better than what Red Sox fans had to endure, thanks to a drag show on the concourse that made its obscene way onto the field for the opening pitch. “[D]o the Boston @RedSox not know that Dems lost the election?” one attendee wondered. “They had a drag show at Fenway Park in front of kids and celebrated men pretending to be women. These are screenshots from video from their official account!! Wtf.” On the flip side, the Texas Rangers continue to be lone rangers when it comes to Pride. For years, the team has refused to jump on the June bandwagon, while 29 out of 30 other clubs trip over themselves to embrace the rainbow tyranny. “Our long-standing commitment remains the same: To make everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball—in our ballpark, at every game, and in all we do—for both our fans and our employees,” the Rangers front office explained in a statement. “We deliver on that promise across our many programs to have a positive impact across our entire community.” Even the league seems to be having a crisis of confidence about the month, surprising several people by switching out its multicolored logo on X for its standard image after a single day. Family Research Council’s Joseph Backholm said the financial collapse of Bud Light and Target should have been teachable moments. “Ultimately,” he told The Washington Stand, “they’re trying to make money—and for a long time they believed being woke was a good way to make money. Now, they appreciate the risk of being all in on the idea that men can have babies.”6 That said, he continued, “there are probably true believers within the organization making the argument that you’re basically a member of the KKK if you don’t enthusiastically support Pride. That means they’re probably trying to avoid bankruptcy and allegations of bigotry, so it’s believable that they’re trying to have it both ways.” As for Kershaw, the bold stance is entirely in keeping with the pitcher’s track record. In 2023, Clayton was one of the loudest critics of his club’s celebration of the “trans and queer” Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in 2023. In the middle of the nationwide firestorm—which included disinviting the group, only to re-invite them after LGBT activist pressure—Kershaw approached management to expedite the announcement of Faith Day. “I think we were always going to do Christian Faith Day this year, but I think the timing of our announcement was sped up,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “Picking a date and doing those different things was part of it as well. Yes, it was in response to the highlighting of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence [by the Dodgers].”  While he insisted his objections to the Sisters weren’t rooted in hate, he did make it clear, “I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions. It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don’t think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else’s religion.” In a biography about the pitcher, Clayton was much more open about the controversy. “I just came to the conclusion that the Dodgers really put us in a horrible position. … And I’m all for funny and satire, but [the Sisters go] way beyond it. So I did feel like I needed to say something.” Look, he said, “I’m a sinful person, just like everyone else. … It’s not for me to condemn or judge other people. … So you treat everybody the same, and do the best I can to love other people as well as I can …” Baseball “has given [me] a huge platform,” Kershaw reiterated. “And Jesus, ultimately, is what I choose to talk about. And I think that is what God wants me to do with my life, is use that platform.”  Of course, as Backholm points out, “This is happening only a few days after Simone Biles felt the need to issue an admittedly weak apology to Riley Gaines after going after her for her commitment to fairness in women’s sports. The idea of a leftist apologizing for going after a conservative online would have been unthinkable even 24 months ago—but it’s more evidence that the American people have turned on the Left.” And, he acknowledged, “While it may be less risky for Kershaw today than it was five years ago, it’s still good. Courage and fear are always contagious, and a growing number of people are catching courage.”  Whatever backlash Kershaw’s hat created certainly didn’t affect his game. The next day, he went out and pitched seven scoreless innings. It was a clutch performance from a guy who’s been famous for his arm—but is now being applauded for something just as important: his heart.  Originally published at The Washington Stand. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Dodgers’ Kershaw Has Pitch-Perfect Response to Pride Night appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FBI Releases Evidence to Senate That China Interfered in 2020 on Biden's Behalf

Whiplash, Caught in a Whiplash: Just Like That, We're Deporting Illegal Farm and Hotel Workers Again

The European Union continues to double down on crushing free speech, and the U.S. State Department is having none of it. The State Department, which has made free speech a priority since Donald Trump took office, came to Ireland’s defense over the EU member’s decision to pull back on censorship of free speech. The EU is pressuring Ireland to implement harsh rules expanding the definition of “hate speech,” but the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) staunchly backed Ireland. The DRL posted on X on June 14, “The European Union is threatening legal action against Ireland if it does not adopt the speech rules designed by bureaucrats in Brussels, even after the Irish government dropped such legislation last year due to lack of democratic consensus.” DRL affirmed the Irish government’s decision to prioritize the people’s opinion: “The United States is deeply committed to supporting freedom of expression and national sovereignty. We support the Irish people and our shared commitment to fundamental freedoms.” Read the full blog on MRC Free Speech America’s site.

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) appeared on Tuesday’s edition of The View to promote the second season of his comedy action series Fubar, but given his stint as California governor, the cast couldn’t help but drag him into a discussion of current events. Despite Schwarzenegger’s history with the American immigration process, a couple members of the cast (one of whom was descended from slave owners) thought they had the expertise to lecture him about immigration. When asked about the current immigration debate, Schwarzenegger shared how grateful he was to be embraced by America and build a life here after emigrating from Austria. On the policy front, he called for comprehensive immigration reform to bring in more foreign workers from south of the border. A policy position supported the liberal cast of The View. Where he lost them was when he demanded that people come to America legally, follow the laws when they get here, and give back to America (Click “expand”): I just think the world of the great kind of history of immigrants in America. But the key thing also is at the same time, we got to do things legal. That is the most important thing. You have to do things legal, and those people that are doing illegal things in America and they're the foreigners, they are not smart, because, when you come to America, you're a guest and you have to behave like a guest. Like when I go to someone's house and I'm a guest, then I will do everything I can to keep things clean and to make my bed and to do everything that is the right thing to do, rather than committing a crime of being abusive or something like that. So, that doesn't really work in this country. I think the important thing is when you become an immigrant, you think about, ‘Okay, I go to America because I'm going to use America for the great opportunities America has in education, in jobs, creating a family, all of those kind of things. Then you have to think about, ‘Okay, if I get all of those things from America, then I have to give something back.’ “You have a responsibility as an immigrant to give back to America and to pay back to America and go and do something for your community for no money whatsoever. Give something back to after school programs, Special Olympics, or whatever it is, make this country a better place,” he declared, getting a resounding applause from the audience.     Talk of immigrants needing to follow America’s laws triggered moderator Whoopi Goldberg and co-host Sunny Hostin, who took it upon themselves to lecture the Austrian immigrant about immigrants. “Right but, um, don't forget, there’s 90 percent of the people who come here are trying to do the right thing,” Goldberg declared. “And a lot of what's happening right now, is people are getting snatched, who shouldn't be snatched out of the country, people who have visas, people who have all those things. So, we want all the right people. We don't want people who are doing bad stuff.” Hostin, whose family were staunch slave owners who tried to out run abolition, tried to interrupt Schwarzenegger; eventually proclaiming: “They're less likely to commit crimes…Immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes in this country than actual American-born citizens!” She had a lot of nerve trying to lecture an immigrant about immigration given that her family transported people around the globe against their will. Then again, she did once proclaim that the United States was a worse place to live than China, and that she felt more comfortable during her vacation to Ghana, Africa. Elsewhere in the show, Hostin made other foolish comments. While Hostin never missed an opportunity to call President Trump and Republicans “fascist,” she beclowned herself while decrying those who call Democrats Marxist: And I think it's very dangerous political rhetoric because experts who study this sort of political messaging, they say associating Democrats with Marxism just furthers this country's polarization and it's simply wrong. Because Marxism is advocating for a classless, communist society. No Democrat is advocating for that. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View June 17, 2025 11:08:26 a.m. Eastern (…) SUNNY HOSTIN: I think, first of all, a lot of people don't even know what Marxism is. A lot of people don't know who Karl Marx is. And it’s very – JOY BEHAR: They don't know who Groucho Marx is. HOSTIN: No, they don’t! They don’t. And I think it's very dangerous political rhetoric because experts who study this sort of political messaging, they say associating Democrats with Marxism just furthers this country's polarization and it's simply wrong. Because Marxism is advocating for a classless, communist society. No Democrat is advocating for that." (…) 11:22:21 a.m. Eastern ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: I just think the world of the great kind of history of immigrants in America. But the key thing also is at the same time, we got to do things legal. That is the most important thing. You have to do things legal, and those people that are doing illegal things in America and they're the foreigners, they are not smart, because, when you come to America, you're a guest and you have to behave like a guest. Like when I go to someone's house and I'm a guest, then I will do everything I can to keep things clean and to make my bed and to do everything that is the right thing to do, rather than committing a crime of being abusive or something like that. [Hostin tries to interrupt] So, that doesn't really work in this country. I think the important thing is when you become an immigrant, you think about, ‘Okay, I go to America because I'm going to use America for the great opportunities America has in education, in jobs, creating a family, all of those kind of things. Then you have to think about, ‘Okay, if I get all of those things from America, then I have to give something back.’ You have a responsibility as an immigrant to give back to America and to pay back to America and go and do something for your community for no money whatsoever. Give something back to after school programs, Special Olympics, or whatever it is, make this country a better place. [Applause] WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Right but, um, don't forget, there’s 90 percent of the people who come here are trying to do the right thing. HOSTIN: They're less likely to commit crimes. GOLDBERG: And a lot of what's happening right now, is people are getting snatched, who shouldn't be snatched out of the country, people who have visas, people who have all those things. So, we want all the right people. We don't want people who are doing bad stuff. HOSTIN: But they are less likely – Immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes in this country than actual American-born citizens! GOLDBERG: Right. BEHAR: It’s true. (…)