Applying the Gipper's timeless rule, Morning Joe was losing today. Except for a few minutes of gloating over the Celtics NBA championship, the remainder of the first half-hour was devoted to trying to explain away recent videos suggesting a dazed and confused Biden. Mika Brzezinski was particularly distraught, quoting a Democrat strategist: "As one Democratic strategist puts it, quote, 'The lie sprinting the 100-meter dash and the fact check is taking a stroll on the beach.'".She lamented that the people voting "for democracy" (Biden) are "never gonna have a chance against lies, disinformation, and crazy insults."  Joe Scarborough tried to console her, saying Dems will just have to "work harder" to get that supposed truth out. "If you look at Donald Trump's track record and Donald Trump's Republican party over the last seven years, they're 0-7." It was telling that the only video shown was the one from the G7 summit, where Biden doddered away from the rest of the group. Yes, he was greeting landing paratroopers, but Biden was the only one who wandered off, unaware that there was a group photo shoot underway, and having to be led back by the Italian prime minister. And whatever Biden's intentions, his halting gait and lost aura were unmistakeable.  Morning Joe didn't dare display the video of Biden having to be led off the stage by Barack Obama at a recent Los Angeles fundraiser. Karine Jean-Pierre's laughable explanation was that Obama and Biden are "like family" and Barack was just putting his arm around his old buddy Biden. Riight. Such close friends that Obama tried to discourage Biden from running in 2016 and 2020. And then there was the famous episode in which, Obama, suffering as Biden droned endlessly on during a confirmation hearing, passed an aide a "Shoot. Me. Now" note. Scarborough also contradicted himself in glaring fashion. After spending the segment kvetching about conservatives supposedly misrepresenting the videos, Scarborough claimed that in doing so, "they're only helping Joe Biden" by lowering expectations. If so, surely the astute political mind that is Scarborough would simply keep his trap shut, and let those right-wingers continue to aid Biden's cause! Here's the transcript. MSNBC Morning Joe 6/18/23 6:01 am EDT MIKA BRZEZINSKI: The White House is slamming cheapfake videos spread by right-wing media which are edited to make President Biden look confused. We'll go through the fight against clips with no context, and some edited and misleading. . . .  JOE SCARBOROUGH: You know, the age issue for both of these candidates, that's a real issue. MIKA: Yeah. SCARBOROUGH: So talk about the issue. You want to talk about it? I think everybody thinks both of these candidates are older than they're comfortable with, both of them.  That said, make those issues, don't make up others. MIKA: Well, and also, I think when those on the right try to make it look like Biden is out of his mind, or the Wall Street Journal does a front-page piece saying Biden is completely slipping, and they don't notice at the very same time that they're covering Biden in this way that is misleading, Donald Trump is onstage talking about sharks and batteries, and really looks like he's slipping.  . . .  JONATHAN LEMIRE: The New York Post, let's just take that as an example. They knew better. It had been hour -- it had been a full day earlier in the aftermath of that moment in Normandy. It was completely debunked. There's videos from other angles, not just put out by the Biden campaign, but put out by independent observers, saying, no, no, President Biden was not meandering off. He was going to salute to one of the other parachutists and the prime minister signaled him. He came back to take that photograph For hours, that was a done story. And the New York Post put it on thefront page anyway the following morning and tried to turn it into something it was not. . . .  SCARBOROUGH: Jonathan, Jonathan's right. You have to start asking are these coming on high? When you have the same news organization doing what Jonathan just said, deliberately lying about a shot, cropping it in the way they know they're lying to the readers. Right? And that comes about a week after the Wall Street Journal story that they know is misleading. No reasonable person could not know it's misleading. And again, why we bring this up. We bring it up just to say this is, we've now expanded far out from just deepfakes on Twitter/X, other social media, TikTok, to now deepfakes, or cheapfakes even, in the New York Post and other publications. . .  . SCARBOROUGH: They lie about their lies, which, of course, you would expect liars to lie about their lies.  MIAK: We are talking about Trump's -- SCARBOROUGH: They're lying about their cheapfake. By the way, I just, I got to say this one more time. They're only helping Joe Biden, they're only lowering expectations. They do it before every State of the Union address, and then afterwards, they're so freaked out that Biden did well, they say he must have been on cocaine.  . . .  MIKA: The Washington Post has reported about how these cheapfakes were used to attack Biden during his recent trip to Normandy. And we showed you last week the Trump campaign sharing a clip which appeared to show President Biden at the G7 summit wandering off from other world leaders before the Italian prime minister comes over to alert him of a group photo. But when you see the video from a different angle, you see the whole story. After a skydiver landed in front of the president and other leaders, President Biden turns to his left where there are troops. The president appears to say something to them, and gives them the thumb's up before he is tapped on the arm by the Italian prime minister. As these cheapfakes continue to circulate, there is growing concern that attempts to fact check them may not be able to keep up. As one Democratic strategist puts it, quote, "The lie sprinting the 100-meter dash and the fact check is taking a stroll on the beach." So, it's never going to catch up, and it's never going to have the same reach. And this is the problem. And this is why the debate, everything about this campaign will make somebody who is in support of democracy, and perhaps would even choose Joe Biden over Donald Trump just in support of democracy, never gonna have a chance against lies, disinformation, and crazy insults. SCARBOROUGH: Never going to have a chance. Michael Steele, I disagree. They will have a chance. In fact, if you look at Donald Trump's track record and Donald Trump's Republican party over the last seven years, they're 0-7. So, yeah, maybe the Biden team's going to have to work harder. Maybe Democrats are going to have to work harder. Maybe people who actually like American democracy are going to work harder. But they just have to work harder, and get the word out that these people are lying. Not only is the RNC lying, but also mainstream media outlets are now all in on the lies.

Army Col. Chris Ellis studies extreme disaster preparedness. In his 2021 doctoral dissertation, "Are You Ready for it? Examining Security in Contemporary Disaster Preparedness, From Normal to Noachian," Ellis noted that at least 11.4 million people "have the means to survive at home for 31 days or more after a disaster." Earlier this year, Ellis told Reuters that the number of "preppers" — survivalists who "take a variety of active steps to prepare for future disasters at levels often far beyond official recommendations of 3-14 days — has grown to roughly 20 million people. Ellis reached this conclusion on the basis of household resiliency data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Attendees of the March Longmont Survival and Prepper Show in Boulder provided Reuters with some indications of why the number of preppers has ballooned in recent years. Supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, lawlessness, power grid issues, and phone signal outages were among the reasons cited. While millions are preparing for the worst, others aren't bothering with the wait. On a 1,245-acre plot of land in Juab County, Utah, 55 miles west of Santaquin and roughly 40 miles north of Delta, a group of homesteaders have been developing a community committed to one of the prepper's key objectives: self-reliance. 'Now, with everything that's happening, we wonder if it's far enough.' Philip Gleason, the founder of the Utah [Operation Self-Reliance] Land Co-op at Riverbed Ranch, told Deseret News that some of the 130 predominantly Mormon families who have secured 2-acre parcels on the property came to escape the "cultural revolution in the U.S." underway. "At the start of any cultural revolution, the people that control their food are the ones that come out on top," said Gleason. A mother from California sought refuge to escape what she perceived to be LGBT propaganda in schools. A couple from Portland told DeseretNews they simply "needed to get out," noting "[t]hey've lost their minds." Others journeyed out for health reasons. According to Gleason, most "just want a safe place to raise family and food." "When we first came out here, we thought it might be too far away," said Gleason. "Now, with everything that's happening, we wonder if it's far enough." Despite having similar goals, fears, and literature, Gleason suggested the people who have joined his off-grid community since he settled down in 2021 are nevertheless resistive to the "preppers" label. Upon purchasing a lot, shareholders reportedly agree to build a house, a barn, and a greenhouse; install a septic system; produce solar energy; and dig a well. There are no sanitation utilities or shared power systems. Fortunately, under the valley flood is a flowing freshwater aquifer, meaning well-building is not an exercise in futility. According to the Riverside Ranch website, residents — who are apparently "very pleased" with their Starlink Internet connections — must still pass Juab County's building inspections, which follows the International Residential Code. Extra to meeting building codes, residents still must pay county taxes. Apparently, there are plans to build similar communities in Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alberta, Canada. Gleason's company, OSR Green LLC, has apparently bought up 1,298 acres near Snowflake, Arizona, where it will build Coslor Cove, which will allegedly become the state's largest off-grid community. Whereas other rural refuges such as the Vivos Global Shelter Network's bunker systems appear to be highly individualistic and private, Riverbed Ranch appears to offer a far more integrated communitarian approach. Deseret News noted that the community's over 70 children are home-schooled with some parental crossover in the way of instruction. Medical troubles are addressed by volunteers — although Gleason admitted to requiring a life-flight helicopter ride back to civilization when he broke his femur last year. While cash trades hands for various purchases, trades are reportedly also conducted in livestock, bread, and dairy. "When we have this all built out," Gleason told Deseret, "we might be the third or fourth largest community in the county." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

In a suprisingly substantive hearing today, members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee appeared to demonstrate an emerging consensus that gain-of-function research, which some believe was likely responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, requires significant additional governmental oversight or perhaps elimination altogether. The hearing, which was chaired by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), was convened to continue the Senate's continuing investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the Senators did focus to some degree on the well-trod ground of natural origin vs. lab leak theories, but the larger portion of the debate centered around the need for reform and additional oversight of gain-of-function research by the United States government.The hearing featured four witnesses who have been involved in varying degrees in the debate over the most likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, including Dr. Gregory Koblentz of George Mason University, former Stanford professor Steven C. Quay, Rutgers University Professor Dr. Richard Ebright, and Tulane Professor Dr. Robert Garry, who co-authored the highly controversial "The proximal origin of SARS-Cov-2" paper which was widely used to discredit proponents of the lab leak theory."The fact that this hearing even happened is a big step from the lockstep denials of any government culpability in creating the pandemic that have typically come from Democrats."Sparks flew a few times during the course of the hearing, particularly during questioning of Dr. Garry, who was accused of scientific fraud by co-panelist Dr. Richard Ebright. Garry, for his part, continued to place himself among the apparently shrinking universe of scientists who believe that the most likely source for the pandemic was the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan. He stood by his work on the "Proximal Origins" paper, claiming, "It's been one of the most scrutinized papers in history. It's held up very well." When confronted with emails between himself and other co-authors of the paper that seemed to suggest that all the paper's authors had at one point some degree of belief in the lab leak theory, Garry contended that the about-faces executed by himself and co-author Kristian G. Andersen were the result of adhering to "the scientific method," and not, as many have claimed, the result of a pressure campaign orchestrated by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Francis Collins, Jeremy Farrar, and others. In response to angry questioning from some Republican members of the committee about censorship efforts that were undertaken by the government in response to the paper, Garry retreated to the defense, "All we did was write a paper," and insisted that "We didn't put anything in the paper we didn't believe." Most Senators, however, seemed to unite around an emerging bipartisan consensus that gain-of-function research needs to subjected to additional government oversight. Even Democrats on the committee, led by Peters and New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, asked both Garry and Koblentz a series of pointed questions that seemed to preview their belief that not only does government funding of research need to be reined in, but also that private research should be subjected to government regulation. For example, at one point, Hassan pressed Koblentz on the current total lack of oversight on labs that might be conducting risky research. "Private companies, universities, and research institutions are also engaged in cutting-edge research. While their research has the potential to cure diseases and boost our economy, unless they accept federal dollars, there is very little federal oversight to ensure that private labs are engaged in safe and ethical research." Hassan also expressed concern about "researchers performing off the books experiments that may be risky or unethical ... are the United States and international authorities sufficiently equipped to mitigate these risks?"Peters, who went out of his way to praise ranking committee member Rand Paul in his closing remarks, also declared that he and Dr. Paul were in unison that Congress should take further action to prevent future pandemics and asked the panelists for recommendations for what the government should do about this risky research. The Senate hearings presented a stark contrast to the recent House hearings on the same subject matter, thanks likely to the absence of the polarizing Dr. Anthony Fauci. Without Fauci sucking the oxygen out of the room, Senators from both sides of the aisle appeared willing to thoughtfully tackle the problem of risky research that, as Dr. Ebright said, literally threatens the future of mankind. Their work comes not a moment too soon. As acknowledged by virtually all participants in the hearing, the current system of federal oversight is failing spectacularly, as evidenced by several recent high-profile incidents. Matt Kibbe, president of Free the People and producer of the new investigative series "The Coverup," available exclusively on BlazeTV, was present at the hearing, and said, "The fact that this hearing even happened is a big step from the lockstep denials of any government culpability in creating the pandemic that have typically come from Democrats. Hopefully, all of Rand Paul's work will get to the truth, and full accountability." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The world's oldest wine was discovered in a funerary urn that also contained the ancient remains of a cremated man as well as a gold, two-headed Janus ring. The post The Oldest Wine In The World Has Been Found Inside A 2,000-Year-Old Roman Tomb In Spain appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Mammoth bones discovered at a site in eastern Siberia nearly 100 years ago were believed to be a natural accumulation, possibly resulting from a mass extinction event. New research suggests the bones were instead deposited by humans over the course of 800 years. The post Mammoth ‘Graveyard’ In Siberia Was Likely Created By Humans For Ivory And Bone Tool Production appeared first on All That's Interesting.

AOC Claims Billionaires and Their Evil Groups are Out to Get Squad Members, There's Just ONE Big Problem

Oh-Oh: WaPo Columnist Says Biden Should Kick Kamala Harris to the Curb, Replace Her With Hillary Clinton

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Tuesday apologized to families who lost loved ones in two 737 MAX crashes and acknowledged the planemaker's shortcomings after a January mid-air emergency involving a 737 MAX 9 raised alarm about its safety record.

Obesity will cost the United States trillions of dollars in excess medical expenditures over the next decade, according to a new report from Republicans on the Joint Economic Committee (JEC).

Two top-ranking congressional Democrats have signed off on a major weapons sale, including $18 billion worth of F-15 fighter jets, the Biden administration has made with Israel after several months of delaying the deal.