Virginia Rep. Connolly's Staff Attacked With Baseball Bat
On Monday, US Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) announced that a man armed with a baseball bat had walked into his district office in Fairfax and violently attacked two of his staff members.
The assailant struck one senior aide in the head and a first-day intern in the side — both were transferred to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He also caused material damage by shattering glass in a conference room and breaking computers.
The man, identified by Capitol Police as 49-year-old Fairfax resident Xuan Kha Tran Pham, has been arrested and faces charges for one count each of aggravated malicious wounding and malicious wounding.
Democratic narrative
Prominent Democrats and left-leaning figures have been targeted in increasing numbers of attacks in recent months, yet their right-wing fellows have consistently failed to condemn political violence, even making jokes about such incidents. It is no wonder that the suspect in the latest attack on Democrats is a far-right conspiracy theorist who claimed he has been secretly surveilled and "tortured from the fourth dimension."
Republican narrative
Though this incident is indeed worrisome, it is vital to stress that Democrats have been trying to deceive the public into believing that mounting attacks on members of Congress reflect some organized action against their ranks. In fact, both sides of the political spectrum have suffered from threats and violence, evident in the brutal attack on the aide to Republican Sen. Rand Paul.
Nerd narrative
There's a 2% chance that the USA will enter a second civil war before 2031, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Ukraine: Air Defense Thwarts Further Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv
In the early hours of Tuesday, for the eighth time this month, Russia launched a wave of missiles and drones at Kyiv. Serhii Popko, head of the military administration in the capital, said the latest attack was "exceptional in its density — the maximum number of attacking missiles in the shortest period of time."
Nonetheless, Ukrainian officials said that all 18 missiles fired at Kyiv were shot down by air defenses, including six Kinzhal missiles — one of the most advanced weapons in Russia's arsenal.
However, as a result of the assault, falling missile debris was recorded in at least five areas of Kyiv, injuring three civilians.
Pro-Ukraine narrative
Thanks to the work of air defenses, Ukraine destroyed all 18 of the missiles fired by Russia in the latest attack, while minimal damage was recorded to infrastructure and buildings. Moscow's vicious assault was effectively countered in this success for Ukraine.
Pro-Russia narrative
Using its advanced Kinzhal missiles, Russia destroyed Ukraine's recently delivered US Patriot air defense system and also hit Ukrainian units and ammunition storage facilities. The high-precision strikes were a strategic victory that has denied Kyiv use of a key piece of military technology and deprived Ukraine of crucial resources.
Nerd narrative
There is a 71% chance that a NATO country will commit to sending at least one F-16 fighter jet to Ukraine before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Florida: DeSantis Ends Public Funding for College DEI
On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that bans state colleges from using tax dollars to fund diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, as well as a host of other educational reforms to higher education.
Speaking at the New College of Florida in Sarasota, DeSantis stated that DEI "has no place in our public institutions" and referred to such programs as teaching "discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination." Florida, he said, isn't the place to study "niche subjects" such as critical race theory or "gender ideology."
The law bans courses that allegedly "distort" historical events or teach "identity politics" and empowers the state university Board of Governors to review college programs that are "based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the [US]."
Republican narrative
Tax money shouldn't be diverted to divisive, woke educational programs that prioritize politics over education and identity over merit. Colleges have been hijacked by activists whose curricula go against Western values, democratic ideals, and freedoms of expression and thought — a push that's profoundly unpopular with the general public and shouldn't be supported.
Democratic narrative
Republicans are waging a war on education as part of their culture war agenda. The GOP has manufactured a boogeyman with their distorted ideas of critical race theory and diversity programs to shore up their attacks on an imaginary "woke" enemy. This assault on education harkens back to the days of McCarthyism, as "wokeness" becomes a label applied to any and all opponents of the GOP.
Nerd narrative
There's a 40% chance that there will be fewer than 400 public four-year colleges in the US by 2050, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
AI Congress Hearing: OpenAI CEO Calls for AI Licenses
On Tuesday, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT, testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Privacy, Technology & the Law to call for safeguards on powerful AI like the kind underpinning his chatbot.
Altman was a co-founder of OpenAI — developed in 2015 — before becoming CEO of the company in 2019. The company has since partnered with Microsoft after the tech giant invested $10B in the AI start-up.
During his testimony, Altman advocated for licensing and testing requirements to hold companies to safety standards as he detailed his key areas of concern, including the potential implications of AI on election integrity.
Narrative A
While we don't want to leave regulation and enforcement to these private AI companies, traditional hardline legal frameworks don't work either, as this technology will evolve too rapidly for lawmakers to keep up. Therefore, a basic ethics guideline should be overseen by an independent regulatory body, free from both private and governmental overreach.
Narrative B
As lawmakers quickly look for ways to rein in the AI industry, including the White House's "AI Bill of Rights," we shouldn't forget the importance of technological innovation. Focusing solely on the potential harms of AI will cause us to lose sight of the groundbreaking positive impacts this technology can have on society.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance the first weakly general AI system will be devised, tested, and publically known by March 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Head of Ukraine's Supreme Court Arrested After Alleged $3M Bribe
The chairman of Ukraine's Supreme Court, Vsevolod Kniaziev, was reportedly arrested on corruption allegations, local sources said on Monday.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), alongside the office of the Special Anti-corruption Prosecutor (SAP), did not mention Kniaziev by name but said they had exposed "large-scale corruption" in Ukraine's top court, adding that further investigations are continuing.
"NABU and SAP have exposed large-scale corruption in the Supreme Court, namely a scheme for receiving undue benefits by the leadership and judges of the Supreme Court. Urgent investigative actions are currently underway," NABU said in a statement.
Establishment-critical narrative
Ukraine is notoriously one of the world's most corrupt countries — however, those concerns were hushed up and swept under the rug as soon as the war started. The longer the fighting goes on, the more these problems will start to resurface.
Pro-establishment narrative
While Ukraine does have a corruption problem, this is routinely over-exaggerated by Russia as one of the justifications for its invasion. In fact, Russia's corruption problem is far worse than that of Ukraine, which can be traced back to the Soviet era. Now that Ukraine is moving into the European sphere of influence, it is making steady improvements.
Tunisian Opposition Leader Jailed
A Tunisian court sentenced Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the opposition Ennahda party, to a year in jail and a fine of 1K dinars (~$300) on charges of plotting against state security. Ghannouchi has said that the proceedings against him have been fabricated.
Ghannouchi was originally arrested last month over comments he allegedly made calling police officers "tyrants." He also warned that a "civil war" could emerge if the government worked to eradicate left-wing and Islamist opposition groups.
Ennahda said earlier this week that an "unknown" party used Ghannouchi's personal phone, saying that "the two SIM cards of the head of the Ennahda movement, Rashed Ghannouchi, were operated by an unknown party."
Narrative A
President Saied is, yet again, using his power to strengthen his iron grip over Tunisia. Though he's said that he doesn't want to become an autocrat, his unscrupulous actions speak far louder. Using the growing pains of Tunisia's young democracy as a pretext, he has taken over the North African nation and is cracking down on dissent to guarantee his control over civil society. A national dialogue must be undertaken to save Tunisian democracy and align it with the norms of the international community.
Narrative B
Tunisians are tired of the corruption and dysfunction brought by the country's "post-Arab Spring parties," namely the Islamist Ennahda party. Ennahda, which dominated Tunisian politics over the last 10 years, has worked against the Tunisian people. The country was on the brink of collapse before Saied dissolved parliament, and his actions were and continue to be necessary to maintain order and stability.
Durham Releases Final Report on FBI Trump-Russia Probe
On Monday, special counsel John Durham released his report after a four-year investigation into the origins of the FBI investigation of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign’s potential ties to Russian operatives.
Durham, who was appointed by Trump Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019, wrote that the FBI had a “seriously flawed” basis for opening the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation in 2016. Durham also concluded that neither US law enforcement nor its intelligence agencies possessed any evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia and that officials ignored evidence that wasn’t consistent with their intentions to continue the investigation.
Throughout Durham’s investigation, three people faced charges. Kevin Clinesmith, a former FBI lawyer who was caught altering an email used to justify a wiretap application, pleaded guilty.
Pro-Trump narrative
What was dismissed as a "baseless conspiracy theory" by some of the most powerful officials in the country and their media allies was actually true — the FBI was weaponized to prevent Trump from becoming president. There was never any evidence of collusion with Russia and any related probe was meant to distract from Clinton’s own scandal. The FBI must be greatly reformed if not completely dismantled for the good of the republic.
Democratic narrative
By any measure, Durham’s report is the biggest, most expensive, non-revelatory piece of work by a special counsel in the history of the US. There are no new indictments or recommendations, and all this ground was covered by earlier probes by the US House and the DOJ inspector general. Ironically, the report contradicts Republicans’ reading of it by proving the Russia scandal wasn't entirely baseless and Durham’s investigation was a politically motivated waste of time.
Nerd narrative
There’s a 43% chance that Trump will win the 2024 US presidential election if his opponent is Pres. Biden, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Amnesty: Executions Reach Highest Total in 5 Years
Amnesty International on Tuesday issued its annual report on the death penalty, revealing that the number of recorded executions in 2022 was 883 people, the most in a half-decade.
The total is a 53% increase over 2021, with 90% of the executions performed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. However, the reported total is skewed because Amnesty couldn't report figures from China, which keeps its death penalty data classified but is believed to kill thousands annually.
Iran committed 70% of the Middle East and North Africa’s executions at 576, an 83% increase from 314 in 2021. Saudi Arabia tripled its executions from 65 to 196, while Kuwait, Myanmar, Palestine, Singapore, and the US also saw sizable increases.
Narrative A
The death penalty is a wickedly inhumane and evil form of punishment that is a stain on governments and humanity. Some countries are more extreme than others in the way they choose to callously murder their citizens, but the death penalty is always wrong. The state shouldn't decide who lives or dies — the death penalty must be abolished.
Narrative B
The death penalty is a necessary legal recourse to deal with the most heinous and depraved criminals. Not only does executing murderers and terrorists bring justice, but it also acts as a deterrent for other potentially dangerous criminals. The level of legal consideration those on death row receive is far higher than other sentences, so the death penalty should continue to be part of the legal system as it has been for millennia.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that capital punishment will be legal in at least 38.1% of US states in 2035, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
US Begins First Human Trial of Dirty-Bomb Antidote
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced Monday that the first-in-human trial of an experimental drug designed to remove radioactive contaminants from the human body, known as HOPO 14-1, has begun.
If the drug performs as expected, it will be used as a useful tool to treat individuals exposed to harmful radiation from events such as a nuclear power plant accident or exposure to a dirty bomb — a weapon that combines radioactive material with common explosives.
The clinical trial, conducted by SRI International and funded by the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will include 42 healthy participants between the ages of 18 and 65. The current phase of the trial is designed to check for safety, with participants taking different doses of HOPO 14-1 and reporting any side effects.
Establishment-critical narrative
The US' inability to implement adequate treatments for radiation exposure is just another facet of its failed nuclear preparedness. While the age-old iodine pill is still around, there's still no magic bullet for individuals exposed to extreme or prolonged high levels of radiation. The government must diversify the drug and the cancer treatment industry to gain interest, support, and funding before it can be successful.
Pro-establishment narrative
Despite talk of nuclear "Armageddon," the US has taken measures to ensure that Americans are protected from radiation exposure and radiation sickness in the unlikely event of nuclear war. The US Dept. of Health and Human Services spent $290M on the drug Nplate to bolster the Strategic National Stockpile. However, if an impending doomsday scenario was really credible, the government would be spending far more money on much larger amounts of such medicine.
Nerd narrative
There's a 31% chance that if a global catastrophe occurs before 2100, it will be principally due to the deployment of nuclear weapons, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Report: UK Visa Scammers Offer Men £10K To Pose As Fathers
A BBC Newsnight investigation has revealed that multiple British men have taken payments of thousands of pounds to add their names to birth certificates of migrant women's babies, helping the child to get UK citizenship and the mother a residency route.
This comes as an undercover researcher, posing as a pregnant woman who was living in the UK illegally, spoke to agents and claimed the process was "very easy" and that the passport would "definitely be granted," with British men receiving up to £11K ($13.7).
The report also drew on allegations made by two women who claimed to have paid from £9K to £10K for a fake father to appear on their children's birth certificates, with one of them later discovering that the man had lied about his immigration status.
Establishment-critical narrative
This is just the latest way that economic migrants and people traffickers have found ways to skip the line for regular migration, as Conservative governments have successively failed to curb illegal immigration for more than a decade. Britain must restore control over its borders and scrutinize allegations made by those applying for family visas and claiming asylum.
Pro-establishment narrative
While this report is concerning, authorities have been working to curb a range of very sophisticated immigration scams. It is outrageous that fraudsters would take advantage of a rule enshrined in law to protect children, and officials are prepared to fully investigate these claims.