WNBA backed by Caitlin Clark continues to hemorrhage money despite record attendance and ratings

Mike Bedigan
Thu, Jun 13, 2024

Despite the growing popularity of the WNBA, the league is hemorrhaging money, with losses expected to rise to up to $50m this year, sources have said (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Despite the recent explosion of the popularity of the WNBA, led by stars including Caitlin Clark, the league is hemorrhaging money, with losses expected to rise to up to $50m this year, according to a report.

Popular players such as Clark, Angel Reese and Sue Bird, have all earned individual sponsorship deals off the back of their successes, though the WNBA still lags far behind other major US sports leagues in terms of revenue.


NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in 2018 that the WNBA had lost an average of more than $10m per year since its founding. Sources with knowledge of the figures, who spoke to The Washington Post anonymously, said that that loss was expected to increase five-fold by the end of 2024.

“The truth is, this league would be hard-pressed to exist without the NBA,” one WNBA team executive told The Post. The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the league’s finances.

Last year, the league was valued at between $180m and $200m, according to Bloomberg – a fraction of its male counterpart, the NBA, which earns more than $10bn.

A deal over next year’s broadcast rights to the WNBA, currently valued around $60m, are under negotiation by the NBA, which owns 60 percent of the league.

Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal reported the deal for the NBA will be worth more than $7bn per year – but for both leagues. Value figures for the WNBA have not been assigned specifically, meaning the league’s rising popularity may not factor much into how much money it receives in the deal.

Several media executives have predicted that through the deal the WNBA could triple its annual rights revenue to somewhere between $180m and $200m. According to The Post however, the value of the rights will ultimately not be decided by media companies, but by the NBA.

“If you’re not getting a number from the media companies, then you are hanging on to the NBA,” Laura Gentile, an industry consultant and ESPN’s former chief marketing officer, told The Post.

Sources say that despite its growing popularity, the WNBA is set to lose up to $50m this year (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

“You’re saying it’s a rounding error in the grand scheme of business. Maybe that’s the case, but it doesn’t help the ecosystem grow. Women’s sports want accountability; they want their growth projections to matter.”

Some believe although the NBA may fairly recognize the increasing value and popularity of the women’s league, it will still be somewhat hamstrung by the ties.

“Even if the money is less, I would rather have independent money, because then you have a real business,” David Samson, the former president of MLB’s Miami Marlins, told The Post.

“If a media company says we value the WNBA at X, that’s a real value of what the WNBA’s rights are. Otherwise, it’s like buying social media followers: perceived value but not real.”

Caitlin Clark responds to bigotry in WNBA audience: 'People should not be using my name to push those agendas'

Amid discourse around the rookie phenom, the Fever got their fourth win of the season


Kari Anderson
Contributing writer
Fri, Jun 14, 2024

As discourse around Indiana Fever rookie and women's basketball phenom Caitlin Clark grows louder, some of the discussion has taken an uglier turn into racism and misogyny directed at the rest of the WNBA.

On Thursday, Clark refuted that language, saying that she does not want her name used in that context.

"Everybody in our world deserves the same amount of respect. The women in our league deserve the same amount of respect," Clark said in response to a question from The Athletic's James Boyd. "People should not be using my name to push those agendas."

I asked #IndianaFever’s Caitlin Clark directly about her name being weaponized for racism/misogyny (as Dijonai Carrington alluded to):

“It’s disappointing. … Everybody in our world deserves the same amount of respect. The women in our league deserve the same amount of respect.” pic.twitter.com/gyAWBqGG8c

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) June 13, 2024

Clark's response came after an answer to a question asked by The Athletic's Jim Trotter earlier on Thursday, in which Clark said that her name being weaponized is out of her control.

"I'm just here to play basketball," Clark said.

#IndianaFever’s Caitlin Clark on her name being weaponized in non-sports topics:

“It’s not something I can control. … And to be honest, I don’t see a lot of it.”

“People can talk about what they want to talk about. … I’m just here to play basketball.”

Qs by @JimTrotter_NFL pic.twitter.com/VhGC7cIgLf

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) June 13, 2024

The answer, which some perceived as dismissive of the bigotry pervasive in the conversation, prompted criticism, including from Connecticut Sun guard Dijonai Carrington, who posted about the response on X.

"How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts," Carrington wrote. "We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury."

Dawg. How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts. We all see the sh*t. We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury.

— dιjonaι carrιngтon♛ (@DijonaiVictoria) June 13, 2024

Boyd asked Clark the more specific question, relating to racism and misogyny, soon after Carrington's post. There, the former Iowa guard was more clear.

"Just treating every single woman in this league with the same amount of respect I think is just a basic human thing that everybody should do," Clark said. "I think it's very simple."

Clark has had to deal with a lot of noise since joining the WNBA in April, most recently around her being left off the Team USA Olympic roster — a perceived snub to many of her fans. Clark herself said that she sees being left off the team as "something to work for."

On Thursday night, Clark and the Fever won their fourth game of the season with a 91–84 victory over the Atlanta Dream. Clark scored seven points on 3-for-11 shooting, adding four rebounds and six assists. Aliyah Boston led Indiana with 27 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Kelsey Mitchell's 24 points.

 

GOP Lawmaker Grilled On Why Abortion 

Was 'Best Choice' For His Girlfriend, But Not Others

David Moye

Fri, June 14, 2024 

A Colorado Republican had a hard time explaining why he said he “respected” his girlfriend’s right to abortion but voted against abortion rights as a state representative.

Richard Holtorf, who is running against U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert to represent Colorado’s 4th District in Congress, was asked about the seeming hypocrisy during a Wednesday broadcast on Denver station KUSA, and he didn’t really have a good answer.

Earlier this year, Holtorf revealed that he once provided financial support to a girlfriend amid her own abortion so she could “live her best life,” despite also sponsoring a failed 2020 measure that would have banned the procedure in the state after 22 weeks.

“I respected her rights and actually gave her money to help her through her important, critical time,” Holtorf said in January.

During the KUSA interview, reporter Kyle Clark pointed out the apparent inconsistency.

“If abortion was the best choice for your girlfriend, why try to deny that choice to other women?” Clark blunty asked.

Holtorf tried to wiggle out of a straight answer, saying he’s “a pro-life Catholic” who believes that “everyone should choose life.” But he eventually said that, yes, his girlfriend had made the choice to get an abortion.

“Did she have that right? Yes. Was it my choice, Kyle? No,” Holtorf said.

“Why do you seek to deny the choice that you said was best for your girlfriend’s life?” Clark began to ask.

“Let me finish explaining,” Holtorf interrupted, but Clark pressed him, asking, “Why do you seek to deny it to other women?”

Holtorf said that as “a pro-life person,” he thinks “you should try to choose life every time. But there are exceptions. And there are times when you need abortion. Abortion is a medical procedure.”

“Is one of the exceptions when Richard Holtorf’s the father?” Clark asked.

“It’s not about me. Don’t personalize it and make it about me,” Holtorf responded.

When Clark reminded Holtorf that he’d discussed his girlfriend’s abortion on the floor of the Colorado House, the politician claimed that wasn’t an important detail.

“That doesn’t matter,” Holtorf said. “That’s a story. That’s not that important. What’s more important is the policy.”

You can see the exchange below.

Elon Musk Demands Money Back From Employees He  Laid Off   FIRED

Victor Tangermann
Fri, June 14, 2024 



Clawback


After firing a number of X-formerly-Twitter staff in Australia, the platform's new owner Elon Musk is threatening to take them to court, demanding to claw back payments after claiming the company had accidentally overpaid them.

The flailing social media service fired much of its remaining staff stationed in Australia back in January 2023. But thanks to an alleged currency "conversion error," the social media company is now asking the fired employees to repay up to $46,500 in US dollars in some cases, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

In other words, X is kicking its former staff while they're down — a gross example of an employer blaming laid off workers for its own careless accounting mistake.

AUD Lang Syne

According to the report, at least six former X employees received letters in the mail, alleging that they had "received a significant overpayment in error in January 2023."

"We would be grateful if you could arrange the repayment to us [using the account details below] at your earliest convenience," the letter reads.

The payment was made to the former staff in the form of Twitter shares, which were valued at the price when Musk bought the company in 2022. The number of shares varies, depending on how long each employee worked for the company.

Per the Herald, overpayments range anywhere between $1,000 and $46,500 US.

The company also threatened the former staff members with legal action if the money wasn't repaid.

Atwitter

According to the Herald, none of the former employees yet have complied with the unusual request.

The social media platform has also been hit by a class-action suit in California, filed by former employees who claim they were never paid severance.

The latest accounting error shouldn't come as a surprise, considering the sheer chaos the company has been in over the last two years. Following his disastrous acquisition of Twitter, Musk has slammed the company with several rounds of mass layoffs. The mercurial CEO's abhorrent behavior has since scared away many advertisers, and the platform has quickly descended into a cesspool of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and extreme right-wing pundits.

It's still unclear whether X has any recourse in asking for its money back. Employment law specialist Hayden Stephens told the Herald that the former employees should ask the company for supporting evidence before handing over any money.

Under Australian labor law, Stephens explained that "there is usually an obligation to repay that money" in the case of a genuine mistake.

Elon Musk's X attracts more right-leaning users since Twitter takeover, new research finds

Pascale Davies

EURONEWS

Thu, June 13, 2024


Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, has become more popular with right-leaning users in the two years since he bought the company, newly published research has found.

The Pew Research Center study, which looked at some 10,200 social media users in the United States, found that the percentage of Republicans that said X is "mostly good" for democracy increased to 53 per cent this year, a figure that has tripled since 2021.

Meanwhile, just 26 per cent of Democrat users said X was good for democracy this year, compared to 47 per cent in 2021.

Musk has said his aims was to make X a platform for free speech, having previously expressed disdain at what he called "far, far left San Francisco views" that dominated then Twitter.

Elon Musk ready to ban Apple products at his companies after ChatGPT integration

When he took over the platform he reversed a Twitter ban on former president Donald Trump and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

As a result, the study found that just a third of Democrats surveyed said their views were welcomed on X.

In contrast, more than half of Republicans surveyed said they "feel welcome" on the site.

The study also looked at Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, but said these social media sites were not primarily used to consume news but for other reasons like connecting with family and friends and entertainment.

It found that X was the exception to the pattern with 65 per cent using the platform to get their news, and as many as half of surveyed X users regularly getting news on the site.

Elon Musk's X platform is hiding which posts you 'like' citing privacy reasons
Left-leaning users more likely to see inaccuracies

However, on all four sites, more people see users expressing opinions or funny posts about current events rather than news articles or breaking news.

Yet, 79 per cent of X users also saw news articles (linked, posted, or reposted) and more X users are more likely to see breaking news on the site compared to the other social media platforms.

Democratic-leaning X users were also more likely than conservatives to say they saw inaccurate news on the site with some 66 per cent of X users saying they think the platform influences which news stories they see.

News consumers on X (37 per cent) followed by Facebook (33 per cent) were the most likely to say they often see news that seems inaccurate.

Elon Musk drops lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman

The study comes just five months before the 2024 US presidential election in November as concern rises about the accuracy of information on social media.

Almost 75 per cent of those X users surveyed said they come across political content as they scroll through the site, the study found.

As well as ramping up criticism of Democratic US president Joe Biden on the platform, Musk has come under fire for his public support on X for German far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD), recently posting this week that he didn’t understand why its policies were being branded "extremist".

Comer investigating news-rating group

WHAT A MAROON 

WHEN THEY SAY THEY ARE APOLITICAL 

THEY ARE RIGHT WING

Sarah Fortinsky
Thu, June 13, 2024 

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) announced Thursday he is launching a probe into a news-rating system that seeks to guard against misinformation by scoring news and information sites based on their reliability, trustworthiness and financial conflict of interest.

Comer said the probe will focus on “the impact of NewsGuard on protected First Amendment speech and its potential to serve as a non-transparent agent of censorship campaigns.”

In a letter to NewsGuard’s chief executive officers, veteran news executives Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, Comer requested documents on the company’s contracts with federal agencies and “its adherence to its own policies intended to guard against appearances of bias,” including how the company avoids conflicts of interest.

“The Committee seeks to make an independent determination about whether NewsGuard’s intervention on protected speech has been in any way sponsored by a federal, state, local, or foreign government,” Comer wrote in his letter.

“The Committee does not take issue with a business entity providing other businesses and customers with data-based analysis to protect their brands. Rather, we are concerned with the potential involvement of government entities in interfering with free expression. Truthfulness and transparency about the purpose and origin of inquiries and managing conflicts of interest that may impact the public good are also relevant,” Comer added in the letter.

NewsGuard is a web extension that rates the reliability of news sources, in what appears as a nutrition label. The scores come from a team of “expert journalists” who rate publishers on a scale of 0-100, based on “a set of apolitical criteria of journalistic practice,” according to the website.

The factors include whether the site repeatedly publishes “false or egregiously misleading content,” whether it presents the information “responsibly,” whether it has “effective practices for correcting errors,” and whether it treats opinion and news differently. Other criteria include avoiding deceptive headlines, disclosing ownership and financing and revealing possible conflicts of interest.

“We look forward to clarifying the misunderstanding by the committee about our work for the Defense Department,” Crovitz said in a statement to The Hill. “Our work for the Pentagon has been solely related to hostile disinformation efforts by Russian, Chinese and Iranian government-linked operations targeting Americans and our allies.”

Crovitz, a former publisher of The Wall Street Journal, also touted NewsGuard as “the only apolitical service” that rates news outlets, saying, “the others are either digital platforms with their secret ratings or left-wing partisan advocacy groups.”

He noted the rating system has resulted in positive and negative scores for right-leaning and left-leaning outlets.

“Under NewsGuard’s apolitical rating system, many conservative outlets outscore similar left-leaning brands: The Daily Caller outscores The Daily Beast, the Daily Wire outscores the Daily Kos, Fox News outscores MSNBC and The Wall Street Journal outscores the New York Times,” he wrote.

FREE PELTIER

Parole Commission Decision on Leonard Peltier's Release Expected Within 21 Days

Leonard Peltier (Photo/File)

BY LEVI RICKERT 

 

JUNE 11, 2024

A decision to determine the fate of American Indian Movement (AIM) member Leonard Peltier (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) by the U.S. Parole Commission will come within 21 days. The first parole hearing in 15 years for Peltier, 79, who is incarcerated for the killing of two FBI agents,Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, was held on Monday, June 10, 2024. 

The hearing was held before a U.S. Parole Commission examiner inside the United States Penitentiary, Coleman, a high-security prison, in Coleman. Fla.

RELATED: Parole Commission: It’s Long Past the Time to FREE Leonard Peltier

The back and forth between those representing the government and those seeking Peltier’s release at the hearing felt like a trial, according to an unnamed source who spoke with Native News Online on Monday evening. 

Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of NDN Collective, an Indigenous advocacy group, was a witness who wants Peltier freed.

“This whole entire hearing is a battle for his life,” Tilsen said. “It’s time for him to come home.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray, sent a letter, dated June 7, 2024, in opposition to Peltier’s release.

“Given the overwhelming and unassailable evidence of his guilt, the brutality of his crimes, and his persistent refusal to accept responsibility, I urge you in the strongest terms possible to deny Peltier’s application for parole. To afford him release after what he did and how he has conducted himself since would most certainly “depreciate the seriousness of his offense [and] promote disrespect for the law,” Wray wrote.

Amnesty International Executive Director Paul O’Brien wrote a letter to the parole commission pleading for Pelter’s freedom on humanitarian grounds. 

“Given the ongoing, unresolved concerns about the fairness of Leonard Peltier’s incarceration, that he has spent nearly 50 years in prison, his age, and ongoing and chronic health issues, it is our view that granting parole on humanitarian grounds in this case is not only timely but a necessary measure in the interests of both justice and mercy,” O’Brien wrote.

 

Parole Commission: It’s Long Past the Time to FREE Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) was arrested in Canada to face murder charges of the two FBI agents killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.





BY LEVI RICKERT JUNE 09, 2024

Opinion. For the first time in 15 years, Leonard Peltier will be afforded a full parole hearing on Monday, June 10 at the United States Penitentiary at Coleman, Fla. 

Peltier (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) has been incarcerated for 48 years for the killing of two FBI agents at Oglala on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in June 1975. For five decades, Peltier has maintained his innocence and hoped for the chance to clear his name.  

Monday’s hearing may well be his last chance at vindication.  

The incident that led to Peltier’s imprisonment happened some 49 years ago, when two FBI agents — Jack Coler and Ronald Williams — arrived at a residence on the reservation to pursue a suspect who had taken a pair of shoes in a robbery. The two FBI agents, who were white, arrived in an unmarked car in plain clothes. 

Tensions were already running high between law enforcement and Native Americans in South Dakota in the aftermath of the 71-day siege of Wounded Knee by the American Indian Movement (AIM) in early 1973. The incident occurred during a time known on Pine Ridge as a “reign of terror,”' characterized by deadly ambushes on highway checkpoints and extended gunfights. During this span, some 64 Native Americans were murdered and over 300 were physically assaulted.

On June 26, 1975, the situation escalated when Coler and Williams were killed during a shootout as they attempted to apprehend a young AIM member accused of theft and assault. The gunfight involved numerous individuals, and there has never been a denial that Peltier was present during the shooting, but he has said repeatedly he did not kill the agents. 

It didn’t matter. He was accused of shooting the two FBI agents. He fled to Canada, only to be extradited back to the United States in 1976 to stand trial for the agents' murders.

Following a controversial trial marred by allegations of prosecutorial conduct, falsified testimony, and fabricated evidence, Peltier was convicted of aiding and abetting murder and has been imprisoned since 1977.

Notable legal experts, including former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, say Peltier was not given a fair trial by the U.S. government.

“I think I can explain beyond serious doubt that Leonard Peltier has committed no crime whatsoever. But if he had been guilty of firing a gun that killed an FBI Agent, it was in defense of not just his people but the integrity of humanity from domination and exploitation,” Clark said. “You have to remember no witness really said they saw Leonard take aim at anybody. No witness said they heard him shoot at the time he could have killed an agent. There was no evidence that he did it, except fabricated, circumstantial evidence, overwhelmingly misused, concealed and perverted.”

Even federal Judge Gerald Heaney, who presided over an appeal hearing, has said the FBI utilized improper tactics to convict Peltier. He suggests the FBI was equally responsible for the shoot-out.

In 2017, former U.S. Attorney James Reynolds wrote a letter to President Obama to support clemency for Peltier. Reynolds was the federal prosecutor involved in the legal proceedings against Peltier, playing a significant role in the case. 

In his later years, Reynolds has publicly expressed doubts about the fairness of Peltier's trial and has joined calls for his clemency, acknowledging issues with the case and the conduct of the prosecution. Reynolds urged Obama to grant Peltier’s clemency petition “as being in the best interests of justice considering the totality of all matters involved.”

Through the years, the FBI has adamantly opposed the release of Peltier. While the deaths of their two agents at Oglala were tragic by all human standards, the deaths of hundreds of innocent Native Americans who died during the 1970s’ Reign of Terror were equally tragic.

To many Native Americans, Peltier is a symbol of an oppressive federal system that relegates Native people to apartheid and neglect. He is a political prisoner that we may only think about if we happen to see a bumper sticker on the back of a vehicle that reads “FREE Leonard Peltier.”

Beyond his Native American supporters, many people and human rights organizations — including Amnesty International, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Congress of American Indians, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and others — have stated their beliefs that Peltier is a political prisoner who should be immediately released.

Now 79 years old, Peltier suffers from multiple health issues and has to use a walker to maneuver the maximum-security prison. He also suffers from diabetes, blindness in one eye, and an aortic aneurysm. As with other elders, his advanced age has rendered him frail. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Peltier’s age and comorbidities unequivocally made him eligible for home release under Department of Justice guidelines. The Department of Justice ignored the pleas to have Peliter released then.

In a recent episode of Native Bidaské, I asked attorney Kevin Sharp, who will represent Peltier at the parole hearing on Monday, how he thought the parole commission would react to the fact Peltier has maintained his innocence through the years. Typically, parole boards want convicted prisoners to admit guilt and express remorse.

“It's difficult because Leonard didn't commit the crime, and there's no evidence that he did. He shouldn't lie about something he didn't do. Leonard has expressed remorse for the tragic events of that day and the overall situation,” Sharp responded.

Peltier’s spiritual advisor of 40 years, Lenny Foster (Diné), spoke with me Saturday morning about his hopes for his longtime friend.  

“We are hoping and praying that the parole commission will grant Leonard parole so that he can go back to his people on the Turtle Mountain Reservation to be with his loved ones to serve out his remaining years to be with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Foster told me. “He is a revered elder among the Indian community.” 

Nearly 80, Peltier is a Native American elder who poses no threat to society. He’s old and broken. He has paid a price for an injustice to him, his family, and to all Native Americans. It is past time to free Leonard Peltier.

Thayék gde nwéndëmen - We are all related.

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Calls for Immediate Ceasefire and Humanitarian Aid in Palestine

Native News Online Staff
Thu, June 13, 2024 

Refugee camp in Gaza. (Photo/File) 

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, located in South Dakota, passed a resolution calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Palestine. The Tribe announced on Wednesday that tribal council of the Tribe voted to pass the resolution on June 4, 2024.

Key Points of the Resolution: 

• Call for Ceasefire: The Tribe demands that the United States of America enforce an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Palestine.

• Humanitarian Aid: The Tribe demands immediate food and medical aid for the Palestinian people suffering due to prolonged retaliation for so-called terroristic acts. [Acts that from our perspective can only be labeled a prolonged and valiant resistance to colonial land theft].

• Support for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement: In solidarity with anti-apartheid activists worldwide, the Tribe supports the BDS movement.

• Right of Return: The Tribe calls on the United Nations and the United States to guarantee the right of return to all Palestinian people since the first Nakba in 1948.

• Condemnation of War Tactics: The resolution condemns the use of hospitals, schools, and refugee camps as military targets, emphasizing that all war should be a last resort.

• Solidarity with Global Movements: The Tribe recalls with gratitude and love the support from Palestinian organizations and individuals during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and reiterates its commitment to solidarity and justice. Protest is a guaranteed right and should be protected rather than met with violent police action.

This resolution brought by grassroots tribal citizens and adopted by the Tribal Council.

About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. "

Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net

THE GRIFTER IS OLD AND DEMENTED

Opinion

Trump’s CEO Buddies Stunned by Bizarre Meeting With Him

Talia Jane 

NEW REPUBLIC

Fri, June 14, 2024



Trump met with at least 80 CEOs on Thursday to promise tax cuts and scaled-back business regulations if he’s elected president. Among those present were Apple CEO Tim Cook and the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America. Trump spoke for about an hour, during which he rambled nonsensically, throwing off those in the room, according to sources who shared details of the meeting with CNBC.

“I spoke to a number of CEOs who I would say walked into the meeting being Trump supporter-ish, or thinking that they might be leaning that direction,” said CNBC’s Ross Sorkin. “[CEOs] said that he was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought, was all over the map.”

Trump promised the CEOs to cut taxes and bring the federal corporate tax rate down from 21 percent to 20 percent, a lackluster attempt to elicit excitement from the suits. One attendee summarized Trump’s message as, “We’re going to give you more of the same for the next four years,” according to CNBC.

“These were people who, I think, might have been actually predisposed to him,” said Sorkin. “And [they] actually walked out of the room less predisposed to him, actually predisposed to thinking ‘This is not necessarily—’ as one person said, ‘this may not be any different or better than a Biden thought, if you’re thinking that way.’”

Trump also excitedly detailed to the corporate juggernauts his promise to eliminate taxes on worker tips—a questionable offer he stole from a Republican nominee for Senate and which, darkly, provoked laughter from the room full of CEOs.



Opinion
Fauci Exposes Trump’s Unhinged Behavior Amid Covid Crisis

Hafiz Rashid 

NEW REPUBLIC

Fri, June 14, 2024



As a leading infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci was thrust into a leadership role during the Covid-19 pandemic and experienced volatile treatment from Donald Trump during his presidency, Fauci wrote in his new memoir.


Trump would “announce that he loved me and then scream at me on the phone,” Fauci wrote of the abusive behavior in On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service, due to be published next week.


“Let’s just say, I found this to be out of the ordinary,” Fauci wrote. According to the immunologist, Trump would drop f-bombs often in conversations, including one where the then-president claimed Fauci cost the U.S. economy “one trillion fucking dollars.”


In his new book, Fauci talks about how badly Trump wanted to reopen the country and his embrace of poorly qualified advisers pushing unproven treatments, according to The Daily Beast. Fauci also discussed Trump’s hospitalization with Covid and his outrageous claim that bleach could kill the virus.

In the early days of the pandemic, Trump was not in a good mood. Fauci wrote about his “first experience [of] the brunt of the president’s rage,” just a few months into the outbreak.

“On the evening of June 3 [2020], my cell phone rang,” Fauci writes, “and the caller—the president—started screaming at me,” angry that Fauci told a journalist that immunity to coronaviruses was “usually six months to a year.” This meant that when a vaccine for Covid was developed, it would probably need booster shots.

While Fauci said this was common for illnesses like the flu, his remark was “wrongly reported on Twitter and in some media outlets as the Covid vaccine protecting people only for a very short time,” and this drew Trump’s fury.


“It was quite a phone call,” Fauci writes. “The president was irate, saying that I could not keep doing this to him. He said he loved me, but the country was in trouble, and I was making it worse.”

“I have a pretty thick skin,” Fauci added, “but getting yelled at by the president of the United States, no matter how much he tells you that he loves you, is not fun.”

Fauci’s time as the public face of the government’s efforts during the pandemic, as well as Trump’s treatment of him, led to right-wing figures spouting conspiracy theories about him and attacking efforts such as lockdowns and masks. Conservatives still hate the immunologist, and Republican lawmakers attempted to wildly smear him on a recent visit to Capitol Hill and proposed getting hold of his personal emails. If he makes public appearances to promote his book, as authors usually do, he’s likely to get more vitriol and attacks, despite his career in public service.

Iranian authorities release a French national who was imprisoned for over 20 months

Associated Press
Updated Thu, June 13, 2024


 People hold portraits of French detainees in Iran including Louis Arnaud, top left, during a protest in Paris, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. French national Louis Arnaud arrived in France Thursday, June 13, 2024 after he was released by Iran where he was imprisoned for over 20 months. Arnaud was greeted at Paris-Le-Bourget airport by his family in the presence of France's Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Séjourné. 

(AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

PARIS (AP) — French national Louis Arnaud arrived in France on Thursday after he was released by Iran, where he was imprisoned for over 20 months for allegedly taking part in nationwide protests.

Arnaud was greeted by his family in the presence of French Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Séjourné.

French President Emmanuel Macron posted on the social media platform X on Wednesday that “Louis Arnaud is free” and thanked Oman, an interlocutor for the West with Iran, and “all those who helped bring this happy outcome.”


Arnaud was arrested in September 2022 along with other Europeans.

French media reported that Arnaud, a consultant in his 30s, was accused of having taken part in nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amin, a young woman who died after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf, or hijab, to the liking of security forces.

Macron expressed his concern for three other French nationals still imprisoned in Iran, including Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who were arrested in May 2022.

French authorities identified Kohler and Paris as a teachers’ union official and her partner on vacation in the country. Iranian authorities accused them of protesting with Iranian teachers and taking part in an anti-government rally.

The third French national detained in Iran has only been identified by his first name, Olivier.

“I call on Iran to release them without delay,’ Macron wrote on X.

“We're still working” for them to be freed, Séjourné said Thursday. "Our diplomacy is still mobilized. ... That will be the next victory for tomorrow. But here we must be satisfied with a great diplomatic victory for France.”

French hostage Louis Arnaud returns home after two years' imprisonment in Iran

Euronews
Thu, June 13, 2024 

French hostage Louis Arnaud returns home after two years' imprisonment in Iran


French hostage Louis Arnaud has returned home after being released from imprisonment in Iran, where he languished in prison for almost two years.

The French national arrived back in his home country on Thursday. His family and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné greeted him at the Paris-Le-Bourget airport.

Local media report that the consultant had embarked on a world tour in July 2022 that had taken him as far as Iran when he was arrested in September of that year.

He was accused of taking part in demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman of Kurdish background who had been arrested for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards.

Amini died in suspicious circumstances while in custody, and her death sparked massive protests across Iran.

Arnaud's parents previously spoke with Euronews about the shock, worry and anxiety they felt after hearing Louis had been arrested.

"We knew this was not just any country, but Iran we are dealing with," said his father.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for the release of three other French nationals held in the country “without delay”.


The three include Cécile Kohler, Jacques Paris and a man named Olivier, whose surname has not been made public.

French authorities identified Kohler and Paris as a teachers’ union official and her partner on vacation in the country. Iranian authorities accuse them of protesting with Iranian teachers and taking part in an anti-government rally.

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said on Thursday that the government is "still working" to secure their freedom.

"Our diplomacy is still mobilised," he said. "That will be the next victory for tomorrow. But here we must be satisfied with a great diplomatic victory for France."


French citizen returns home after Iran prison ordeal

AFP
Thu, June 13, 2024

Frenchman Louis Arnaud returned to Paris on Thursday after his release from a more than 20-month prison ordeal in Iran, but a dozen Europeans are still detained in the Islamic republic.

Activists and some Western governments, including France, accuse Iran of exercising a strategy of taking foreign nationals as hostages to force concessions from the West.

Arnaud was held in Iran from September 2022 and sentenced last year to five years in jail on national security charges. He was described by his family as a traveller who wanted to see the world, and who was innocent of all charges.

Emerging from a small plane at Le Bourget airport outside Paris, a visibly tired but smiling Arnaud shook hands with Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne before embracing his parents, according to images aired on television.

Arnaud, 36, linked arms with his relatives as they entered a private room at the airport out of view of the cameras.

"I am very glad to welcome one of our hostages who was indeed held arbitrarily in Iran," Sejourne said.

"Our diplomatic service is still at work" to free three other French citizens: Jacques Paris, Cecile Kohler and a man named only as Olivier held in Iranian jails, he added.

In a statement after his release, Arnaud's mother Sylvie said "we have been waiting for our son to return for almost 21 months. A wait that should never have existed.

"Our thoughts are with those who are still waiting for the return of their loved ones and we will remain at their side until they can experience this same happiness," she added.

The circumstances of Arnaud's freeing were not immediately clear. Announcing his release on X late Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron made a point of thanking our "Omani friends and all those who worked towards this happy outcome".

Oman has frequently worked as a mediator between Iran and the West in such situations. A diplomatic source told AFP that Arnaud had been flown back to Paris via Oman.

- 'Very, very worried' -

Kohler's sister Noemie Kohler welcomed Arnaud's release but stressed the family had not heard from Cecile since April 13.

"We're very, very worried," she said. While the family remains in regular contact with French diplomats, the lack of progress is frustrating, she said.

Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris were detained in Iran in May 2022 accused of spying.

"We know that they are being held in absolutely appalling conditions," said Noemie Kohler.

Arnaud set off in July 2022 on a round-the-world trip that led him to Iran.

It was "a country he had long dreamt of visiting for the richness of its history and its welcoming people", Sylvie Arnaud said several months ago.

But he was arrested in September 2022 with other Europeans accused of joining demonstrations over the death of Mahsa Amini.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly breaching the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

While Arnaud's travelling companions were soon released, he was kept in prison before his November sentencing on charges of making propaganda against the regime and harming Iranian state security.

Frenchman Benjamin Briere and French-Irish dual national Bernard Phelan were freed by Iran in 2023 for "humanitarian reasons".

Both had been severely weakened by a hunger strike.

Besides the three French still in prison, Tehran is holding nationals and dual nationals from European countries including Britain, Germany and Sweden.

Two of them -- German Jamshid Sharmahd and Swede Ahmadreza Djalali -- risk execution after being sentenced to death on charges their families say are utterly false.

Also held is Swedish EU diplomat Johan Floderus whom prosecutors want sentenced to death on spying charges his family strongly rejects.

Activists say Swedish nationals have been especially targeted over the life sentence given in Sweden to former Iranian prison official Hamid Noury for his role in mass executions in Iran in 1988.

According to Washington, the release of the five US citizens in September last year means there are no more US nationals detained in Iran.

ROAD TO JACKSON HOLE

A landslide in Wyoming deepens the disparities between the ultra-wealthy and local workers

Alicia Victoria Lozano
Updated Fri, June 14, 2024 

The collapse of a vital road connecting workers in Idaho to jobs in Wyoming is bringing new attention to a longstanding schism between the ultra-wealthy and the people who cater to them.

Billionaires and investors have been pushing home prices in Jackson, Wyoming, into the stratosphere for years, forcing workers to live farther and farther from their jobs.

Already burdened by long commutes, people who work at hospitals, outfitters and landscaping companies now face an indefinite road closure that is upending their lives yet is unlikely to affect their wealthy clients.

What started as a crack in the Teton Pass last week turned into a massive landslide that closed a 10-mile stretch of road, which serves as a main gateway between Idaho and Jackson, Wyoming.

Transportation officials said the “catastrophic failure” would take months to repair. Meantime, a two-lane detour should be completed within weeks, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation.


The rush comes as tourist season gets underway in the Rocky Mountains, where some 15,000 people are expected to descend on nearby Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks each day.

Closing the Teton Pass for even a few weeks means cutting off a vital artery for people who live in Idaho but work in Jackson, a mountain and ski haven that has become a playground for Hollywood celebrities, tech tycoons and billionaires looking to get away from city life.

“The landslide really shines a ton of light on how unsustainable our community is,” said Jacob Gore, a Wyoming native who lives in Idaho because of rising costs. “I just accepted that I will never own a home in Jackson unless I win the lottery.”

A damaged section of Teton Pass near Jackson, Wyo.

 (Wyoming Highway Patrol via AP)

At St. John's Health in Jackson, about 20% of health care workers commute from the Teton Valley on the other side of the pass. This includes 115 essential workers who need to be on site every day, according to hospital spokesperson Karen Connelly.

Many of those workers face 12-hour shifts and cannot accommodate an additional four to six hours a day of driving time, Connelly told Teton County commissioners this week during a hearing.

On average, more than 2,500 people commute daily from Idaho to Jackson, which is in the wealthiest county in the United States, per capita, the county housing authority said. It has a median income of more than $108,000, compared to Teton County, Idaho, where the median income is $89,000, according to U.S. Census data.

Home prices between the neighboring counties vary exponentially. On the Wyoming side, the median home price is more than $3 million compared to about $800,000 in Idaho.

The allure of snow-capped mountain peaks and crystal clear lakes has long attracted both homesteaders and business leaders. Moguls like Ted Turner, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett each own hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the West, and the federal government controls about 50% of land from Kansas to the Pacific Ocean.

Competition to build, own and rent is fierce in the most desirable areas, including gateway communities to national parks. Demand only increased during the pandemic, as remote workers sought to relocate.

"We're working our butts off so the billionaires can have nice gardens to look at in their vacation homes that they spend a few weeks in a year," said Rory Nelson, who lives in Victor, Idaho, and owns a small gardening company in Jackson.

"It’s heartbreaking because this is my home," he said, adding that he is now driving up to six hours a day because of the road closure.

Many people who live in communities like Victor and Driggs in the Teton Valley say they are now forced to choose between spending a full day in the car or finding temporary housing closer to work.

Idaho resident Gore runs a wildlife tour company and said he woke up to several missed calls from frantic clients and employees when news spread about the landslide. One tour guide, who lives in Driggs, opted to sleep in his car the night before an early morning outing rather than wake up at 3 a.m. to pick up his clients in Jackson at 6 a.m.

“If just one of these billionaires wanted to step in and help out, our community would change for the better,” he said. “But our workers aren’t thought of until their favorite restaurant closes."

Since the road closure, John Thomas Smaellie, a construction superintendent from Driggs, has been snaking his way south on Highway 33 into a neighboring valley and around a lake before turning north toward Jackson.

While he describes the two- to three-hour commute as “absolutely gorgeous,” Smaellie is missing crucial time away from his family. His 7-year-old daughter is the youngest rodeo princess in their town and requires hours of rehearsal and preparation before competitions, he said.

On Wednesday night, rather than help her get ready for an upcoming pageant, Smaellie was stuck on the road.

A sign on Highway 33 tells motorists the Teton Pass is closed on June 9, 2024 in Victor, Idaho. (Natalie Behring / Getty Images)

“Is my job really worth missing these things?” he asked. “I know they’re going to have a temporary road, but is it going to last? Emotionally, it’s very taxing to be at work knowing that if I left right now I could be home in time.”

Smaellie, a fifth-generation Driggs resident, has watched prices in his hometown skyrocket as “billionaires drive out the millionaires” from Jackson, a popular refrain among locals.

When he was young, Smaellie's parents bought a home and other investment properties on their public school salaries, he said. Smaellie, however, is forced to rent even as gated communities are built around him.

For his workers, who earn $60,000 to $70,000 a year, even renting is unaffordable. Six members of his crew share a two-bedroom apartment, he said.

Still, the idea of relocating his family outside the region is unfathomable.

“I would like my kids to see their father’s grave when I pass away,” he said. “I can go see my great-great-great grandfather’s grave in Tetonia. That is where my bitterness comes from.”

Like other regions that cater to luxury resorts, housing affordability in Jackson has been a problem for decades.

In 2020, the county set the goal of housing 65% of workers within its limits. Currently the county is at roughly 60%, according to housing director April Norton.

“There is a recognition that without permanently protecting homes for local workers, we might run out of them,” she said.

Chase Putnam, who owns a fishing outfitter in Jackson, is opening his eight-person camper to anyone in need of temporary accommodations. He bristled when asked about the affordability crisis and accused county commissioners of not acting quickly enough to secure housing for workers.

“I can barely rub two dimes together and I’m the one stepping in?” he said.

When asked for comment, the Board of County Commissioners referred questions to the housing authority.

"If there is political will, then certainly there are things to look at it," Norton said of building more workforce housing. "But it comes down to politicians, so we'll see what happens."

On Wednesday, the commissioners approved an ordinance that will temporarily allow camping units and mobile homes in all zones until the road reopens. But because 97% of surrounding land is owned by the federal government, it will largely be up to private landowners to welcome people in need.

While any permanent housing solution is years away, local residents are stepping in to offer immediate help. Melissa Thomasma, who lives in Victor, Idaho, created a mutual aid Facebook group after the landslide.

The nearly 2,000-member account is filled with posts from people offering campers, carpools and even audiobook credits for the long commute.

"That’s such a core value of our community,” she said. “You lend a hand when you can.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com