Shares of Chemours Co. (CC) dropped nearly 2% in the aftermarket Friday after the chemicals company, alongside DuPont de Nemours Inc. (DD) and Corteva Inc. (CTVA), said it has reached a final $1.85 billion deal in principle to settle claims they are responsible for so-called "forever chemicals" in drinking water in the U.S., hewing close to what the companies announced in early June. The $1.185 billion will go into a settlement fund the three companies will establish, with Chemours contributing about 50%, or about $592 million, and DuPont, with about $400 million, and Corteva, with about $193 million, contributing the remaining 50%. The settlement amounts will be funded by the companies in full and deposited into the water district settlement fund within ten business days following preliminary approval of the settlement by the court system, they said. Shares of DuPont fell 1.3%, while Corteva's were up 0.1%. Chemours and Corteva were spun off from DuPont's predecessor in the past few years. Last week, 3M Co. (MMM) announced its own "forever chemicals" proposed settlement.
Friday, June 30, 2023
US businesses operating in China face new risks under updated PRC law
American businesses that are operating in China will face new risks under a revision to a counter-espionage law by the PRC, warns the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.
The center, which is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, issued a memo on Friday outlining the new risks for American businesses operating in China under a recently passed revision to a counter-espionage law in the PRC.
According to the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the law, which goes into effect on Saturday, expands "the definition of espionage from covering state secrets and intelligence to any documents, data, materials, or items related to national security interests, without defining terms."
The law also "Broadens the scope of the PRC’s counterespionage law."
Intelligence officials are warning that any "documents, data, materials, or items" could now be "considered relevant to PRC national security due to ambiguities in the law."
Additionally, the law also has the "Potential to create legal risks or uncertainty for foreign companies, journalists, academics, and researchers."
Mirriam-Grace MacIntyre, who leads the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, told the Wall Street Journal that the law expands the definition of espionage without defining terms in a manner that's "deeply problematic for private sector companies."
The counter-espionage law which was recently revised is part of a group of more laws which could give the Chinese government "legal grounds for accessing and controlling data held by U.S. firms in China."
Kraken Ordered to Turn Over Its Users’ Information to the IRS
- Cryptocurrency exchange must provide wide swath of user data
- Court order comes amid deepening digital currency crackdown
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken was ordered by a judge to provide a wide swath of information about its users to the Internal Revenue Service for the agency’s investigation of underreported tax liability.
The IRS has said it wants information on Kraken accounts that did at least $20,000 of cryptocurrency trading in any single year, from 2016 to 2020. Kraken had called the agency’s summons an “unjustified treasure hunt,” arguing it went well beyond the boundaries set in a similar fight with Coinbase about six years ago.
Goldman in talks to offload Apple credit card, savings products to American Express
is in talks to offload its Apple credit card and high-yield savings account products to American Express, a source told CNBC’s Leslie Picker.
Goldman Sachs and Apple declined to comment. CNBC has also reached out to American Express.
The talks come amid a broader retreat by Goldman from its largely failed consumer banking initiatives, for which CEO David Solomon has taken a great deal of heat. Last week, CNBC reported that the Wall Street giant is preparing to take a huge writedown on its 2021 acquisition of fintech lender GreenSky.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the Goldman talks with American Express. The newspaper said there’s no assurance of a deal, nor is an agreement close.
It would mark an abrupt reversal for the two corporate giants. In October, the Journal reported Goldman and Apple renewed their partnership through 2029. And in April, Goldman Chief Financial Officer Denis Coleman touted a deepening of the partnership.
“This week, we announced the launch of a savings account for Apple Card users. We are excited to deepen our partnership with Apple through this additional offering and to introduce another source of deposit funding for the firm,” Coleman said at the time.
The Journal also reported Friday that Goldman is talking about unloading its General Motors card partnership. GM declined to comment to CNBC.
Tide Is Turning On Transgender Tolerance
by Patricia Tolson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Over the past few years, the transgender movement has pushed its way into every nook and cranny of American culture, and major institutions and authorities have tried to force all people to go along with it.
But now, the tide is turning.
It started quietly, with biological science and objective reality being given a backseat to internal feelings and chosen identity. To become a member of the opposite sex, all one needs to do is declare it to be so and others will be forced to acknowledge it is so.
Next came the reengineering of language. The word “sex,” which defines a man or a woman, has been replaced by the word “gender,” which can be anything.
Then came the new terms and pronouns.
To help people keep up with the growing list of terms and pronouns, Trans Student Educational Resources provides a tutorial, advising that “these are not the only pronouns” and that “there are an infinite number of pronouns as new ones emerge in our language.”
For those who struggle to differentiate and understand the new terms and pronouns, there’s an “LGBTQ+ Glossary” explaining all of the gender terms, acronyms, initialisms, and pronouns on their ever-evolving and expanding list.
Even the National Institutes of Health under the Department of Health and Human Services provides instruction and guidance on the proper use of “Gender Pronouns & Their Use in Workplace Communications,” warning that “intentional refusal to use someone’s correct pronouns is equivalent to harassment and a violation of one’s civil rights.”
Refusal to use a colleague’s preferred pronoun at work can result in punishment or termination.
Erasing Women
Then came the effort to erase womanhood itself.
Females are no longer “women.” Those promoting gender ideology cannot define the term “woman,” and women are instead referred to as “birthing people” or “people with uteruses.” There are also claims that “men can have periods” and “women have penises.”
Last year, a biological male named BrÃan Nguyen won the title of Miss Greater Derry in a local New Hampshire pageant that’s part of the Miss America organization, and another biological male, Dr. Rachel Levine, was named Woman of the Year by USA Today.
Sports Illustrated, a magazine known for featuring female models on the cover, recently included a transgender singer, who is a biological male, in its cover photos.
Men are also claiming titles, trophies, scholarships, and accolades in women’s sports.
Then there’s Fallon Fox, a man who identifies as a woman and became a mixed martial arts fighter. After knocking out two women in the ring and breaking one of their skulls, Fox boasted about how much Fox “enjoyed” it, calling it “bliss.” Fox was later named “the bravest athlete ever” and given the Pioneer Triumph Award by Out Sports.
A recent Gallup survey shows the vast majority of Americans believe transgender athletes “should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that conform with their birth gender.”
Targeting Youth
Then they came after children.
As previously reported by The Epoch Times, the progression of the trans movement began in 2015 with the introduction of drag queen story hour, which evolved into “family-friendly” drag shows where men scantily clad in a garish guise of womanhood perform sexually charged dances in front of children. They moved from pride parades to restaurants, amusement parks, theme parks, regular bars, gay bars, schools—and churches.
Laws were passed to facilitate the transitioning of children against the will of parents. Washington state passed a law (pdf) that would enable the staff at shelters where a runaway was seeking “gender-affirming care” to contact the state’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families rather than the parents so the child can obtain that “care” without the parent’s knowledge or consent. California is pushing legislation to take children away from parents who refuse to enable their minor-aged children to obtain sex change operations.
Children are given puberty blockers and hormones. Young girls are having their breasts removed. Then there’s the “painful” truth about sex change surgery.
The Pushback
The backlash that followed transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney’s Bud Light endorsement was swift and costly, and the subsequent efforts by Anheuser-Busch to recover the extraordinary losses it continues to suffer have failed miserably.
The company’s first statement didn’t work. Neither did the second. The patriotic follow-up commercial was ripped as “pandering,” and the manly camo cans were “mocked.” As reported by The Epoch Times, the latest mea culpa commercial striving to reclaim the all-American image it once had is being met by responses that the company is now “trying too hard.”
The Epoch Times reported how two Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers spoke out after the team announced it would honor the drag queens who call themselves the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence during a “pride night” event on June 16.
In the National Hockey League, the number of players who refused to play the “Pride Night” games grew to such an extent that the league’s board of governors ruled on June 22 that none of the players will wear special jerseys for pregame warmups during themed nights next season.
There’s been similar backlash to Target’s “Pride Month” displays and merchandise and to Mulvaney’s ads for Tampax and Nike women’s sports bras, prompting the “Burn Bra Challenge” online.
Now there’s a movement to reclaim “the rainbow.” Conservative rapper Bryson Gray released a new song called “Reclaim the Rainbow,” with thousands of views on YouTube.
‘Taking the Rainbow Back’
Rabbi Kirt Schneider, a self-described “Jewish believer in Jesus” and host of “Discovering the Jewish Jesus,” is the leader and founder of a new movement called “Taking the Rainbow Back.”
The objectives of his movement include “restoring the rainbow’s meaning to its original God-given purpose and message,” and removing “the stigma associated with the rainbow being exclusively an LGBTQ symbol.”
As described in Genesis 9:14-16, the first rainbow was set in the sky by God after the great flood as a reminder of the “everlasting covenant” between God and man “and every living creature.” The rainbow is God’s promise that “never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tide-turning-transgender-tolerance
Most kale contains ‘disturbing’ levels of ‘forever chemicals’: report
Haters of kale, rejoice!
A new survey of kale samples taken from several US grocery stores found that seven out of eight samples had “disturbing” levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Ironically, kale was chosen as a test subject because scientists wanted to look at a vegetable that has a reputation for being healthy.
It’s perhaps even more ironic that the kale labeled “USDA organic” had higher levels of PFAS than conventional kale.
That was “a bit of a shock finding,” Robert Verkerk, founder of the Alliance for Natural Health, told the Guardian.
The Alliance for Natural Health produced the survey report and published it on its website.
PFAS are often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily and are found in soil, water and air worldwide.
PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals widely used in packaging, clothing, carpets, firefighting foam and even toilet paper since the 1950s.
Research has linked the chemicals to cancer and other health problems, such as issues with the immune system, liver and fertility.
And scientists are still learning about PFAS, including how best to detect and measure them, remove them from air and water and determine their long-term effects.
For the survey, the kale samples were sent to a lab certified by the Environmental Protection Agency and were then tested with the same method used by the Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA conducted kale analyses between 2019 and 2021 and found no evidence of PFAS contamination.
The new survey found PFAS levels going up to 250 parts per trillion. There are no established limits for PFAS in food in the US.
But the EPA has determined that no amount of exposure to PFAS compounds in drinking water can be considered safe.
It’s not known how the kale was contaminated with PFAS, but it could have been grown with PFAS-tainted irrigation water or in fields where contaminated sludge had been spread.
“It’s pretty scary, and there’s no easy solution,” Verkerk said. He also called upon the FDA to implement a better PFAS testing program for America’s entire food supply.
https://nypost.com/2023/06/30/most-kale-contains-disturbing-levels-of-forever-chemicals/