Judge Rules Against Michigan’s Absentee Ballot Signature Presumption Rule

 by Austin Alonzo via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A Michigan court ruled against the state’s top election officials’ recommendations for assessing the validity of absentee ballots in what Republicans are calling a victory for election integrity.

On June 12, Judge Christopher Yates ruled that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Director of Elections Jonathan Brater didn’t follow the state’s election laws when they issued rules presuming signatures attached to absentee ballot applications and submissions were valid.

The order granted partial declaratory relief to the Republican National Committee, the Michigan Republican Party, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and others involved in the case

Judge Yates, a Michigan appellate judge also serving in the limited-jurisdiction Court of Claims, wrote in his opinion that the initial presumption of validity in signature verification of absentee ballot applications and envelopes mandated by a December 2023 guidance manual is “incompatible with the Constitution and laws of the State of Michigan.”

According to Judge Yates’s order, Ms. Benson issued guidance including a presumption of validity for absentee ballots and absentee ballot applications processed at the local level in 2020. The Michigan Republican Party challenged that move and ultimately won in the Court of Claims.

In December 2022, a new set of rules was issued, which included the “initial presumption of validity.” Moreover, in December 2023, Ms. Benson issued guidance to local election officials “explaining how to conduct signature comparisons on absentee-ballot applications and absentee-ballot envelopes.”

In March, the RNC and allied Republican bodies filed suit against the 2022 rules and the 2023 guidance.

According to Judge Yates’s order, the guidance manual told election officials that “voter signatures are entitled to an initial presumption of validity.” The Republicans challenged that presumption, arguing that it violates Michigan law.

Judge Yates said Ms. Benson and Mr. Brader argued the manual didn’t prescribe a presumption but rather an initial presumption.

“With apologies to Gertrude Stein, however, a presumption is a presumption is a presumption,” Judge Yates wrote. “Whether the guidance manual includes a gentle nudge instead of a hip check, it’s still a foul under Michigan law.”

After the June 13 ruling, RNC chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement that the “covert attempts to sidestep these rules were rightfully rejected by the court.”

Representatives of the Michigan Department of State and the Michigan Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

Michigan voted for a Republican for the first time since 1988 in 2016 when President Donald Trump carried the Great Lakes State. In 2020, President Joe Biden won the state by about 154,000 votes, according to the Michigan Department of State.

The RNC said the court victory underscores the importance of its ongoing focus on election integrity. Under Mr. Whatley and RNC co-chair Lara Trump, Republicans are pursuing election integrity lawsuits across the country.

The party has ongoing litigation in battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, and Wisconsin.

The Democratic National Committee calls the RNC’s suits “baseless lawsuits ... trying to kick eligible voters off the voter rolls and take down guidance around how clerks conduct signature matching for mail voting ballots.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/judge-rules-against-michigans-absentee-ballot-signature-presumption-rule

Senate hearing focuses on improving WIOA

 The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing Wednesday about the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

WIOA expired in 2020. Its reauthorization has bipartisan support and is “long overdue,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the committee.

There was agreement among the senators and witnesses that improvements to WIOA are needed, though.

Congress first passed WIOA in 2014, and in the 10 years since, the country has experienced “monumental changes,” such as Covid and big advancements in technology, noted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), committee chair, and more jobs require education beyond a high school diploma.

Call for increased funding

Monty Sullivan, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, served as a witness. He noted that both WIOA and Pell Grant funding are not keeping pace with the needs of employers, workers and communities.

Without postsecondary education and training, the 80 million working-age adults with a high school diploma or less are “doomed to be frozen out of the middle class,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan recommended increased funding for training programs.

“Only 175,831 individuals received training services under WIOA in program year 2022. This is a drop in the bucket for what is supposed to be the federal government’s premier training program,” he said.

He also wants to see increased funding for adult education programs.

Other witnesses echoed his call for more funding.

In Fiscal Year 2023, programs and activities for adults, dislocated workers and youth under WIOA’s formula grants to states and local workforce areas were funded at just $3.2 billion, noted David Bradley, senior director for workforce policy at Jobs for the Future.

“This level of funding is not adequate to meet all the promises in the WIOA system, nor is the system currently designed to meet today’s extensive career navigation, skills development, and worker transition needs as a stand-alone program,” Bradley said.

Taylor White, director of postsecondary pathways for youth at New America’s Center on Education and Labor, said a WIOA reauthorization should include increased federal investment in youth programming to connect more Americans ages 16 to 24 to education and the labor market.

Lisa Bly-Jones, CEO of the Chicago Jobs Council, recommended that any funding calculations include the cost of wraparound services.

“For workers with the greatest economic need, the difference between entering training and actually being able to complete it is usually unexpected costs,” Bly-Jones said. Those costs include childcare, transportation, mental health supports or challenges with career navigation.

Funding flexibility

Witnesses also noted the need for more flexibility for states and regions so they can best serve the needs of their employers and workforce.

“Emphasizing the importance of local and state control over funding for workforce development programs is crucial to enhancing strategic effectiveness and ensuring successful outcomes,” said Matthew Dickerson, business development and strategy officer of Mid South Extrusion.

A targeted and localized investment approach, can “cultivate a more robust, resilient workforce that can uphold our nation’s economic growth and competitiveness with confidence and optimism,” Dickerson added.

Better data, better information sharing

There’s a need for better data systems – and better use of data – too, witnesses said.

White recommended that Congress invest in state and federal data infrastructure. It would help with capturing longitudinal data that would help generate valuable evidence about which programs yield the greatest long-term benefits, she said.

Bly-Jones recommended increased research, data sharing and transparency across state agencies involved in education and workforce training to identify and address equity gaps in public investments.

And Sullivan encouraged the required use of earnings and other outcomes data in order to be more selective about which providers and programs are eligible to provide WIOA training services.

Community colleges are best suited to solve the nation’s workforce challenges, but they have been an under-utilized resource by the WIOA training enterprise. Strong, integrated partnerships between workforce boards and their local community colleges should be encouraged, but the selection of eligible training providers should not be an “exercise in red tape and bureaucracy,” he said.

And, Sullivan said, workers should be armed with information about which postsecondary education and training options work best for them and expect that the system will provide options that work for them.

“There should not be a wrong door to enter within the WIOA system,” he said.

Workforce Pell

Both Sullivan and Bly-Jones included in their testimonies an appeal to the committee to expand Pell to include short-term workforce programs.

“WIOA alone simply will not get it done,” Sullivan said. With the passage of Workforce Pell, the committee “has the chance to change lives,” he said.

Workforce Pell, he added, will benefit not only adults without an education, but a person with a baccalaureate degree displaced by automation or artificial intelligence who needs to reskill.

“Workforce Pell is a huge part of the solution in educating the American people,” Sullivan said.

https://www.ccdaily.com/2024/06/senate-hearing-focuses-on-improving-wioa/

'CDC: New COVID Variant KP.3 On The Rise Across The US'

 by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

A newly discovered COVID-19 variant, KP.3, is rising to become the dominant strain of the virus across the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

KP.3 constitutes about 25 percent of all COVID-19 cases detected by the agency. It’s followed by the KP. 2 and LB. 1 variants, which make up about 22 percent and 14 percent of all cases, respectively, the data show.

The latest COVID-19 data were collected over a two-week period from May 26 to June 8. Some media outlets have referred to both the KP.2 and KP.3 variants as “FLiRT,” due to where spike proteins are located.

The Epoch Times contacted the CDC for comment on June 12.

“CDC predicts that KP.3 is growing and will become the most common SARS-CoV-2 lineage nationally,” a CDC spokesperson told several news outlets this week about the variant’s dominance. “CDC is working to better understand its potential impact on public health.”

But the data suggest that despite the increase in the KP.3 variant’s prevalence, the U.S. is currently seeing low levels of COVID-19 activity overall.

A CDC graph of COVID-19’s historic trends shows that weekly deaths are at the lowest point since the pandemic started in early 2020. Virus-linked hospitalizations are also at their lowest point, the data show.

“Most key COVID-19 indicators are showing low levels of activity nationally, therefore the total number of infections this lineage may be causing is likely low,” the CDC spokesperson said.

Andy Pekosz, a molecular microbiology professor at Johns Hopkins University, said that the KP.2 and KP.3 variants do not appear to be more or less severe than prior COVID-19 strains. Instead, most people have COVID-19 antibodies either through a previous infection or vaccines.

“The period of infectiousness for these FLiRT variants remains the same as with JN.1 and previous omicron variants: After exposure, it may take five or more days before you develop symptoms, though symptoms may appear sooner,” he said in a question and answer session that was published on the university’s website.

“You are contagious one to two days before you experience symptoms and a few days after symptoms subside. And as with previous variants, some people may have detectable live virus for up to a week after their symptoms begin, and some may experience rebound symptoms.”

COVID-19 Reports No Longer Required

Last month, the CDC said that hospitals will no longer have to report COVID-19-related hospital admissions, hospital capacity, or related information. The changes went into effect on May 1.

The old “data will be archived as of May 10, 2024, and available at United States COVID-19 Hospitalization Metrics by Jurisdiction, Timeseries,” according to a statement posted on the CDC website at the time.

But the agency still encouraged medical facilities to report COVID-19 hospitalizations and related information to the federal health agency.

“A key lesson we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of having reporting systems in place before an active emergency,” a CDC spokesperson said.

“These data have a significant and ongoing value for protecting patient health and safety as well as public health,” the statement added.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel, which authorized every previous COVID-19 vaccine that has been on the market, voted this past week to manufacture new booster shots to target strains derived from the JN.1 variant, which include KP.2 and KP.3.

A survey released earlier this year said that one in five Americans believe COVID-19 is a “major threat” to the U.S. population, a sharp decline from a high of 67 percent in the summer of 2020.

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/cdc-new-covid-variant-kp3-rise-across-us

Beyond Bad: Fake Meat And Other 'Ultra Processed' Vegan Food Linked To Heart Disease, Early Death

 New research suggests that ultra-processed vegan food can increase the risk of heart disease and early death, the NY Post reports, citing a new study published in The Lancet from the University of São Paulo and Imperial College London. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) include packaged goods, drinks, cereals and ready-to-eat products that contain colors, emulsifiers, flavors and other additives - and are notoriously high in sugar, saturated fat, salt, while often being devoid of vitamins.

The researchers studied the diets of more than 118,000 Brits aged 40-69 years old found that while a plant-based diet promotes overall heart health, that only applies to fresh plant-based foods such as fruits and vegetables, as well as grains and legumes.

Researchers found that for every 10% increase in plant-based foods, the risk of death from heart disease fell by 20%. -NY Post

However when the source of plant-based food comes from UPFs, there's a 12% spike in heart-disease related deaths.

According to the study's lead author, Fernanda Rauber, both the composition and processing methods for UPFs can result in higher blood pressure and cholesterol.

"Food additives and industrial contaminants present in these foods might cause oxidative stress and inflammation, further aggravating the risks," she said, adding "Those shifting towards plant-based foods should also think about the degree of processing involved before making their choices."

Co-author Eszter Vamos said that UPFs have deceptive marketing to portray their plant-based products as healthy.

"While ultra-processed foods are often marketed as healthy foods, this large study suggests that plant-based ultra-processed foods do not seem to have protective health effects and are linked to poor health outcomes," she said.

The study found that replacing plant-based UPFs with whole foods, known to have important health and environmental benefits, decreased deaths from heart disease by 15% and reduced the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease by 7%.

Researchers claim that this study, published Monday in Lancet Regional Health, is the first to show that plant-based UPFs increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Based on their findings, the authors are urging nutritional guidelines that promote plant-based diets to include a warning to avoid UPFs. -NY Post

While the study highlights meat alternatives, British dietitian Duane Mellor pointed out that "Many foods that do not contain animal products, which includes biscuits, crisps, confectionery and soft drinks, are technically plant-based but would not be considered essential as part of a healthy diet by the majority of people."

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/beyond-bad-fake-meat-and-other-ultra-processed-vegan-food-linked-heart-disease-early-death

'Tech Insider Explains Why Some In Silicon Valley Are Turning To Trump'

 by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Jacob Helberg didn’t start out as a big fan of former President Donald Trump.

In his 2021 book, “The Wires of War,” Mr. Helberg detailed his concerns about the former president, during and after his first administration when he was working on disinformation and foreign interference at Google.

“After Biden’s victory, millions of Americans—egged on by Trump—indulged in unwarranted conspiracy theories claiming that Trump had in fact won,” wrote Mr. Helberg, at that time the co-chair of the Brookings Institution’s China Strategy Initiative, when describing efforts in Silicon Valley to fight what he called “domestic disinformation.”

He was a bundler for Pete Buttigieg’s presidential run during the 2020 cycle.

Yet in recent weeks, Mr. Helberg, now an adviser to Palantir CEO Alex Karp, has come forward as a vocal supporter of former President Trump. In May, the Washington Post publicized his $1 million donation to the Trump campaign.

“I am far from ruling out additional support for President Trump,” Mr. Helberg told The Epoch Times.

In 2020, many of President Joe Biden’s biggest supporters came from Big Tech. They included Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. Many tech millionaires and billionaires are supporting him again in 2024. Vinod Khosla, of Khosla Ventures, hosted a fundraiser for President Biden in May. Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s former chief executive, held a reception for him, too.

This time, though, the former president seems to be gaining ground in the tech world, including through high-profile donations like Mr. Helberg’s.

The tech insider dismissed the recent guilty verdict against the former president in New York, saying the trial was “widely regarded as a sham.”

“The conviction seemed more like a vengeful act,” Mr. Helberg said.

When asked why he had changed his mind about the former president, Mr. Helberg drew attention to the Obama administration’s approach to China—what he called “a policy of managed decline”—as well as the “woke wave of 2020,” which he said has come to dominate the party he once favored.

A Trend in Tech

While Mr. Helberg has been especially outspoken, he’s part of a larger movement in some parts of the tech world.

Current and former “Palantirians” like Mr. Helberg, as well as others connected to the world of defense tech, are among those backing the former president in an industry that is sometimes hostile to Republicans.

The Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on April 27, 2022. Billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, reached an agreement to purchase the social media platform for $44 billion. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

During the 2022 midterms, the vast majority of donations from employees of Twitter, now X, went to Democrats.

Compared to many other tech companies, Palantir is more evenly divided between the two main parties. An analysis from Open Secrets found that about 56 percent of Congressional donations associated with Palantir went to Democrats, while about 40 percent went to Republicans.

Anduril Industries was cofounded by a team from Palantir. Anduril cofounder Palmer Luckey, whose sister is married to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), has long been a prominent supporter of former President Trump and other Republican politicians. He co-hosted a sold-out fundraiser at which the former president spoke, in Newport Beach, California, on June 8.

Venture capitalist David Sacks, who previously backed the presidential campaigns of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., co-hosted a tech world Trump fundraiser of his own on June 6 alongside one of his “All In” podcast co-hosts, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya. In the past, Mr. Palihapitiya donated large sums to Democrats—for example, $1 million to the Senate Majority PAC.

On a May 31 episode of “All In,” he claimed that President Biden had not responded to an invitation to appear on that program. The White House has not responded to a request for confirmation of that claim.

“I’ve donated to Bobby Kennedy. I’ve donated to the Democrats massively. And I’ll donate to Donald Trump. And if there’s an opportunity to talk to President Biden and really understand where he’s at, I’d donate to him as well,” Mr. Palihapitiya said.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s ties to the tech world also include his running mate, Silicon Valley attorney Nicole Shanahan, who has also donated large sums to the campaign. The founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, voiced support for Mr. Kennedy in 2023.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tech-insider-explains-why-some-silicon-valley-are-turning-trump

Scholz Dismisses Putin’s Conditions for Ukraine Peace Talks

 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed demands by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for Ukraine to withdraw from four eastern regions partially occupied by Russian forces as a condition for any peace talks.

Speaking on the sidelines of the G-7 leaders’ summit in Italy, Scholz said Putin’s proposal will play no role at a peace conference in Switzerland this weekend.

“We don’t need a dictated peace, but a fair and just peace which respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” he told ARD television in an interview. Scholz accused Putin of trying to undermine support among European nations for Ukraine by pretending to be open for peace talks.

“Putin’s proposal is mainly targeted at domestic audiences in various states. He knows very well that there are many citizens who want a peaceful development. That’s why he wants to disguise the fact that he was the one who started this brutal war,” Scholz remarked.

Putin said in a televised speech before Foreign Ministry officials on Friday that Ukrainian forces should pull out from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in return for a cease-fire by Russian troops. He also said Ukraine must give up its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 

The Ukrainian government rejected Putin’s demands as manipulative.

Putin’s offer amounted to a call for Ukraine to surrender its territories in return for peace talks, something Kyiv has consistently rejected since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

The Swiss-hosted summit that starts Saturday is expected to attract some 90 countries and is aimed at promoting Ukrainian demands for a Russian withdrawal from its territory.

Switzerland has not invited Russia to the conference at the request of Ukraine. Leaders from China and Brazil have decided to skip the talks as they argue both Ukraine and Russia should sit at the table for any meaningful efforts toward a peace process. 

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/scholz-dismisses-putins-conditions-for-ukraine-peace-talks/80747570

Chinese premier lands in Australia on first such visit in 7 years

 Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Australia on Saturday on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China’s global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda.

His visit is the first by a Chinese premier in seven years and is expected to pave the way for President Xi Jinping’s first journey to Australia since 2014.

Bilateral relations collapsed during Australia’s previous conservative administration’s almost decade in power, with Beijing imposing a series of official and unofficial trade barriers in 2020 on Australian products which cost exporters billions of dollars.

This is the second stop of Li’s tour after New Zealand, and will end in Malaysia.

Before leaving New Zealand, the premier told an audience in the city of Auckland on Saturday that his country was committed to creating a first-class business environment and supporting foreign enterprises to develop in China, according to Chinese state media.

Li said there was vast potential for China and New Zealand to collaborate in areas such as green development and that Beijing welcomed New Zealand enterprises, such as dairy company Fonterra, that seized such opportunities, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

During the Australian leg of his travels which ends on Tuesday, China’s most powerful politician after Xi, is expected to visit Adelaide Zoo in the South Australia state capital where his Air China flight landed from Auckland.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas greeted Li on the Adelaide Airport tarmac.

Li will also visit a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant in the Kwinana Beach industrial estate in Western Australia state, as well as Australia’s Parliament House in the national capital Canberra.

China initiated a reset of the relationship after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party was elected in 2022.

Relations with the previous administration collapsed over legislation that banned covert foreign interference in Australian politics, the exclusion of Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei from rolling out the national 5G network due to security concerns, and Australia’s call for an independent investigation into the causes of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beijing imposed an array of official and unofficial trade blocks in 2020 on a range of Australian exports including coal, wine, barley and wood that cost up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year.

All the trade bans have now been lifted except for Australian live lobster exports. Trade Minister Don Farrell predicted that impediment would also be lifted soon after Li’s visit with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

“I’d be very confident that the visit this week will result in a very successful outcome for lobster producers,” Farrell told reporters Wednesday.

Many observers expect Australia will be more cautious about its future economic relationship with China after being subjected to what many see as economic coercion in recent years.

Australian National University China expert Benjamin Herscovitch describes an “emerging expectations gap” between Beijing and Canberra.

“Beijing, now that the coercion campaign is over, wants to … turn the page and launch into a more expansive, more positive, more cooperative bilateral relationship,” Herscovitch said.

“Canberra’s saying: ‘Look. Hold on. We want the trade restrictions gone and we want high-level diplomacy restored. But we’re not interested in deeper science and technology cooperation with China because we see that potentially from an Australian point of view as a security threat,’” Herscovitch added.

Li intends to visit Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia’s processing plant south of the Western Australia capital Perth on Tuesday to underscore China’s interest in investing in critical minerals, news media have reported. The plant produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide for electric vehicles.

Australia shares the United States’ concerns over China’s dominance in the critical minerals, which are essential components in the world’s transition to renewable energy sources.

Citing Australia’s national interests, Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently ordered five Chinese-linked companies to divest their shares in the rare earth mining company, Northern Minerals.

Less controversially, Li is expected to make a visit Sunday to Adelaide Zoo, which has been the home of China-born giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni since 2009.

The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper has reported Li will announce the pandas will be replaced by another breeding pair after they return to China in November.

While the bilateral economic relationship is recovering from plumbing new lows in recent years, the security relationship between the two free trading partners appears more tense.

An annual poll by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute foreign policy think tank released in June found 53% of Australian respondents saw China as more of a security threat than an economic partner.

Albanese has said he will raise with Li during an annual leaders’ meeting on Monday recent clashes between the two countries’ militaries in the South China Sea and Yellow Sea which Australia argues endangered Australian personnel.

The premier spent three days in New Zealand, a free trade partner with which China has enjoyed a more harmonious relationship than it has with Australia. Li described China and New Zealand as “good friends.”

His next stop will be Malaysia, where bilateral relations are further complicated by competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Li on Saturday: “China is one of New Zealand’s most important and consequential relationships.”

Li used the trip to express concerns at New Zealand’s contemplation of joining a military technology-sharing arrangement under Australia’s AUKUS pact with the United States and Britain. The pact’s primary aim is to provide Australia with a fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.

https://apnews.com/article/australia-new-zealand-china-li-qiang-bae15f02ff6af9b3384d33a54347e71e