“The Biden administration is sharply reducing the number of U.S. antimissile systems in the Middle East in a major realignment of its military footprint there as it focuses the armed services on challenges from China and Russia, administration officials said. The Pentagon is pulling approximately eight Patriot antimissile batteries from countries including Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, according to officials. Another antimissile system known as a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad system, is being withdrawn from Saudi Arabia, and jet fighter squadrons assigned to the region are being reduced, those officials said.”

“The redeployment includes hundreds of troops who are members of units that operate or support those systems. The move comes as the military plans a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan by this summer and after the U.S. last fall cut its force posture in Iraq by half – or 2,500 troops – because it said Iraqi forces could secure the country. The latest reductions, which haven’t been previously reported, began earlier this month, following a June 2 call in which Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin informed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the changes, officials said. Most of the military hardware being removed is coming from Saudi Arabia, officials said.”

“The U.S. moved Patriot antimissile systems to Iraq after Iran in January 2020 fired missiles at the Al Asad base in western Iraq, where U.S. troops are stationed. The Iranian attack was a response to a U.S. drone attack that killed Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian military leader. The Pentagon began sending Patriot antimissile batteries and the Thaad system to Saudi Arabia after a Saudi oil facility was attacked by Iranian drones in September 2019. The decision to remove some of the defensive systems reflects a Pentagon view that the risk of escalating hostilities between the U.S. and Iran has diminished as the Biden administration pursues nuclear talks with Tehran and has signaled its intention to ease sanctions if the 2015 nuclear deal is restored” – Wall Street Journal.

Politico: “Florida Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Friday she is going after a charity run by Sidney Powell, a former attorney for former President Donald Trump who amplified conspiracy theories in the wake of the 2020 election cycle. Fried’s office alleges that the Powell-run charity, known as Defending the Democracy, did not properly register with the state and has been deceptively soliciting donations on its website, which lists a West Palm Beach address.”

“‘Defending the Republic is an affiliate with Sidney Powell, former attorney for former President Donald Trump, and established as a legal front involved in conspiracies in the so-called rigged presidential election,’ Fried said during a press conference. ‘If you take advantage of Floridians, if you think the rules do not apply to you, we will release a Kraken of our own,’ Fried added. The group, which did not return a request seeking comment through its website, is continuing to push the idea the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, a sentiment now informally dubbed the ‘Big Lie.’ The site includes links to lawsuits filed by the group and a section where people can submit what they think is evidence of voter fraud.78 The group now has 21 days to respond to the administrative complaint filed by Fried’s office, which is the state’s top charity regulator. If it doesn’t, the office will push for default judgment and a fine that could be up to $15,000. If the group doesn’t pay, Fried said her office could take the matter to court.”

Every Trump voter in America should end their banking relationship with Wells Fargo immediately. Every GOP politician should return and refuse money from them.

Make them pay a price for their treatment of conservatives.

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 18, 2021

We have no idea what Wells Fargo did to MAGA Nation that Charles is so angry about. Whatever it is it’s hilarious to see him and his ilk so upset at the exemplar of Right Wing Capitalism, the Joker to Liz Warren’s Batwoman, the bank that awarded luxury box Lakers tickets to the branch managers who had the lowest number of account holders who opted out of overdraft fees, Wells Goddamn Fargo. Must’ve been pretty bad if they’re this dead to a “Republican” influencer like Kirk.

Once again, the Masterpiece Cakeshop run by Jack Phillips tries to claw its way back into the spotlight, this time by refusing to bake a cake for a trans woman’s birthday, a violation of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, CNN reports.

A state court in Denver ruled against Masterpiece and fined the business $500, the maximum fine under state law.  CADA was updated in 2016 to prevent discrimination against LGBTQ people by businesses and organizations.

Phillips became a cause celebre in conservative circles for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple in 2012, claiming that it violated his religious beliefs.  The case made it to the US Supreme Court, which found in Phillips’ favor because the state law did not explicitly include LGBTQ people as a protected class at the time.

A 54-year-old Berkeley, California man was arrested for assaulting Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was walking on a sidewalk in downtown Oakland, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

In Oakland to help promote and visit local businesses, Newsom was accosted by the man between stops at a barber shop and a pizza parlor.  The governor’s security team escorted Newsom away from the man while California Highway Patrol officers detained the man, whose name was not released.

“This morning, the Governor was approached by an aggressive individual. Members of the Governor’s security detail removed the Governor from the situation and the individual was arrested by CHP officers,” the CHP, which provides security for the governor, said in a statement.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelmingly voted to draft a “teaching document” that will chastise American Catholics, particularly politicians, who support a woman’s right to choose their reproductive health decisions, specifically abortion.

According to the Associated Press, the bishops voted 168 in favor of and 55 against writing the letter that would stress the Church’s anti-abortion stance and the sanctity of life.  The proposal was opposed by Pope Francis and his American supporters who sought to stay out of the political issue of abortion.

More than half of American Catholics support legalized abortion of some degree, according to a poll taken last year by Pew Research.  Lapsed Catholics–those who no longer regularly attend Mass–are far more likely to support pro-choice legislations and politicians, and they cite the Church’s position on reproductive rights as a reason for them leaving the Church.

“Lisa Murkowski is bad for Alaska. Her vote to confirm Biden’s Interior Secretary was a vote to kill long sought for, and approved, ANWR, and Alaska jobs. Murkowski has got to go! Kelly Tshibaka is the candidate who can beat Murkowski – and she will. Kelly is a fighter who stands for Alaska values and America First. She is MAGA all the way, pro-energy, strong on the Border, tough on Crime and totally supports our Military and our great Vets. Kelly is a powerful supporter of the Second Amendment and JOBS! I look forward to campaigning in Alaska for Kelly Tshibaka. She has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” – Statement from the Orange Warlord.

https://youtu.be/RSzoM998MRI

Former vice president Mike Pence was drowned out by shouts of “Traitor!” from the crowd at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Orlando, Florida as he opened his address to the gathering.

Trump loyalists believe Pence betrayed Trump by certifying the 2020 Electoral College votes, as was his duty as vice president, after the Capitol was attacked by domestic terrorists on January 6th.

Although he was replaced as Prime Minister of Israel last Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to leave Beit Aghion, the official residence of the Israeli Prime Minister, and continues to host dignitaries there like he’s still in charge.

The New York Times reports that while there is typically a grace period for ousted prime ministers to leave the residence due to the fast turn-around of the administration, Netanyahu has not provided Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett a timetable for his departure.  Netanyahu has told allies that he expects to be reappointed Prime Minister again soon, although the current coalition government has a four-year plan to stay in power, including a transition to a new prime minister in two years.

Technically the head of the opposition party in the Knesset, Netanyahu has hosted dignitaries at Beit Aghion as though he were still head of state.  One of his guests:  former United States UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who stopped by earlier this week.  A Republican, Haley was appointed to her position by Donald Trump, who also refuses to acknowledge he lost reelection.

Video released by the Justice Department and obtained by CNN shows New Jersey gym owner Scott Fairlamb screaming at, shoving, and punching DC cop. He’s pleaded not guilty, per CNN’s Marshall Cohen. Just the kind of people Ron Johnson said “love law enforcement, love America“.

Federal investigators have expanded their inquiry stemming from the child sex trafficking and financial crimes involving former Republican county official Joel Greenberg and Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz to include political donors and others connected to local politics, ABC News reports.

Greenberg has pleaded guilty to a half dozen charges including money laundering, identity theft and child sex trafficking; he is reportedly cooperating with federal prosecutors.  Gaetz is reportedly under investigation for child sex trafficking and misuse of funds for allegedly transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of sexual relations.  He’s also accused of paying for sex with women introduced to him by Greenberg.  Gaetz denies the charges.

Besides expanding the probe into Gaetz use of prostitutes, investigators are examining people who got contacts from Seminole County while Greenberg was the county’s tax collector.  Greenberg has been accused of using county funds on unnecessary and extravagant goods and services, like weapons for the county tax collectors, hiring an outside PR consultant and spending more than $1.65 million to staff his office with friends and allies. 

So I am Now VERIFIED on @twitter. I did not SEEK this “status” —-but I recognize the “check mark” comes with BOAT LOADS of Perks, Free Stuff and invitations to VIP Euro PARTIES that most people can’t even Fathom. But I pledge to “keep it real” and not “forget where I came from”

— Greg Kelly (@gregkellyusa) June 18, 2021

Thus ends the mini-mystery of whether or not this is a parody account. Every single past tweet by Greg Kelly here on National Zero now bears the blue check retroactively and it is now safe to conclude that the Newsmax host and Former Marine aviator really is that fucking crazy.

Wisconsin Republican Congressman Glenn Grothman – the guy famous for saying Black Lives Matter “doesn’t like the old-fashioned family” – introduced the “Ending Critical Race Theory in D.C. Public Schools Act”, Jessie Opoien of the Capital Times reported Friday. The act is pretty self-explanatory, as is the fact that a Wisconsin hick says he should be deciding what a public school system whose students are 67% Black can teach them about American history.

Atlantic writer Adam Serwer summed it up pretty well in a reply to Opoien: “If you would never in a million years even send your kid to a DC public school you should probably shut the fuck up about what gets taught in them,” adding “And before the morons show up, I went to DCPS and I loved it.”

Stocks tumbled after St. Louis Federal Reserve President Jim Bullard said in an interview that it’s possible the Fed could increase interest rates a quarter point as early as late 2022 if the US economy continues its recovery, CNBC reports.

Earlier this week, Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell said that the board foresees two separate quarter-point rate increases in 2023 and tapering off its $120 billion per month bond repurchase program as the US economy improves.

“Overall, it’s very good news,” Bullard, appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Friday morning, said of the economic trajectory during the reopening. “You love to have an economy growing as fast as this one, you love to have a labor market improving the way this one has improved.”

“For Father’s Day in 2020, what Donald Trump mostly wanted was to avoid his son-in-law. It was Jared Kushner who had talked the president into hiring Brad Parscale to run a campaign that was now, just months before the election, in freefall. And when most Americans rejected Trump’s unreasonably truculent response to the civil unrest that was sweeping the country, the president also blamed Kushner. The frustration and anguish that had accrued among Black Americans after decades of debasing systemic racism had been emphatically – finally – cracked open by the death of George Floyd, who’d been murdered by police a few weeks earlier. As protesters poured into the streets of the nation’s capital and major municipalities, Trump privately told advisers that he wished he’d been quicker to support police and more aggressive in his pushback against protesters.”

“Trump had staked nearly his entire campaign in 2016 around a law-and-order image, and now groaned that the criminal justice reform that Kushner had persuaded him to support made him look weak and – even worse – hadn’t earned him any goodwill among Black voters. ‘I’ve done all this stuff for the Blacks – it’s always Jared telling me to do this,’ Trump said to one confidante on Father’s Day. ‘And they all fucking hate me, and none of them are going to vote for me.’ The weekend after Father’s Day, Trump canceled a trip to Bedminster at the last minute – after Kushner had already left for the New Jersey golf club – and instead scheduled a round of political meetings at the White House without him. A month after the murder of Floyd, Trump was dumping on his son-in-law, and he was also abandoning the chance to improve his relationship with Black leaders and Black voters during a particularly tumultuous moment in U.S. race relations and the presidential campaign. The story of this month, from the murder of Floyd to Trump’s assertion that his outreach to Black voters wasn’t working, is one of missed opportunities and bungled messaging, even in the eyes of some of Trump’s closest advisers, who described their firsthand accounts with me during the past year” – Wall Street Journal White House reporter Michael Bender, previewing his book ‘Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost‘ at Politico.

The use and abuse of prescription opioids have cost Huntington, West Virginia and surrounding Cabell County more than $3.3 billion in lost lives and excess health care costs, a Harvard health economist has found.

According to the Associated Press, Thomas McGuire, professor of health economics at Harvard Medical School, testified in a civil lawsuit brought by the city and county against drug distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp., accusing the companies of pushing opioid use to increase their profits and thereby fueling the addiction crisis in the community.

With a population of 92,000, Cabell County is a center for the opioid trade in West Virginia.  The fatality rate from opioids is three times higher in the county than the rest of West Virginia, and ten times higher than the national average.

“State Republicans’ stab at election reform has confused the hell out of the 67 county elections supervisors from around Florida. The supervisors vented at a summer conference Wednesday with Florida Division of Elections director Maria Matthews at Tampa’s Water Street Marriott. ‘We’re all still struggling with how vague some of the new things put into law are,’ Okaloosa County election supervisor Paul Lux told the Tampa Bay Times. ‘We need answers.’ If supervisors are confused about SB 90, which is already facing four separate lawsuits, voters likely will be too. ‘Some of this is unworkable. Some of it just doesn’t make much sense. Some of it seems to disenfranchise voters,’ Leon County supervisor Mark Earley told the Times” – Axios.

Bloomberg: “The European Union lifted travel restrictions for U.S. residents, in the latest step toward a return to normal flying despite concerns over the spread of potentially dangerous coronavirus variants. Albania, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Macau, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Taiwan were also added to a so-called ‘white list’ of countries from which non-essential travel is allowed. The new rules will take effect within days, as soon as they are published in the Official Journal of the EU. While some EU member states already allow vaccinated Americans to visit, inclusion in the white list means that restrictions will be lifted across the bloc. It also means that countries can allow quarantine-free travel from the U.S., independently of vaccination status.”

“The move will provide a boost for major carriers such as Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG that ply the profitable transatlantic corridors along with their American counterparts. Long-distance travel has been hit hard by restrictions brought on by the pandemic. The decision is ‘great news for the EU economies and all transatlantic travel supply chain participants,’ said Martin Ferguson, vice president of public affairs at corporate travel agency American Express Global Business Travel. ‘We anticipate a strong return of bookings on these routes.'”

Russia's state TV plays another clip of Tucker Carlson, quoting Putin's questions about the Capitol insurrectionists. Kremlin propagandists conclude: "We hit the mark. Putin was heard. Bullseye." They add that this proves they should continue influencing public opinion in the US. pic.twitter.com/EWOV7bNGfb

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) June 18, 2021

Cyber Ninjas’ chief executive Doug Logan is the heart and soul of the company.  He’s also apparently the sales department, human resource team, the purchasing office and the catch-all general mailbox, CNN reports.

You see, when you call the Cyber Ninjas office and get in their phone tree, no matter what option you try, you get connected to Doug Logan’s voice mail.  Three for sales?  “Hi, this is Doug Logan…”  Four for HR?  “Hi, this is Doug Logan….”  You get the picture.

Logan’s profile has been very low as his company takes on its first ever election ballot recount.  He prefers to have others speak for him and his company.  His performance at an April 22nd press conference may explain why:  he repeated debunked election conspiracy theories that were questioned by reporters.  At the end, he claimed his beliefs didn’t matter; his job was to ensure voters had confidence in the election process.