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THE WAR ON FREE EXPRESSION… Liberals Decry Free Speech As A Threat To Democracy As Musk Offers To Buy Twitter

Leftists are decrying free speech as a threat to democracy after Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday he offered to buy Twitter.

The Washington Post opinion columnist Max Boot tweeted he is “frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter.”

“He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less,” Boot added.

MSNBC political analyst Anand Giridharadas compared Musk to an “invader” and criticized Musk’s promise to “unlock” Twitter’s potential.

Salon writer Matthew Rozsa said while he cares about freedom, he also cares about “factual precision” and said that Musk’s “attempted takeover of Twitter is a threat to the free world.”

PANICKED TWITTER BOARD WEIGHS OPTIONS TO STOP MUSK… REPORT: Twitter Board Eyes Poison Pill To Stop Elon Musk’s From Buying Company

Twitter’s board is reportedly considering using a poison pill in an attempt to stop Elon Musk’s ability to purchase the whole company.

A poison pill is a shareholder rights plan that would limit a single shareholder from purchasing too many shares and forcing the company into a sale, according to The New York Times.

The poison pill would allow Twitter’s board to either flood the market with shares or allow current shareholders to buy more shares at a discount, reported The New York Times. Musk can counter using a tender offer to put his offer to the shareholders instead of Twitter’s board.

“If the current Twitter board takes actions contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fiduciary duty,” Musk tweeted Thursday. “The liability they would thereby assume would be titanic in scale.”

MUSK: I’VE GOT BACKUP PLANS… Musk Says There Is A ‘Plan B’ If Twitter Doesn’t Sell To Him

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Thursday he has a Plan B if Twitter chooses not to sell to him.

Speaking during TED 2022 on why he offered to buy Twitter, Musk said it’s his “strong intuitive sense” that “having a public platform that is maximally trusted & broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”

“I don’t care about the economics at all,” Musk continued.

“Is there a Plan B?” TED head Chris Anderson asked, noting Musk already took off raising his offer off the table.

“There is,” Musk said as the crowd burst out into laughter.

“I think we’d like to hear a little bit about Plan B,” Anderson said.

“For another time, I think,” Musk said. The billionaire also noted he is not sure that he will “actually be able to acquire [Twitter].”

THE BIDEN PRICE HIKE… ‘Consumers Lose’: Biden’s Ethanol Gambit Will Send Food Prices Soaring, Critics Say

President Joe Biden’s latest attempt to ease consumers’ pain at the pump could lead already-surging food prices to increase further, experts and industry groups said.

Biden issued an emergency waiver Tuesday allowing gas stations nationwide to sell gasoline with 15% ethanol, pausing a federal environmental regulation that prohibits the corn-based biofuel mixture during the summer months to limit smog. American consumers are currently facing record-high pump prices and soaring inflation at levels not seen since 1981.

“It certainly would be expected to drive up food prices and it will likely hurt meat producers because they rely on the feed,” Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Daren Bakst told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT FORT BRAGG? SETH HARP, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: The Fort Bragg body count now stands at 101 confirmed stateside deaths since the start of 2020. Active-duty soldiers continued to die at a rate of one per week in Jan 2022, and there were two more deaths from “undetermined causes” Feb & March casualty reports not yet available

YESTERDAY… NY POST: 7 soldiers charged after Fort Bragg trooper’s severed head found washed ashore

Seven soldiers who went camping with a Fort Bragg paratrooper before his severed head washed up on a beach are facing courts-martial on conspiracy and a slew of other charges.

The North Carolina-based soldiers were the last to see decorated Spc. Enrique Roman-Martinez, 21, during their trip to Cape Lookout National Seashore for Memorial Day weekend in May 2020.

The Californian was reported missing on May 22 — six days before his severed head was found washed up on the shore. His body has never been found.

His homicide case remains open with a $50,000 reward, but was moved to “cold case status,” a spokeswoman for the Army Criminal Investigation Division said.

SETH HARP WROTE THIS JAW-DROPPER ON FORT BRAGG LAST APRIL… ROLLING STONE: THE FORT BRAGG MURDERS — At least 44 Fort Bragg soldiers died stateside in 2020 — several of them were homicides. Families want answers. But the Army isn’t giving any

‘PEOPLE CAN SMELL WEAKNESS, AND BIDEN REEKS OF IT’ … PATEL: How History Will View The Biden Years

When historians study the disaster that was the Biden administration, they will find many factors that contributed to the historic failure we are witnessing. At the top of the list is a president who is clearly just not up to the job. Whether due to age, cognitive decline or general ineptitude, Joe Biden has not been able to lead America. Nobody wants a weak president. People can smell weakness, and Biden reeks of it. The president put himself in a further hole by surrounding himself with a young staff driven more by a rigid, left-wing ideology than a desire to help the lives of everyday Americans. With a leader seemingly too weak to temper his team’s radical ideas, the results have been catastrophic.

Even with a corporate media desperate to keep propping him up, Biden’s approval ratings are at all-time lows. Support among men has fallen through the floor. More troubling, his support from the normally rock-solid black and Hispanic base of the Democratic Party has dropped dramatically. The breakdown in the Democratic Party is so complete that their only remaining hope is that Republicans somehow find a way to screw up enough to give them another chance. Praying for a Republican disaster may be the Democrats’ only shot. That’s not generally a far-fetched scenario, but this time, their deficit may just be insurmountable.

PSAKI SAYS IT’S ‘NOTHING PERSONAL,’ BUT PETER DOOCY IS AN OBEDIENT STOOGE… Jen Psaki Agrees Peter Doocy Sounds Like A ‘Stupid Son Of A B*tch’ During ‘Pod Save America’ Appearance

White House press secretary Jen Psaki reportedly agreed Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy sounds like a “stupid son of a b*tch” during a Thursday “Pod Save America” live recording.

Psaki was asked if Doocy is a “stupid son of a bitch” or if “he just plays one on TV.” President Joe Biden previously called Doocy a “stupid son of a bitch” in January as he attempted to ask about inflation and its potential “political liability” for the Democrats in the midterm elections.

“He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a bitch,” the press secretary said, according to Politico White House correspondent Eugene Daniels.

REPORT: WHITE HOUSE COVERED UP DOG ATTACK DETAILS… White House Downplayed The Extent To Which American Patriot And World’s Greatest Dog Major Was Biting Officials Around The Biden Admin

Secret Service agents are reportedly outraged by the White House downplaying the injuries caused by President Joe Biden’s dog Major.

Thirty-six pages of communications from the Secret Service showed that Major was responsible for numerous incidents of biting last year, many of which caused puncture wounds, tore clothes, and caused bruising, according to Judicial Watch. Newly released documents show that Secret Service agents were furious that the White House washed over the attacks on personnel, the New York Post reported. In one incident, Major tore a coat valued at $500, according to the New York Post.

“As Major came around the corner, he attacked me unprovoked, tearing the wool overcoat I was wearing that evening,” the Agent wrote after the incident. “This attack occurred through no fault of my own and I could not avoid this unusual circumstance due to the nature and requirements of my position.”

AIMLESS JOE… Watch As Biden Shakes Hands With Thin Air After North Carolina Speech (VIDEO)

President Joe Biden appeared to offer a handshake to nobody in particular after finishing his Thursday speech in Greensboro, North Carolina.

When the speech ended, the president turned to his right and put out his hand in thin air for a few moments before turning around and roaming the stage for several seconds. He then proceeded to the other side of the stage to shake hands with attendees in the audience.

The president also unexpectedly turned his back to the audience while telling a story about his father.

“Excuse my back, but I’m looking at you,” he said.

UKRAINE… RUSSIAN SHIP SINKS… WAPO: Russia says flagship missile cruiser has sunk after explosion off coast of Ukraine

The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet sank after an attack from Ukrainian forces triggered a “significant explosion” as the vessel floated off the coast of Ukraine, U.S. officials said Thursday, with Moscow offering a competing claim about the cause of the destruction.

Russia’s Defense Ministry acknowledged the sinking but said its missile cruiser — the Moskva — had been damaged after a fire. Earlier that day, the hobbled warship was moving under its own power, heading to the Crimean port city of Sevastopol for repairs, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. The episode buoys the morale of Ukrainian forces, who have repelled the Russian invasion for 50 days and are girding for a new phase of fierce fighting in the country’s east.

The explosion occurred Wednesday, when the ship was roughly 75 miles from Odessa, a seaside hub in Ukraine’s south, a senior U.S. defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon. Odessa’s governor said the Moskva was hit by a Ukrainian anti-ship missile, an assertion backed by another American official familiar with the matter, who confirmed the strike but could not verify the specific weapons system used.

CALLING ALL PATRIOTS: Tesla CEO Elon Musk made an offer Thursday to purchase Twitter entirely for over $40 billion. He previously bought a 9.2% stake in the company, making him the largest single shareholder. Patriots, what do you think Musk should change first if he takes over Twitter? Let us know in the form .

“It’s a high price, and your shareholders will love it,” Mr. Musk said. “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”

NEW LOW JOE… BIDEN BOTTOMS OUT AT 33 PERCENT APPROVAL… QUINNIPIAC…

While 33 percent of Americans approve of the way President Biden is handling his job, 54 percent disapprove with 13 percent not offering an opinion. Biden’s 33 percent job approval ties the low that he received in a Quinnipiac University poll on January 12, 2022 when his job approval rating was a negative 33 – 53 percent.

In today’s poll, Democrats approve (76 – 12 percent) of Biden’s job performance, while independents disapprove (56 – 26 percent) and Republicans disapprove (94 – 3 percent).

Among registered voters, 35 percent approve of Biden’s job performance, while 55 percent disapprove with 10 percent not offering an opinion. Biden’s 35 percent job approval among registered voters ties the low that he received in a Quinnipiac University poll on January 12, 2022 when his job approval rating was a negative 35 – 54 percent.

MORE… SHOCK NUMBERS… BIDEN FALLS AGAIN WITH HISPANICS, PLUMMETS WITH *YOUNG ADULTS*…

TOTAL 33% APPROVAL / 54% DISAPPROVAL

REP 3/94 … DEM 76/12 … IND 26/56

MEN 29/59 … WOM 37/50

WHITE, 4 YR COLL DEG 52/42 … WHITE, NO 4 YR COLL DEG 20/67

AGE 18-34 21/58 … AGE 35-49 36/52 … AGE 50-64 35/58 … AGE 65+ 48/46

WHITE MEN 29/63 … WHITE WOMEN 32/56

WHITE 31/59 … BLACK 63/25 … HISPANIC 26/54

HOW CAN BIDEN STOP THE BLEEDING AMONG YOUNG ADULTS? … ‘A STRATEGY IS EMERGING: BRIBE ‘EM’ … ED MORRISEY:

“Dwindling support among young voters is an existential concern for the Democratic Party,” said one analyst about those numbers. More recently, a YouGov poll taken this past weekend has Biden at 37/53 in overall job approval but the age demographic that’s most sour on him is — you guessed it — young adults. He’s at 31/53 among the 18-34 crowd, five points worse than his next worst age group. And again, young adults have the smallest share who say they “strongly support” Biden.

Democrats are keenly aware of this problem and are consulting with pollster John Della Volpe, who specializes in surveying young adults, on what to do. Along with the usual “listen to them, hear their concerns” yadda yadda, a strategy is emerging: Bribe ’

Della Volpe listed a handful of policy areas where potential executive actions from Biden “would very quickly capture the attention of [young] people.” The list includes student debt, mental health, climate change and dealing with the rising cost of living…

Major progressive outside groups, though, think Biden can go much further. They argue that he should cancel student debt altogether or work more aggressively on his climate agenda.

NextGen America’s president, Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, said “young people want to see action, and that’s why we’re yelling as loud as we can, ‘please take action on student debt,’ because this is within the power of the Biden administration.” Last week, the Biden administration announced another four-month extension of the pause on monthly loan payments and interest.

Coincidentally, Chuck Schumer announced just this afternoon that pausing student loan payments is insufficient and that “the canceling of student debt is the way to go,” adding that “the White House seems more open to it than ever before.” I’ll bet.

SCHUMER TELLS ACTIVISTS HE’S PRESSURING BIDEN ON STUDENT DEBT… HILL: Schumer: White House closer to canceling student debt ‘than ever before’

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told activists on Wednesday that President Biden and his senior advisers are warming up to the idea of forgiving student debt, insisting they are closer to pulling the trigger “than ever before.”

Schumer, who has repeatedly called for canceling up to $50,000 in student debt per borrower, predicted that’s where the president and his administration will ultimately land.

“I have talked personally to the president on this issue a whole bunch of times. I have told him that this is more important than just about anything else that he can do on his own,” he told the State of Student Debt Summit in a virtual event Wednesday.

“We’re making progress folks. We are making progress. The White House seems more open to it than ever before,” he said.

SUBWAY SHOOTER CAUGHT… NY POST: Suspect Frank James nabbed in Brooklyn subway shooting

The madman who opened fire on a Brooklyn subway car and left 29 injured, 10 of them shot has been taken into custody, law enforcement sources told The Post.

Frank James, 62, was named by cops as the sole person of interest after a man in a gas mask, helmet, and neon construction vest threw two smoke grenades and opened fire on straphangers while riding the Manhattan-bound N train just before 8:30 a.m.

FLASHBACK… NO MORE COPS ON SUBWAY PLATFORMS, AOC SAID IN 2019… FOX: Brooklyn shooting: AOC, other New York Democrats slammed 2019 proposal to put more MTA cops in NYC subways

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., along with other members of Congress from New York, voiced their opposition to a 2019 proposal which would have placed 500 additional Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officers in New York City subways.

In a letter sent to then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the lawmakers addressed the MTA’s plan to hire additional cops and instead said that funding should be spent on “desperately needed resources” like “subway, bus, maintenance, and service improvements, as well as protecting riders and transit workers from assault rather than in the over-policing of our communities.”

At the time, lawmakers said the plan was “not cost-effective” and cited statistics from the New York Police Department (NYPD) as they claimed “major felonies committed on the subway have decreased.”

“The subway system is now safer than before,” they wrote. In addition, the legislators said it was “imperative to reconsider the use of operating funds to pay for additional officers and to find alternate streams of revenue to avert a larger budget crisis.”

SUBWAY SHOOTER HAD LONG ONLINE HISTORY OF ADVOCATING FOR VIOLENCE, ‘EXTERMINATION’… BYRON YORK: NYPD: Subway shooting suspect Frank James, now in custody, had nine prior arrests in New York, three prior arrests in New Jersey.

… BYRON LAYS OUT IN DETAIL THAT JAMES BELIEVED A WHITE GENOCIDE OF BLACK AMERICANS WAS COMING… WHO CONVINCED HIM OF THIS?…

WHAT HAS THE FBI BEEN DOING? … NEWSWEEK: Brooklyn Subway Attack Suspect Previously Known to FBI and Cleared: Source

A federal law enforcement source told Newsweek that a suspect in Tuesday morning’s Brooklyn subway attack was previously known to the FBI and was entered into the Guardian lead system in New Mexico, though he was cleared after multiple interviews in 2019.

CLINTON LAWYER CAN’T ESCAPE TRIAL… FOX: Durham probe: Judge denies Sussmann motion to dismiss case; trial to begin next month

The federal judge presiding over the case of former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann denied his request to dismiss the case brought against him by Special Counsel John Durham Wednesday, ordering that the trial go forward as planned next month.

Sussmann, in February, filed a motion to dismiss the case against him. Sussmann was charged with making a false statement to a federal agent, and has pleaded not guilty.

In a court filing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper outlined the charges against Sussmann brought by the Durham impaneled grand jury last year.

Cooper detailed Durham’s indictment, which alleges that Sussmann told then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016, less than two months before the 2016 presidential election, that he was not doing work “for any client” when he requested and held a meeting in which he presented “purported data and ‘white papers’ that allegedly demonstrated a covert communications channel” between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, which has ties to the Kremlin.

FEDS RENEW GOVERNMENT UNIFORM ORDERS… NYT: The C.D.C. extends the mask mandate on planes and public transit another two weeks.

Despite great pressure from airlines, the hospitality industry and Republican lawmakers to lift the rule requiring masks on planes and trains, in airports and on some buses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would extend the federal transportation mask requirement for two weeks on Wednesday, five days before it was set to expire. The mask mandate is now set to expire on May 3, the agency said in a statement.

The C.D.C. cited the spread of the Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus known as BA.2, which the agency said now makes up more than 85 percent of new U.S. virus cases, in its decision to extend the mask requirement.

“In order to assess the potential impact the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, the C.D.C. order will remain in place at this time,” the agency said in a statement, noting that it would be monitoring this variant while it determined whether to extend the rule yet again.

FLASHBACK… FALL 2020… DOD STUDY FINDS YOU’D NEED TO SIT NEXT TO A COVID POSITIVE PATIENT FOR 54 STRAIGHT HOURS FOR A CHANCE TO BECOME INFECTED… FEDERAL NEWS NETWORK: DoD study suggests it’s very hard to contract COVID-19 on an airplane

DoD’s in-air, on ground testing indicates commercial aircraft present low risk for COVID transmission

In the midst of pandemic, all available evidence shows it’s a very good idea to keep oneself away from large gatherings of other people and to avoid unnecessary travel. But if you really need to go somewhere, it’s extraordinarily unlikely that you’ll contract the virus during a plane flight.

That’s according to a just-finished study by U.S. Transportation Command and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which officials say is the largest study of airborne particles in airplanes that’s ever been conducted.

Defense officials launched the research to help determine the risks of moving service members and their families aboard contracted commercial aircraft — most commonly the Boeing 777 and 767 jets collectively dubbed the “Patriot Express.” The test estimated you’d need to be sitting on the same airplane with a COVID-infected passenger for 54 straight hours before you inhaled enough viral particles to become infected.

THE LONGEST DIRECT FLIGHT IN THE WORLD IS SINGAPORE TO NEW YORK (SINGAPORE AIRLINES)… 17 HOURS & 50 MINUTES…

MEN SENTENCED TO WOMEN’S PRISON… WHAT HAPPENED NEXT IS OBVIOUS… DAILY MAIL: Two inmates at all-women’s New Jersey jail are PREGNANT after both had sex with transgender prisoners: ACLU won battle to house 27 trans inmates there

Two women at New Jersey’s only all-women’s prison have both fallen pregnant after having sex with transgender inmates.

The pregnant women, who were not identified, are housed at the embattled Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, in Clinton, which New Jersey Governor announced plans to close last year.

Prison bosses said that in both instances, the sex was consensual.

NJ GOV TRIES TO WEASEL OUT OF 2ND GRADE SEX AGENDA… FOX: NJ Gov. Murphy distances himself from 2nd graders learning gender identity, calls for age-appropriate content

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy seemed to soften his resistance to criticism of the state’s recently leaked gender education materials.

Murphy recognized for the first time Wednesday undesirable lesson plans in the state’s school system. The governor previously said he’s willing to “entertain” the proposed gender identity lessons, adding that parents should have some say in the matter. In his most recent statement, the governor has gone a step further and explicitly acknowledged an unspecified “handful of sample lesson plans” that his office requests be discarded. However, Murphy still blames the majority of the public backlash to the lessons on “intentionally misrepresented”

“Unfortunately, our learning standards have been intentionally misrepresented by some politicians seeking to divide and score political points,” Murphy wrote Wednesday. “At the same time, we have seen a handful of sample lesson plans being circulated that have not been adopted in our school districts and do not accurately reflect the spirit of the standards.

“Any proposed educational content that is not age-appropriate should be immediately revised by local officials,” he added.

MICKEY GETS A WAKE-UP CALL… NR: Poll: 68 Percent of Americans Less Likely to Do Business with Disney over Sexualized Content

More than 68 percent of general-election voters say they are less likely to do business with Disney after reports that it plans to include sexual ideology in new content for children, a new poll found.

The Trafalgar Group’s new National Issues Survey on Disney, which was sponsored by the Convention of States Action, found that more than 69 percent of respondents said they were likely to support “family-friendly alternatives” to Disney.

The survey comes after an executive producer admitted to advancing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” to insert queerness into children’s animation during a Disney staff meeting on Florida’s Parental Rights in Education legislation last month.

UKRAINE TAKES OUT A RUSSIAN WARSHIP? … REUTERS: Russia says crippled warship to be towed back to port, as Ukraine claims missile hit

Russia said the crew of its Black Sea fleet flagship were evacuated on Thursday and measures were being taken to tow the ship back to port after an explosion of ammunition on board that Ukraine said was caused by a missile strike.

Russia’s defence ministry said the fire on the Soviet-era missile cruiser Moskva had been contained, but left the ship badly damaged. It did not acknowledge the ship had been attacked and said the cause of the fire was under investigation. read more

Ukraine’s southern military command said that it hit the warship with a Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship missile and that it had started to sink.

Reuters was unable to verify either side’s statements.

VARIOUS COUNTRY LEADERS VISIT KYIV… AP: Presidents from countries on Russia’s doorstep visit Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The presidents of four countries on Russia’s doorstep visited Ukraine on Wednesday and underscored their support for the embattled country, where they saw heavily damaged buildings and demanded accountability for what they called war crimes carried out by Russian forces.

The visit by the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia was a strong show of solidarity from the countries on NATO’s eastern flank, three of them like Ukraine once part of the Soviet Union. The leaders traveled by train to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to meet with their counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and visited Borodyanka, one of the nearby towns where evidence of atrocities was found after Russian troops withdrew to focus on the country’s east.

OVER THE WEEKEND… WSJ: Boris Johnson Tours Kyiv

His latest effort was a personal trip to Kyiv to visit President Volodymyr Zelensky on the weekend, including a one-on-one meeting and a stroll through the streets.

BIDEN MIGHT SEND A CABINET OFFICIAL… BUT PROBABLY NOT KAMALA… POLITICO: U.S. weighs sending top-level official to meet Zelenskyy in Kyiv

The Biden administration is holding internal discussions about sending a high-level official to Kyiv to show further support to Ukraine, two U.S. officials told POLITICO.

No decision on the potential visit has yet been made as deliberations continue inside the White House. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris remain candidates to represent the U.S. in the Ukrainian capital, though it’s far more likely that a Cabinet member like Secretary of State Antony Blinken or Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will go, the officials said.

CALLING ALL PATRIOTS: A recent poll from Quinnipiac University found that only 26% of Hispanic voters approve of Biden’s job performance, standing significantly lower than the president’s 31% of white and 63% of black approval. Patriots, why do you think Biden’s support among Hispanics is dropping? Let us know in the form .