Former U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher to lead data firm Palantir’s defense business

WASHINGTON – The data analytics and security firm Palantir has hired former Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher to lead its defense business, the company said Thursday.

Former U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher to lead data firm Palantir’s defense business

Previously:

After leaving Congress early, Mike Gallagher joins Packers-Microsoft venture capital firm

Lawmaker Who Led TikTok Ban Bill Joins Private Surveillance Firm

A study linking popular weight loss drug to suicide risk again raises long-standing safety questions

Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 to connect with a trained counselor, or visit the 988 Lifeline website.

People taking semaglutide, the popular medication for diabetes and weight loss, are more likely to report having thoughts of suicide compared with those taking other drugs, according to a new study of an international drug safety database. But the finding is the latest see-saw of scientific evidence on the risk of depression and suicide tied to the popular medications — and critics say evidence that the drugs cause problems with mood is limited.

A study linking popular weight loss drug to suicide risk again raises long-standing safety questions

Related:

Ian Douglas, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine:

I am an epidemiologist, currently funded by GlaxoSmithKline. I initially studied physiology at BSc and PhD level in Manchester. Since then, I spent several years at the UK Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and in the pharmaceutical industry investigating adverse effects of drugs – both in clinical trials and post-marketing. I completed the MSc in epidemiology at LSHTM in 2005.

Previously:

Medicare to cover obesity drugs, but not for weight loss

Wegovy, Rybelsus, and Ozempic, are the different brand names for Semaglutide. They have a black box warning for Medullary thyroid cancer.* 🤦🏼‍♀️

Related:

Wegovy side effects: What you should know

*Obesity and Cancer

Everything We Learned From Oprah’s Weight Loss Special

Mounjaro:

Using Mounjaro may increase your risk of developing thyroid cancer.

Republicans Pump Brakes on KOSA After Realizing It Could Censor Them Too 🤭

from the always-think-of-how-your-worst-enemy-will-use-this-law dept

For a while, we’ve been pointing out how terrible KOSA (the Kids Online Safety Act) is. Our main concern is that the bill would fundamentally lead to the suppression of all kinds of speech. That’s because the “duty of care” provision, while limited, would allow officials (mostly at the FTC, which can get partisan) to argue that certain types of results were due to a design failure, and companies would seek to suppress content, rather than face the potential liability.

Republicans Pump Brakes on KOSA After Realizing It Could Censor Them Too

President Maduro Responds to Lula and Petro’s ‘Proposals

Twitter

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro responded to his Brazilian and Colombian counterparts’ interventionist statements regarding Venezuela’s presidential elections.

President Maduro Responds to Lula and Petro’s ‘Proposals

Related:

For more about Mark Feierstein, author of ‘How to Stop a Coup’, see ‘Coups, Massacres And Contras: The Legacy Of Washington’s New Point Man In Latin America

Election to the presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela — a Joint Statement from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico

Leopoldo López (Venezuela)

María Corina Machado is the female Javier Milei (aka US Puppet)

2024 Venezuelan Presidential election

China’s enormous subsidies come from trading profits. US and European subsidies come from taxpayers.

Inside China Business.

CATL and SMIC are two giant Chinese companies that are often singled out by Western think tanks as two firms who benefit from China’s subsidies, at the expense of foreign competition.

But all industrialized countries employ government subsidies, which help favored domestic industries grow. China, however, uniquely can invest in preferred sectors by channeling its massive trading surpluses, and providing low-cost access to its world-leading supply chains and logistics systems.

In contrast, North American and European companies who seek government incentives and subsidies are competing with other spending priorities, as all the funds come from taxpayers. This reality requires of companies seeking government help to do so through proxies, lobbying efforts, and through think-tanks who create research that can be published and used by lawmakers to justify the use of taxpayer funds.

China’s enormous subsidies come from trading profits. US and European subsidies come from taxpayers

MacArthur’s Last Stand Against a Winless War

If war breaks out in Asia, the U.S. won’t send ground troops. Take note, Philippines!

The Strategy of Denial, pp 117-118

MacArthur’s Last Stand Against a Winless War

Never get involved in a land war in Asia, MacArthur had told Kennedy, because if you do, you will be repeating the same mistake the Japanese made in World War II—deploying millions of soldiers in a futile attempt to win a conflict that cannot be won.

Kennedy appreciated MacArthur’s soothing judgment on Cuba (and would soon change the military’s top leadership—perhaps in keeping with MacArthur’s views), but then shifted the subject to Laos and Vietnam, where communist insurgencies were gaining strength. The Congress, he added, was pressuring him to deploy U.S. troops in response. MacArthur disagreed vehemently: “Anyone wanting to commit ground troops to Asia should have his head examined,” he said. That same day, Kennedy memorialized what MacArthur told him: “MacArthur believes it would be a mistake to fight in Laos,” he wrote in a memorandum of the meeting, adding, “He thinks our line should be Japan, Formosa, and the Philippines.” MacArthur’s warning about fighting in Asia impressed Kennedy, who repeated it in the months ahead and especially whenever military leaders urged him to take action. “Well now,” the young president would say in his lilting New England twang, “you gentlemen, you go back and convince General MacArthur, then I’ll be convinced.” So it is that MacArthur’s warning (which has come down to us as “never get involved in a land war in Asia”), entered American lore as a kind of Nicene Creed of military wisdom—unquestioned, repeated, fundamental.  

Full video

Who Really Controls US Foreign Policy?

YouTube / Rumble

From the ongoing US involvement in Ukraine, to an enduring US military presence in the Middle East, and growing US-Chinese tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, regardless of who controls the US Congress and regardless of who sits in the White House, these conflicts continue forward – often with a Democratic president setting the stage for his Republican successor, and vice versa. 

Who Really Controls US Foreign Policy? (archived)