<[Event "19th World Open"] [Site "Philadelphia PA"]
[Date "1991.07.??"]
[EventDate "1991"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Ivanov, Alexander"]
[Black "Katrein, Matthew R"]
[ECO "C05"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

<[Event "19th World Open"] [Site "Philadelphia PA"]
[Date "1991.07.??"]
[EventDate "1991"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Olafsson, Helgi"]
[Black "Samimi, Sohrab"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

<President Donald Trump's vows to solve major geopolitical conflicts quickly during the 2024 presidential campaign have run headlong into reality, and Axios reports that there is "thinning patience at home and abroad" with his approach to deal making.

The publication then examines areas where Trump suggested he could get instant results during the campaign, such as the Russia-Ukraine war that he vowed to end within a single day upon taking office.

"Trump did get Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, and to agree to stop bombing each other's energy infrastructure," Axios reported. "But Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast doubt on the possibility of a peace deal any time soon."

Similarly, the temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has collapsed and the Israeli government has once again started bombarding Gaza, even as Trump has pushed a plan to ethnically cleanse all Palestinians from the area.

Other setbacks include negotiations with Iran, where Trump has failed to get the Iranian government to come to the table after he ripped up the nuclear deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama years ago; a total lack of progress in convincing Greenland to join the United States; and the general chaos that has come from his erratic trade war policies.

"In an extraordinary sign of how Trump's hardball tactics are reshaping the world, China, South Korea and Japan — three countries with deep historical grievances — agreed to respond jointly to U.S. tariffs, according to Chinese state media," noted Axios.>

<The representative Jerry Nadler of New York has slammed Donald Trump’s crackdown on American universities in the name of fighting antisemitism, saying that withholding federal funding from schools will “not make Jewish students safer”.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Democratic representative said he condemned Trump’s “latest attacks on higher education cloaked under the guise of fighting antisemitism”.

“Once again, the president is weaponizing the real pain American Jews face to advance his desire to wield control over the truth-seeking academic institutions that stand as a bulwark against authoritarianism,” Nadler said.

Last month, the Trump administration pulled $400m in federal grants and contracts from Columbia University over what it alleged to be the college’s failure to protect students from antisemitic harassment on campus tied to the pro-Palestinian campus protests of the last 18 months.

Several weeks later, the university agreed to a series of changes put forth by the Trump administration as a pre-condition for restoring the funding.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has warned at least 60 other universities of possible action over alleged failure to comply with federal civil rights laws regarding antisemitism. On Monday, it announced a review of $9bn in federal contracts and grants awarded to Harvard University, over similar allegations that it failed to address issues of antisemitism on campus.

In his statement on Tuesday, Nadler said that “withholding funding from Columbia and, potentially, Harvard will not make Jewish students safer”.

“Cutting funding to programs that work to cure cancer and make other groundbreaking discoveries will not make Jewish students safer,” he said. “Impounding congressionally appropriated funding will not make Jewish students safer.”

“Trump’s ‘review’ is part of a larger effort to silence universities and intimidate those who challenge the Maga agenda,” the representative added, describing it as “a dangerous and politically motivated move that risks stifling free thought and academic inquiry”.

Nadler continued: “Make no mistake. Trump’s actions are not rooted in genuine concern for combatting hate. If Trump were truly committed to fighting antisemitism, he would not have crippled the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, the only agency specifically tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws at our nation’s educational institutions.”

The administration’s campaign to weaken universities perceived as bastions of leftism, along with Columbia’s apparent willingness to accept Trump’s terms for restoring funding, has prompted anxiety that academic freedom in the US is facing an unprecedented crisis.

“We cannot allow Trump’s authoritarian tactics to prevail – this is not the America we want to live in, nor is it the America we need,” Nadler’s statement said.

He urged US universities to reject demands from the Trump administration and to “fight back against these hostile acts”. Experts have pointed out that Columbia had strong grounds to sue in order to stop the cuts, and have expressed surprise that the university opted not to pursue them.

“If necessary, these issues must be litigated in federal court to put an end to the illegal and unconstitutional actions taken by the Trump administration,” Nadler said.>

<Fox News hosts Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld accused a colleague, Jessica Tarlov, of spending too much time speaking about deportations President Donald Trump has carried out under dubious pretenses, dismissing and joking about her due process concerns on Monday.

Last month, the Trump administration flew more than 200 Venezuelan men to a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, accusing them of being members of the violent gang Tren de Aragua. Immigration officials reportedly use a checklist to determine whether an individual is a member of the gang; among the items on the list are tattoos of crowns.

“We now know of two separate cases of people who have tattoos that met that criteria. But it was just, for one of them, a crown that said ‘mom’ above it, and another one, another crown tattoo,” Tarlov said on “The Five.”

It is not clear precisely which individuals Tarlov was talking about. In a piece detailing how the migrants were mistreated upon arrival in El Salvador, Time magazine included quotes from one man who began sobbing when a guard pushed him to the floor.

“I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber,” the man said.

He was reportedly slapped as a guard shaved his head. The man’s sexuality is significant because members of the LGBTQ+ community can face greater odds of violence and persecution in El Salvador, Venezuela and nearby nations.

The New Yorker also reported details of a gay makeup artist who had been taken to the prison. It is not entirely clear whether the makeup artist is also the barber described by Time magazine, or if they are separate people.

At one point in her discussion of the migrants, Tarlov apparently perceived a lack of enthusiasm on the part of Watters.

She told her co-host: “Oh, am I boring you again? I’m sorry.”

“No,” Watters responded. “But you’ve been talking about this gay barber from El Salvador with some stupid tattoo for weeks. Weeks, Jessica.”

Gutfeld then chimed in to add, “Yeah, come on.”

“It’s just a gay barber,” Watters said.

“He’s not into you,” Gutfeld joked.

Watters went on: “He’s an innocent guy who got swept up in a deportation, and hopefully we get it figured out and straightened out. But a lot of people in this country, Jessica, get arrested for things that they didn’t do, get falsely accused, falsely convicted.”

“That doesn’t mean you just stop arresting people,” he added.

“I didn’t say that. I said just give people their due process,” Tarlov replied.

While a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting more immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act, for now, officials have indicated that once that order is lifted, they will immediately resume the deportation flights.

The judge, James Boasberg, has indicated that many of the individuals deported under the rarely used 18th century law are likely entitled the chance to plead their case in court.

For their part, Trump administration officials have pushed back on the idea that any of the deportations were solely based on tattoos.

The administration admitted this week, however, that the deportation of at least one man — a Maryland father — was done in error.>

<Donald Trump’s tariff-fueled strategy to weaken the dollar and increase U.S. competitiveness is likely to have a range of consequences. An unpopular one might be his voters paying more for their summer holiday to Europe.

Airlines are sounding the alarm on a troubling trend of falling demand from their crucial U.S. market, amid growing signs that Trump’s clampdown on foreign trade will filter through to everyday Americans.

The dollar has declined against the euro and the British pound since Trump took office in January, reversing a consistent trend of a strengthening dollar during the Joe Biden administration.

That period of dollar supremacy encouraged a transatlantic spending spree by U.S. travelers, epitomized by a wave of American Taylor Swift fans swarming to Europe to watch the singer perform her Eras Tour last summer.

Analysis at the time from CNN showed that it was considerably cheaper to see Swift in Sweden than it was buying tickets on the secondary market in several U.S. cities, even when factoring in travel and accommodation costs. Economists predicted these travel trends would see Europe enjoy a larger economic impact from Swift’s tour than her native America.

Europe’s travel companies have noticed these trends, which aren’t confined to Swifties. Speaking to the Financial Times in March, Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith said the airline was investing in its first-class suite to appeal to wealthy Americans traveling to Paris.

“It’s unbelievable what Americans are paying to come over here, if you look at what it costs to stay down the street at the Bristol Hotel,” Smith said.

One person unhappy with news of foreign companies benefiting from Americans’ deep pockets would be President Trump. As part of a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. economy, currently focused on exports, Trump hopes to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive and views the devaluation of the dollar as an avenue to achieving this.

Unfortunately, the combative policies might also be hurting Americans’ freedom of movement.

Airlines bore the brunt of investor bearishness in March when Trump warned that his aggressive economic policies could trigger a recession.

Shares in British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG) have plunged nearly 30% since early February, while American Airlines has declined nearly 40% since the start of the year amid growing fears of declining U.S. consumer spending.

Virgin Atlantic, which is 49% owned by Delta, made £1 billion ($1.3 billion) in revenue from its U.S. operations last year, helping propel the airline to its highest turnover and operating profits in its 40-year history.

That record-busting, though, could be short-lived after Virgin Atlantic CFO Oli Byers dropped an ominous warning.

"In the last few weeks, we have started to see some signals that U.S. demand has been slowing," Byers said in comments accompanying the release of results.

On Sunday, Virgin Atlantic majority owner Sir Richard Branson lambasted the current U.S. administration for its rhetoric toward Europe and Ukraine. Branson said historians would remember this time as when the West’s trust in the U.S. ended.

Lower demand from U.S. customers isn’t yet a universal experience for Europe’s airlines.

Lufthansa CFO Till Streichert told local media, "Our important transatlantic business continues to look very good," as Virgin reported falling U.S. demand. Germany rejiggered its border policy for Americans, indicating that a visa or entry waiver didn’t guarantee entry to the country. That does not appear to have had an impact on travel either.>

<[Event "19th World Open"] [Site "Philadelphia PA"]
[Date "1991.07.??"]
[EventDate "1991"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Buckley, Graeme N"]
[Black "Fishbein, Alexander"]
[ECO "E73"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Ne2 O-O 6.Nbc3 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.h3 c6 9.a4 exd4 10.Nxd4 Nc5 11.a5 Ne6 12.Nde2 Qc7 13.g4 d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 cxd5 16.Bxd5 Rd8 17.c4 Nc5 18.Nc3 Be6 19.Bg5 f6 20.Be3 Bf7 21.b4 Ne6 22.Qd2 Ng5 23.Bxg5 fxg5 24.Rac1 Qxc4 25.Bxc4 Rxd2 26.Bxf7+ Kxf7 27.Ne4 Rb2 28.Rc7+ Kg8 29.Rxb7 h6 30.Rd1 Be5 31.Rd5 Rb1+ 32.Kg2 Ba1 33.Rd6 1-0>

The next number--that of 63,000 posts--is rapidly approaching.

<A Republican congressman appalled Democrats at a congressional hearing by quoting infamous Nazi Joseph Goebbels.

“A direct quote from Joseph Goebbels: ‘It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion,’ and I think that may be what we’re discussing here,” said Texas’ Keith Self.

Goebbels was the minister of propaganda for the Third Reich under Adolf Hitler. His role was to convince the German people to support Hitler’s regime, which he did so by spreading anti-Semitism and orchestrating the 1933 burning of “un-German” books in Berlin.

Self, 72, referenced Goebbels’ words during a House subcommittee meeting aimed at determining whether a “censorship industrial complex” existed. The Tuesday hearing was held after Republicans claimed that Biden-era policies aimed to stifle rightwing views.

Texas Democrat Rep. Julie Johnson heavily criticized Self’s remarks.

“When you’re quoting Joseph Goebbels about... the role of state in the public debate, we have a big problem,” Johnson said. “I mean, that’s as alarming as hell to me, when that becomes the gold standard of Hitler.”

She said it was concerning that he was referencing a quote associated with “German atrocities during World War II.”

She later posted the clip of Self on X with the comment, “Joseph Goebbels was a literal Nazi and one of Hitler’s closest allies. To my Republican colleagues, it is probably best not to quote him during a congressional hearing.”

Self rebutted that Johnson’s “framing is completely misleading.”

He said: “I was referring to the philosophy of Nina Jankowicz, the former head of Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board. Probably best not to throw stones when your party supported funneling millions of dollars through Biden’s State Dept. to shape public opinion.”

At the hearing, Jankowicz, the leader of a pro-democracy organization and former executive director of the Disinformation Governance Board, said that “the premise of this hearing, the so called censorship industrial complex, is a fiction that has not only had profound impacts on my life and safety, but on our national security.” She later added that the “fiction is itself suppressing speech and stymieing critical research that protects our country.”

DOGE leader Elon Musk later called Jankowicz and her colleague “evil people.”

Despite Self’s defense, it isn’t the first time he’s used Goebbel quotes.

He cited the Nazi in 2010 when he was running for reelection as Collin County Judge. At the time, he tried to bite back at his opponent by saying, “if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” At the time, he claimed he was only using the widely-circulated yet unsubstantiated Goebbels quote to show that his opponent was “using the method.”

HuffPost reported that Self’s office did not directly comment on his bizarre Nazi quotes but instead said: “It is indisputable that the Biden administration weaponized its State Department to censor and suppress American citizens from their right to free speech.”

Self also recently received backlash after misgendering Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE), the first openly transgender congresswoman.

The outcries following Self’s Goebbels quote comes after Democrats condemned Musk’s gesture at the presidential inauguration, which looked like a Nazi salute. He did little to defend the move at the time but instead made Holocaust-related jokes and Nazi puns to his over 200 million X followers.

Musk also recently retweeted an X post saying that Hitler and other dictators like Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong did not murder millions of people, but “their public sector workers did” instead.>