Podcasts about state department

The January 6 House select committee is hearing from more people and considering multiple criminal referrals after its explosive hearing last week. A local police chief is apologizing after officers partook in problematic training practices. The US has examined the bullet that killed a Palestinian-American journalist in the West Bank in May – we'll tell you what the State Department determined. The FCC wants TikTok off US app stores and the company is pushing back. Plus, Americans aren't feeling all that patriotic these days. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Note: We had a tech issue and Connor's audio did not record. We are releasing the shortened show with Kyle discussing Yemen and Afghanistan. On COI #296, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman cover the latest Afghanistan, Yemen, and Iran news. Kyle breaks down how Antony Blinken's State Department and Samantha Power's Agency for International Development are stonewalling the top oversight official for Afghanistan's critical investigations and audits. Kyle also reports that the UN's World Food Program will make severe cuts to its humanitarian aid mission for Yemen. Having just raised a quarter of its $2 billion funding target, cuts to the Yemen mission will see 13 million people currently reliant on WFP emergency food assistance, almost half the population, reviving only half or a quarter of their daily food requirement. Connor details the latest Iran/JCPOA news including a recent round of talks the Qataris hosted and arranged by the EU. Once again, these negotiations saw the Americans and the Iranians speaking via intermediaries. Having already made considerable concessions, Tehran purged hardliners from its negotiating team as well. Nevertheless, talks reportedly saw no progress. Iranian media says Washington refused to offer any guarantees on sanctions relief benefits. NOTE: We had a tech issue and Connor's audio did not record. I'm editing and releasing a shortened show of just me talking Yemen and Afghanistan.   Very sorry. Odysee Rumble  Donate LBRY Credits bTTEiLoteVdMbLS7YqDVSZyjEY1eMgW7CP Donate Bitcoin 36PP4kT28jjUZcL44dXDonFwrVVDHntsrk Donate Bitcoin Cash Qp6gznu4xm97cj7j9vqepqxcfuctq2exvvqu7aamz6 Patreon Subscribe Star YouTube Facebook  Twitter  MeWe Apple Podcast  Amazon Music Google Podcasts Spotify iHeart Radio Support Our Sponsor Visit Paloma Verde and use code PEACE for 20% off our CBD

Note: We had a tech issue and Connor's audio did not record. We are releasing the shortened show with Kyle discussing Yemen and Afghanistan.  On COI #296, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman cover the latest Afghanistan, Yemen, and Iran news. Kyle breaks down how Antony Blinken's State Department and Samantha Power's Agency for International Development are stonewalling the top oversight official for Afghanistan's critical investigations and audits. Kyle also reports that the UN's World Food Program will make severe cuts to its humanitarian aid mission for Yemen. Having just raised a quarter of its $2 billion funding target, cuts to the Yemen mission will see 13 million people currently reliant on WFP emergency food assistance, almost half the population, reviving only half or a quarter of their daily food requirement. Connor details the latest Iran/JCPOA news including a recent round of talks the Qataris hosted and arranged by the EU. Once again, these negotiations saw the Americans and the Iranians speaking via intermediaries. Having already made considerable concessions, Tehran purged hardliners from its negotiating team as well. Nevertheless, talks reportedly saw no progress. Iranian media says Washington refused to offer any guarantees on sanctions relief benefits.

Marcus Flowers is a Democrat running to defeat Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia's 14th District. Flowers has spent his entire career defending the United States. First – he served as an active duty member of the US Army, followed by more than 20 years as a contractor or official for the State Department and Department of Defense. Read more about him HERE. Topics: Marcus described the energy of Georgia voters; what they are most concerned about and what he's doing to defeat Marjorie Taylor Greene this November. We also talked about how recent SCOTUS decisions are playing into the midterms. Marcus and his team have knocked on 50,000 doors and he believes we are experiencing a "Great Awakening." His overall feeling about where we're headed is optimistic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last night was a big night for Boston Public Schools, culminating in the selection of Somerville Superintendent Mary Skipper as the next Superintendent of Boston Public Schools. The meeting began with the Superintendent's Report, which included a discussion of the agreement reached earlier this week between BPS and the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to avert a takeover. The agreement includes key provisions for students and families, including a redesign of special education and ELL services, a guarantee of at least 95% on-time bus arrival, and a new data auditor appointed by the State who will have full access to BPS data. Superintendent Cassellius also discussed the report on the Mission Hill investigation, which she said would be released in the coming weeks despite a deadline of June 30, and she shared that the “Green New Deal” for BPS facilities would be beginning its 18-month development process. In response to a question about what environmental targets are being set that make this initiative “green,” the Superintendent shared that the third-party vendor the district will hire to oversee this plan will make those determinations. After a public comment period in which dozens of community members shared their preference for who should be the next superintendent, the meeting moved on to two votes. The first vote was to appoint Dr. Drew Echelson as Acting Superintendent. Despite an objection to the 11th-hour nature of this vote – just one day before Superintendent Cassellius' last day – Dr. Echelson was approved unanimously. The main event last night was a discussion and vote on the next permanent superintendent of BPS. Each School Committee member discussed the merits of the candidates and the reasoning behind their choice, with the ultimate result being a close 4-3 vote in favor of Mary Skipper over Dr. Tommy Welch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The inspector general's office fired off a scorching letter to the state department over the way that they have handled the requests made by the IG as they continue their investigation into America's involvement in Afghanistan. They accuse the state department of ignoring their requests for documents and information and for impeding the overall investigation. (commercial at 11:00)to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/22/state-usaid-afghanistan-00041505

The inspector general's office fired off a scorching letter to the state department over the way that they have handled the requests made by the IG as they continue their investigation into America's involvement in Afghanistan. They accuse the state department of ignoring their requests for documents and information and for impeding the overall investigation. (commercial at 11:00)to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/22/state-usaid-afghanistan-00041505

Good Monday everyone, this is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief, for Monday, June 27th, 2022. Before I dive into the news, here’s something I want to remind you of immediately! Lies, Propaganda, Story Telling, and the Serrated Edge: This year our national conference is in Knoxville, TN October 6th-8th. The theme of this year’s conference is Lies, Propaganda, Storytelling and the Serrated Edge. Satan is the father of lies, and the mother of those lies is a government who has rejected God. We have especially been lied to these last two years, and the COVIDpanic has been one of the central mechanisms that our government has used to lie to us and to grab more power. Because Christians have not been reading their bibles, we are susceptible to lies and weak in our ability to fight these lies. God has given us His word to fight Satan and his lies, and we need to recover all of God’s word, its serrated edge and all. Mark your calendars for October 6th-8th, as we fight, laugh and feast with fellowship, beer and Psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers, hanging with our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and more. Early bird tickets are available now, but will be gone before you know it!.. This Thursday! Sign up now at flfnetwork.com Now… here’s what you may have missed, over the weekend… The Tampa Bay Lightning had done just enough to force a game 6, and last night it came down to the wire: Stanley Cup Final Game 6: Colorado Avalanche vs. Tampa Bay Lightning | Full Game Highlights -Play 8:31-9:01 The Colorado Avalanche are your new Stanley Cup Champions, after defeating Tampa Bay 2-1 in game 6. I was sort of hoping I’d get to see a 3-peat out of the lightning, but the Avalanche clearly deserved to win this series, so congratulations to them! https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/06/27/california-working-on-denying-gun-permits-based-on-ideological-viewpoints-n478907 California working on denying gun permits based on "ideological viewpoints" The Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen on Thursday didn’t simply shoot down New York’s onerous “good-cause requirement” in the gun permit application process. It set up similar laws in other states for likely revocation. One of those states is California, where they have their own requirement that applicants must show a “good cause” or “special need” before a carry permit is issued. State Attorney General Rob Bonta sent out a letter on Friday to law enforcement and government attorneys noting the change and saying that the state’s current “may issue” regime should be able to be converted to a “shall issue” regime with few modifications. So that’s good news, right? Not so fast. As Eugene Volokh points out at Reason, Bonta pivoted from signaling compliance with the new SCOTUS ruling to identifying another way to deny permits to people with no criminal record. He claims that the ruling will not impact the existing requirement for applicants to be able to demonstrate that they are “of good moral character.” On that basis, the state can start snooping around to see if you hold any unauthorized opinions or are prone to demonstrate “hatred and racism.” And how would they know that? Well, by going through your social media accounts, of course. Other jurisdictions list the personal characteristics one reasonably expects of candidates for a public-carry license who do not pose a danger to themselves or others. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s policy, for example, currently provides as follows: “Legal judgments of good moral character can include consideration of honesty, trustworthiness, diligence, reliability, respect for the law, integrity, candor, discretion, observance of fiduciary duty, respect for the rights of others, absence of hatred and racism, fiscal stability, profession-specific criteria such as pledging to honor the constitution and uphold the law, and the absence of criminal conviction.” [Emphasis added.] As a starting point for purposes of investigating an applicant’s moral character, many issuing authorities require personal references and/or reference letters. Investigators may personally interview applicants and use the opportunity to gain further insight into the applicant’s character. And they may search publicly-available information, including social media accounts, in assessing the applicant’s character. As Volokh goes on to explain, this entire scheme appears to be completely unconstitutional. It’s a violation of the First Amendment before we even begin to examine how it would hold up under the Second Amendment. The government is not allowed to restrict your actions or suspend your Constitutional rights based on the viewpoints you express, even if they are unpopular with the current regime. https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/06/us-troops-surpass-100000-in-europe The U.S. military has steadily built up its presence in Europe in the four months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. More than 100,000 U.S. troops are in Europe today, compared to around 70,000 around the start of the Russian invasion. Last week, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the U.S. “increased the number of U.S. troops in Europe from roughly 70,000 to more than 100,000 over these last months.” In addition to the overall U.S. force size in Europe, Stoltenberg noted there are more than 40,000 troops from various countries under NATO’s direct command that are positioned on the eastern edge of the alliance. NATO’s force consists of troops from a variety of alliance member nations. In a May 20 U.S. State Department press briefing, department spokesman Ned Price had confirmed the U.S. plans to maintain an ongoing presence of 100,000 troops in Europe. While the U.S. presence in Europe has risen in response to Russia, questions remain about whether the U.S. can maintain this presence in the long run. With no plans for the U.S. and NATO to directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine — beyond providing Ukrainian forces weapons, supplies and training — the missions of U.S. and NATO forces is primarily to ensure the conflict in Ukraine doesn’t spill over into NATO countries. Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank told the Washington Times last week that the U.S. troop build-up in Europe could come at the expense of U.S. readiness in other parts of the world, like the Indo-Pacific region where Chinese forces have expanded their presence. So that’s what’s going on overseas, let’s shift back to the home front, where I’ve got to ask you… are you happy with your job? Because if not, I want to tell you about RedBalloon! Redballoon Not so long ago, the American dream was alive and well. Employees who worked hard were rewarded, and employers looked for people who could do the job, not for people who had the right political views. RedBalloon.work is a job site designed to get us back to what made American businesses successful: free speech, hard work, and having fun. If you are a free speech employer who wants to hire employees who focus on their work and not identity politics, then post a job on RedBalloon. If you are an employee who is being censored at work or is being forced to comply with the current zeitgeist, post your resume on RedBalloon and look for a new job. redballoon.work, the job site where free speech is still alive! https://thepostmillennial.com/pro-abortion-activist-arrested-for-allegedly-attacking-police-with-flamethrower?utm_campaign=64487 Suspect accused of using flamethrower in attack at Los Angeles Antifa riot charged with attempted murder Pro-abortion activist Michael Ortiz was arrested on June 26th after allegedly attacking police with a makeshift flamethrower during a violent riot over the reversal of Roe v. Wade. As the New York Post reports, several others were arrested during the Los Angeles riot, including 23-year-old Juliana Bernardo who allegedly tried to steal a police officer's baton amid skirmishes with law enforcement. The pro-abortion protestors shut down the LA freeway, harassed and attacked drivers, broke building windows, and lobbed a firework explosive at police. Video posted by The Post Millennial's Andy Ngo shows Ortiz discharging the makeshift weapon while hiding behind a black bloc militant who was holding an umbrella. Ortiz allegedly fired the flames around 8:20 pm amidst a progressively violent riot. LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore said in a statement that, "Individuals participating in such criminal activity are not exercising their 1st Amendment rights in protest of the Supreme Court decision. Rather, they are acting as criminals. The Department will vigorously pursue prosecution of these individuals." The violence comes after radical pro-abortion groups have called for nationwide protests including one group, Jane's Revenge, promising a "Night of Rage" to protest the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. Now let’s end with some good news, and the topic that I love… sports! https://www.foxnews.com/politics/high-school-football-coach-scores-big-win-supreme-court-post-game-prayer High school football coach scores big win at Supreme Court over post-game prayer The Supreme Court handed a big win to a former Washington high school football coach who lost his job over reciting a prayer on the 50-yard line after games. At issue was whether a public school employee praying alone but in view of students was engaging in unprotected "government speech," and if it is not government speech, does it still pose a problem under the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. The Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 6-3 decision that the answer to both questions is no. "Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. And the only meaningful justification the government offered for its reprisal rested on a mistaken view that it had a duty to ferret out and suppress," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the Court's opinion. "Religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech. The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination." Joe Kennedy was a junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant coach with the Bremerton School District in Washington from 2008 to 2015. He began the practice of reciting a post-game prayer by himself, but eventually students started joining him. According to court documents, this evolved into motivational speeches that included religious themes. After an opposing coach brought it to the principal's attention, the school district told Kennedy to stop. He did, temporarily, then notified the school that he would resume the practice. The situation garnered media attention, and when Kennedy announced that he would go back to praying on the field, it raised security concerns. When he did pray after the game, a number of people stormed the field in support. The school district then offered to let Kennedy pray in other locations before and after games, or for him to pray on the 50-yard line after everyone else had left the premises, but he refused, insisting that he would continue his regular practice. After continuing the prayers at two more games, the school district placed Kennedy on leave. "That reasoning was misguided," the majority opinion said. "Both the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect expressions like Mr. Kennedy’s. Nor does a proper understanding of the Amendment’s Establishment Clause require the government to single out private religious speech for special disfavor. " Gorsuch stated that not just the Constitution, but "the best of our traditions" call for "mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike." The Court's ruling also stated that there is a distinct reason for why speech like Kennedy's is protected by both the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses. "That the First Amendment doubly protects religious speech is no accident. It is a natural outgrowth of the framers’ distrust of government attempts to regulate religion and suppress dissent," Gorsuch wrote. Another win, by the Supreme Court… Keep our Supreme Court Justices in your prayers, as they will undoubtedly be a target. This has been your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief… If you liked the show, why don’t you go ahead and hit that share button? If you want to sign up for a club membership, our conference, or our magazine, all of that can be found over at flfnetwork.com, and as always, if you want to become a corporate partner of CrossPolitc, let’s talk… email me, at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.

Good Monday everyone, this is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief, for Monday, June 27th, 2022. Before I dive into the news, here’s something I want to remind you of immediately! Lies, Propaganda, Story Telling, and the Serrated Edge: This year our national conference is in Knoxville, TN October 6th-8th. The theme of this year’s conference is Lies, Propaganda, Storytelling and the Serrated Edge. Satan is the father of lies, and the mother of those lies is a government who has rejected God. We have especially been lied to these last two years, and the COVIDpanic has been one of the central mechanisms that our government has used to lie to us and to grab more power. Because Christians have not been reading their bibles, we are susceptible to lies and weak in our ability to fight these lies. God has given us His word to fight Satan and his lies, and we need to recover all of God’s word, its serrated edge and all. Mark your calendars for October 6th-8th, as we fight, laugh and feast with fellowship, beer and Psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers, hanging with our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and more. Early bird tickets are available now, but will be gone before you know it!.. This Thursday! Sign up now at flfnetwork.com Now… here’s what you may have missed, over the weekend… The Tampa Bay Lightning had done just enough to force a game 6, and last night it came down to the wire: Stanley Cup Final Game 6: Colorado Avalanche vs. Tampa Bay Lightning | Full Game Highlights -Play 8:31-9:01 The Colorado Avalanche are your new Stanley Cup Champions, after defeating Tampa Bay 2-1 in game 6. I was sort of hoping I’d get to see a 3-peat out of the lightning, but the Avalanche clearly deserved to win this series, so congratulations to them! https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/06/27/california-working-on-denying-gun-permits-based-on-ideological-viewpoints-n478907 California working on denying gun permits based on "ideological viewpoints" The Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen on Thursday didn’t simply shoot down New York’s onerous “good-cause requirement” in the gun permit application process. It set up similar laws in other states for likely revocation. One of those states is California, where they have their own requirement that applicants must show a “good cause” or “special need” before a carry permit is issued. State Attorney General Rob Bonta sent out a letter on Friday to law enforcement and government attorneys noting the change and saying that the state’s current “may issue” regime should be able to be converted to a “shall issue” regime with few modifications. So that’s good news, right? Not so fast. As Eugene Volokh points out at Reason, Bonta pivoted from signaling compliance with the new SCOTUS ruling to identifying another way to deny permits to people with no criminal record. He claims that the ruling will not impact the existing requirement for applicants to be able to demonstrate that they are “of good moral character.” On that basis, the state can start snooping around to see if you hold any unauthorized opinions or are prone to demonstrate “hatred and racism.” And how would they know that? Well, by going through your social media accounts, of course. Other jurisdictions list the personal characteristics one reasonably expects of candidates for a public-carry license who do not pose a danger to themselves or others. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s policy, for example, currently provides as follows: “Legal judgments of good moral character can include consideration of honesty, trustworthiness, diligence, reliability, respect for the law, integrity, candor, discretion, observance of fiduciary duty, respect for the rights of others, absence of hatred and racism, fiscal stability, profession-specific criteria such as pledging to honor the constitution and uphold the law, and the absence of criminal conviction.” [Emphasis added.] As a starting point for purposes of investigating an applicant’s moral character, many issuing authorities require personal references and/or reference letters. Investigators may personally interview applicants and use the opportunity to gain further insight into the applicant’s character. And they may search publicly-available information, including social media accounts, in assessing the applicant’s character. As Volokh goes on to explain, this entire scheme appears to be completely unconstitutional. It’s a violation of the First Amendment before we even begin to examine how it would hold up under the Second Amendment. The government is not allowed to restrict your actions or suspend your Constitutional rights based on the viewpoints you express, even if they are unpopular with the current regime. https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/06/us-troops-surpass-100000-in-europe The U.S. military has steadily built up its presence in Europe in the four months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. More than 100,000 U.S. troops are in Europe today, compared to around 70,000 around the start of the Russian invasion. Last week, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the U.S. “increased the number of U.S. troops in Europe from roughly 70,000 to more than 100,000 over these last months.” In addition to the overall U.S. force size in Europe, Stoltenberg noted there are more than 40,000 troops from various countries under NATO’s direct command that are positioned on the eastern edge of the alliance. NATO’s force consists of troops from a variety of alliance member nations. In a May 20 U.S. State Department press briefing, department spokesman Ned Price had confirmed the U.S. plans to maintain an ongoing presence of 100,000 troops in Europe. While the U.S. presence in Europe has risen in response to Russia, questions remain about whether the U.S. can maintain this presence in the long run. With no plans for the U.S. and NATO to directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine — beyond providing Ukrainian forces weapons, supplies and training — the missions of U.S. and NATO forces is primarily to ensure the conflict in Ukraine doesn’t spill over into NATO countries. Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank told the Washington Times last week that the U.S. troop build-up in Europe could come at the expense of U.S. readiness in other parts of the world, like the Indo-Pacific region where Chinese forces have expanded their presence. So that’s what’s going on overseas, let’s shift back to the home front, where I’ve got to ask you… are you happy with your job? Because if not, I want to tell you about RedBalloon! Redballoon Not so long ago, the American dream was alive and well. Employees who worked hard were rewarded, and employers looked for people who could do the job, not for people who had the right political views. RedBalloon.work is a job site designed to get us back to what made American businesses successful: free speech, hard work, and having fun. If you are a free speech employer who wants to hire employees who focus on their work and not identity politics, then post a job on RedBalloon. If you are an employee who is being censored at work or is being forced to comply with the current zeitgeist, post your resume on RedBalloon and look for a new job. redballoon.work, the job site where free speech is still alive! https://thepostmillennial.com/pro-abortion-activist-arrested-for-allegedly-attacking-police-with-flamethrower?utm_campaign=64487 Suspect accused of using flamethrower in attack at Los Angeles Antifa riot charged with attempted murder Pro-abortion activist Michael Ortiz was arrested on June 26th after allegedly attacking police with a makeshift flamethrower during a violent riot over the reversal of Roe v. Wade. As the New York Post reports, several others were arrested during the Los Angeles riot, including 23-year-old Juliana Bernardo who allegedly tried to steal a police officer's baton amid skirmishes with law enforcement. The pro-abortion protestors shut down the LA freeway, harassed and attacked drivers, broke building windows, and lobbed a firework explosive at police. Video posted by The Post Millennial's Andy Ngo shows Ortiz discharging the makeshift weapon while hiding behind a black bloc militant who was holding an umbrella. Ortiz allegedly fired the flames around 8:20 pm amidst a progressively violent riot. LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore said in a statement that, "Individuals participating in such criminal activity are not exercising their 1st Amendment rights in protest of the Supreme Court decision. Rather, they are acting as criminals. The Department will vigorously pursue prosecution of these individuals." The violence comes after radical pro-abortion groups have called for nationwide protests including one group, Jane's Revenge, promising a "Night of Rage" to protest the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. Now let’s end with some good news, and the topic that I love… sports! https://www.foxnews.com/politics/high-school-football-coach-scores-big-win-supreme-court-post-game-prayer High school football coach scores big win at Supreme Court over post-game prayer The Supreme Court handed a big win to a former Washington high school football coach who lost his job over reciting a prayer on the 50-yard line after games. At issue was whether a public school employee praying alone but in view of students was engaging in unprotected "government speech," and if it is not government speech, does it still pose a problem under the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. The Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 6-3 decision that the answer to both questions is no. "Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. And the only meaningful justification the government offered for its reprisal rested on a mistaken view that it had a duty to ferret out and suppress," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the Court's opinion. "Religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech. The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination." Joe Kennedy was a junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant coach with the Bremerton School District in Washington from 2008 to 2015. He began the practice of reciting a post-game prayer by himself, but eventually students started joining him. According to court documents, this evolved into motivational speeches that included religious themes. After an opposing coach brought it to the principal's attention, the school district told Kennedy to stop. He did, temporarily, then notified the school that he would resume the practice. The situation garnered media attention, and when Kennedy announced that he would go back to praying on the field, it raised security concerns. When he did pray after the game, a number of people stormed the field in support. The school district then offered to let Kennedy pray in other locations before and after games, or for him to pray on the 50-yard line after everyone else had left the premises, but he refused, insisting that he would continue his regular practice. After continuing the prayers at two more games, the school district placed Kennedy on leave. "That reasoning was misguided," the majority opinion said. "Both the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect expressions like Mr. Kennedy’s. Nor does a proper understanding of the Amendment’s Establishment Clause require the government to single out private religious speech for special disfavor. " Gorsuch stated that not just the Constitution, but "the best of our traditions" call for "mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike." The Court's ruling also stated that there is a distinct reason for why speech like Kennedy's is protected by both the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses. "That the First Amendment doubly protects religious speech is no accident. It is a natural outgrowth of the framers’ distrust of government attempts to regulate religion and suppress dissent," Gorsuch wrote. Another win, by the Supreme Court… Keep our Supreme Court Justices in your prayers, as they will undoubtedly be a target. This has been your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief… If you liked the show, why don’t you go ahead and hit that share button? If you want to sign up for a club membership, our conference, or our magazine, all of that can be found over at flfnetwork.com, and as always, if you want to become a corporate partner of CrossPolitc, let’s talk… email me, at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.

“At Amazon, the CEO got $213 million last year, and that was 6,474 times as much as median worker pay at the company, which was about $32,800.” Sarah Anderson Director of the Global Economy Project at IPS and Co-Editor of Inequality.org Executive Excess 2022 The CEOs at America's largest low-wage employers are grabbing huge raises while workers and consumers struggle with rising costs. Sarah Anderson and her co-authors at the Institute for Policy Studies found that more than half of our nation's 100 largest low-wage employers changed their own rules to ensure huge payouts for CEOs in 2020 — while workers lost wages, jobs, and even their lives. On average, the CEOs at these rule-rigging firms pocketed 29 percent raises while their median worker pay fell by 2 percent. Learn more at: https://ips-dc.org/report-executive-excess-2022  About Sarah Anderson Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and is a co-editor of the IPS web site Inequality.org. Sarah's research covers a wide range of international and domestic economic issues, including inequality, Wall Street reform, CEO pay, taxes, labor, and international trade and investment. Sarah is a well-known expert on executive compensation, as the lead author of more than 20 annual “Executive Excess” reports that have received extensive media coverage. During the Obama administration, she served on the Investment Subcommittee of the U.S. State Department's Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy (ACIEP). In 2009, this subcommittee carried out a review of the U.S. model bilateral investment treaty. In 2000, she served on the staff of the bipartisan International Financial Institutions Advisory Commission (“Meltzer Commission”), commissioned by the U.S. Congress to evaluate the World Bank and IMF. Sarah is a co-author of the books Field Guide to the Global Economy (New Press, 2nd edition, 2005) and Alternatives to Economic Globalization (Berrett-Koehler, 2nd edition, 2004). Prior to coming to IPS in 1992, Sarah was a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development and an editor for the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. She holds a Masters in International Affairs from The American University and a BA in Journalism from Northwestern University. Overview on Executive Excess Reports Over two decades, Institute for Policy Studies researchers have examined how extremely high levels of compensation affect executive behavior. Such massive jackpots, we've found, give executives incentives to behave in ways that may boost short-term profits and expand their own paychecks at the expense of our nation's long-term economic health. Tax dodging, mass layoffs, reckless financial deals, offshoring jobs, “creative accounting” — all of these appear to boost CEO pay. But they have dealt one body blow after another to the American middle class, leaving a deeply skewed distribution of income and wealth. See past reports at: https://ips-dc.org/global-economy/executive-excess/  About The Political Economy Project  The Political Economy Project is creating a blueprint that will unify our fellow humans to work together and create a new renaissance and a harmony of interests of the human spirit. The Political Economy Project is an EMLab brand produced by Evan Matthew Papp and we are a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Support media, authors, artists, historians, and journalists, who are fighting to improve the prosperity of the working class. Follow our work on Substack at: https://politicaleconomyproject.substack.com/. 

GUEST OVERVIEW: Paul E. Vallely, Major General, US Army (ret) was born in DuBois, Pa. He retired in 1991 from the US Army as Deputy Commanding General, US Army, Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. General Vallely graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned in the Army in 1961 serving a distinguishing career of 32 years in the Army. General Vallely is a graduate of the Infantry School, Ranger and Airborne Schools, Jumpmaster School, the Command and General Staff School, The Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Army War College. His combat service in Vietnam included positions as infantry company commander, intelligence officer, operations officer, military advisor and aide-de-camp. He has over fifteen (15) years experience in Special Operations, Psychological and Civil-Military Operations. He served in many overseas theaters to include Europe and the Pacific Rim Countries as well as two combat tours in Vietnam. He has served on US security assistance missions on civilian-military relations to Europe, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Central America with in-country experience in Indonesia, Columbia, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras and Guatemala. He has served as a consultant to the Commanding General of the Special Operations Command as well as the DOD Anti-Drug and Counter -Terrorist Task Forces. He also designed and developed the Host-Nation Support Program in the Pacific for DOD and the State Department. He has in-country security assistance – experience in Israel, Iraq, Kuwait, El Salvador, Columbia and Indonesia in the development of civil-military relations interfacing with senior level military and civilian leadership. General Vallely has been a military analyst on television and radio for over ten years. He is also a guest lecturer on National Security, international political, economic issues, strategic planning matters and the Global War against Radical Islam and other threats to America. He and LTG Thomas McInerney authored the book, “Endgame” – Blueprint for Victory for Winning the War on Terror”, “Warfooting” and “Baghdad Ablaze”. He is a member and founder of the Iran Policy Committee. He is the Chairman of the Stand Up America. He was the senior military analyst for the Fox News Channel from 2000 -2007. General Vallely conducts an average of 4-6 national radio show interviews per week and is well known for his published articles on a multitude of subjects and issues. He and his wife, Marian, are the co-trustees of the Scott Vallely Soldiers Memorial Fund and reside in Montana. He and Mrs. Vallely are deeply involved in state and local issues as well as supporting a multitude of community events and activities. GUEST WEBSITE: https://standupamericaus.org/about-sua/general-vallely/ 

Hawaii State Department of Health Director Dr. Libby Char joined the Honolulu Star-Advertiser's “Spotlight Hawaii” livestream show today and answered viewer questions. This series shines a spotlight on issues affecting the Hawaiian Islands.

Not so long ago, Turkey was widely regarded as the bridge between the Occident and the Orient, between Christian Europe and the Muslim Middle East. Turkey separated mosque and state. Turkey was a NATO member. Turkey was economically dynamic despite not having oil. Turkey seemed to be democratizing. That's not how many of us see Turkey today under the increasingly authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Michael Doran is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and director of its Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East. He's served as a senior director on the National Security Council, a senior advisor in the State Department, and a deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Pentagon. He has a doctorate from Princeton, and he's the author of “Ike's Gamble,” a thoughtful re-examination of the Suez Crisis of 1956. FDD Senior Fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Middle Eastern specialist at the CIA's Directorate of Operations, was, for some years, based in Turkey. Reuel and Foreign Podicy host Cliff May agree with Dr. Doran on most issues — but not on Erdogan. They discuss the root of their disagreement in this episode.

KYLE SHIDELER, Director/Senior Analyst for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at Center for Security Policy: Assessing possible rioting following the SCOTUS ruling on Roe v. Wade What role will "Jane's Revenge" have in these riots if they take place? An update on the January 6 hearings TOMMY WALLER, Director of Infrastructure Security, Center for Security Policy, Lieutenant Colonel, US Marine Corps Reserves, Secure the Grid Coalition, Twitter: @Secure_the_Grid A recent sun spot that is pointed towards earth Is the U.S. federal government committed to protecting our electric grid? ROBERT CHARLES, Spokesman, Association of Mature American Citizens, Former Assistant Secretary, State at the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in the Bush Administration, Author, “Eagles and Evergreens,” @RCharles4USA An update on the SCOTUS Roe v. Wade ruling What is Carson v. Makin?

Ted Andre & Fred Burton return to The Protectors Podcast™ to discuss the hunt for Colonel Joseph Alon's assassins.  In Part IV we dive into the case developments in the 1990s and follow Ted & Fred's paths.  @tandrepics @officialfredburton Make sure to check out Fred's book Chasing Shadows: A Special Agent's Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice. On a warm Saturday night in July 1973 in Bethesda Maryland, a gunman stepped out from behind a tree and fired five point-blank shots into Joe Alon, an unassuming Israeli Air Force pilot and family man. Alon's sixteen-year-old neighbor, Fred Burton, was deeply shocked by this crime that rocked his sleepy suburban neighborhood. As it turned out, Alon wasn't just a pilot he was a high-ranking military official and with intelligence ties. The assassin was never found and the case was closed. In 2007, Fred Burton who had since become a State Department counterterrorism special agent reopened the case.The Protectors Podcast ™ https://theprotectors.buzzsprout.com/Support the show

Talking about money has always been somewhat taboo in today's society, so when Malene Carr's father sat her down to discuss her Thrift Savings Plan when she first started at the State Department, she appreciated how open her father was to discussing financial matters.  Now Malene is starting financial literacy groups at every embassy or consulate where she serves, with the goal of promoting open and frank discussions on investments, financial health, and debt management. She also encourages others to start their own groups with the goal of building wealth, together.   In this interview, Malene shares:    How you can start your own financial literacy group The importance of being flexible with your spending and investments and financial mentorship Getting your family into investing (even at a young age!)   …and so much more!    Music: “Higher Up” by Shane Ivers

In 2021, we noticed a new book that was gaining a lot of attention—titled High Conflict. Of course a book with that title grabbed our immediate attention and piqued our curiosity, as high conflict is what we think about all day every day. After reaching out to the author, Amanda Ripley, we were quickly intrigued by her research and perspective and have since spent time getting to know each other's work.We are enormously pleased that Amanda has agreed to come on our show and happy to introduce her to listeners who haven't yet heard about her. She is a New York Times best-selling author and investigative journalist. She started her journalism career covering courts and crime for Washington City Paper. She then spent 10 years working for Time Magazine in New York, Washington and Paris. Currently, Amanda lives in Washington, D.C., with her family. To discuss her writing, Amanda has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX News and NPR. She has spoken at the Pentagon, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as conferences on leadership, conflict resolution and education.In this episode, Bill will discuss “high conflict” with Amanda, including:“macro” view of high conflict: mostly large groups and political conflicts (city council, gangs, rebels in Colombia), and “micro” view of interpersonal high conflict (divorce, workplace, legal disputes)how to get out of high conflict situations and how to avoid them, and how to deal with high conflict if you can't totally get out, such as co-parents, workplace bullies, and legal entanglementswhat it takes to reduce high conflict behavior and the need to get people to talk more and judge each other lessteaching journalists to ask more questions for depth beneath the conflict and to use the phrase both Bill and Amanda both love to use: “Tell me more!”Links & Other NotesWEBSITEAmanda's websiteBOOKSAmanda's book High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get OutARTICLESIn Harvard Business Review: How to Work with Someone Who Creates Unnecessary ConflictOn CBS News: Book excerpt: “High Conflict,” when life becomes “us vs. them”Our website: https://www.highconflictinstitute.com/Submit a Question for Bill and MeganAll of our books can be found in our online store or anywhere books are sold, including as e-books.You can also find these show notes at our site as well.Note: We are not diagnosing anyone in our discussions, merely discussing patterns of behavior.

Last night's meeting began with the Superintendent's Report, which included data on summer program enrollment and a preview of a report coming next week on federal ESSER relief money spending. Notably, the report did not include an update on negotiations with the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education over their audit of BPS, but when questioned on this, the Superintendent noted that negotiations are ongoing and an update will be shared next week. The meeting continued with an update on the superintendent search, in which Search Committee Co-Chair Pam Eddinger shared that two of the four finalists recently withdrew from consideration, resulting in the announcement of Mary Skipper and Dr. Tommy Welch as the two finalists. The reasons for these withdrawals were not given, and members of the School Committee expressed disappointment with the outcome of this process but pledged to continue forward. Following a public comment period with numerous comments about the merger of the Russell and Clap Elementary Schools, there was a vote to approve two side letters of agreement with the bus drivers union that School Committee members were told were integral to approval of a new contract. These letters were unanimously approved. The meeting concluded with a report on the new exam school policy that was lacking in key data, as well as reports from Horace Mann Charter School leaders seeking renewals. Public interviews for Mary Skipper and Tommy Welch will be held on Thursday and Friday, respectively, with a vote by the School Committee during their next meeting on Wednesday, June 29. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two American citizens who'd traveled to Ukraine to join the fight against Russia have reportedly been captured by pro-Russian forces. The State Department says it's "closely monitoring" the situation and has urged Americans not to travel to the country, noting the risk and danger. But still, thousands of foreign fighters have journeyed there.NPR's Ryan Lucas met some of them — a group of Americans and Brits who have formed a unit that is fighting in the east. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

In response to Turkey's clear aggression in the Aegean, the State Department has resorted to a policy of neutrality and equidistance. Instead of calling out Turkey's revisionism and condemning its threats against Greece in a clear and unequivocal way, it has resorted to on the one hand supporting the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity, and on the other calling on “both sides” to “avoid rhetoric that could further raise tensions.” Endy Zemenides, HALC's Executive Director, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss his latest piece in Kathimerini, “The Immorality of Neutrality”, explain the risks this policy of “neutrality” poses not only to Greece, but to US interests, and make the case that the time for the State Department and the Biden administration to take a side is now.Read Endy Zemenides' latest piece in Kathimerini here: The immorality of neutralityYou can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:Western Balkans leaders will attend EU summit, dropping boycott threatsBalkans Losing Hope of Progress on EU MembershipCase made for elections in the fall

As a philosophy that means different things to different people and groups, it can be hard to know what liberalism stands for. Traditionally, liberalism is viewed as a political and moral philosophy based on individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise. In the 1990s and 2000s, democracy spread and markets prospered, and it seemed like the continuing expansion of liberal values was assured. But recent years have revealed major challenges to liberalism from both the right and the left. In his book Liberalism and Its Discontents, political philosopher Francis Fukuyama wrote that classical liberalism is in a state of crisis and asked essential questions about how to move forward. While liberalism was developed to help govern diverse societies and was grounded in fundamental principles of equality and the rule of law, huge inequalities still evolved. And while liberalism emphasizes the rights of individuals to pursue personal happiness, free from encroachment by the government, we still disagree about what those freedoms entail. Fukuyama wrote about how liberalism hasn't always lived up to its own ideals. In the U.S., many people have been – and still are – consistently denied equality before the law, including African Americans and other people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, women, and many more. He also examined how, in recent decades, the principles of liberalism have been pushed to new extremes by both the right and the left. The result, Fukuyama argues, has been a fracturing of our civil society and an increasing peril to our democracy. Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He has previously taught at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University and at the George Mason University School of Public Policy. He was a researcher at the RAND Corporation and served as the deputy director in the State Department's policy planning staff. He is the author of The End of History and the Last Man, Trust, and America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy. Eric Liu is the co-founder and CEO of Citizen University and director of the Aspen Institute's Citizenship & American Identity Program. He is the author of several acclaimed books, most recently, Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy — a New York Times New & Notable Book. He has been selected as an Ashoka Fellow and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is featured on the PBS documentary American Creed and is a frequent contributor to The Atlantic. Liu served as a White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and as the President's deputy domestic policy adviser. He was later appointed by President Obama to serve on the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Buy the Book: Liberalism and Its Discontents (Hardcover) from Elliott Bay Books Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here. 

Liliana Ayalde reflects on a long and accomplished career in assistance, public health, and diplomacy. Beginning with her first posting with USAID in Bangladesh, Amb. Ayalde traces lessons learned and her abiding contributions to international development and diplomacy in the U.S. Foreign Service. She bounces back from serious medical leave; she gets help from allies like Amb. Roberta Jacobson; and she confronts tension relations following the Snowden disclosures. Amb. Ayalde speaks to the importance of mentorship, identifying leadership talents, and personal flexibility when it comes to seizing opportunities, as well as collaborating with other agencies. When facing challenges in her ambassadorial and State Department roles, Amb. Ayalde was able to utilize the lessons she learned in USAID to cultivate excellence in her work, inspiring younger officers along the way.

The January 6 committee argues that then-President Trump schemed to find votes and fake electors. Officials are offering the first detailed timeline of the Uvalde shooting police response. Another American has been killed in Ukraine, the State Department confirms.

Will #gronk stay retired? #tb12 thoughts?  Love #fitzmagic on @amazon #tnf coverage.  #calebswanigan RIP.  Gone too soon.  @yankees 50-17 but thought #gerritcole was getting a #nohitter last night. #ndamukongsuh would look great in @raiders black.  @angushout we have a #stanleycupfinals @tblightning 6-2 over @coloradoavalanche and it got quite chippy on the ice.  #brittneygriner just wanted to talk to her wife on their anniversary cmon State Department!  

New testimony today before the January 6th committee from Republican officials who say they were pressured by former President Trump. In Uvalde, Texas parents are making fresh demands for accountability from law enforcement, Breaking this morning, the State Department confirms a second American has been killed fighting in Ukraine. Meanwhile, intense shelling continues in and around the important city of Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine. The surge in gas prices -- which is actually much worse in other countries. The latest numbers show drivers in Britain are paying nearly twice as much as we are. New York City police say a frightening crash on a busy sidewalk appears to be an accident. Brutally hot weather is gripping much of the nation this first day of summer.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Summary Ellen McCarthy (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss her career and time as head of the State Department's intelligence agency. INR is one of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. What You'll Learn Intelligence Her start as a Soviet submarine analyst in the Office of Naval Intelligence  Bringing the U.S. Coast Guard intel. program into the Intelligence Community (IC)  Working for DoD and Geospatial-Intelligence Why she admires the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR)  Reflections Government/for-profit/non-profit life Managing complexity and change  And much, much more… Episode Notes Imagine seeing a pyramid from different angles and different heights instead of from one vantage point? You get a better sense of what it truly looks like, its dimensions, colors, idiosyncrasies, and the shadows it casts, right? Ellen McCarthy has seen more of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) pyramid than most: she started as a junior analyst for the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence and ended up as the head of the State Dept.'s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). Along the way, she was with the U.S. Coast Guard, in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, and at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.  Quite the journey, I am sure you will agree… And… INR has been called the “biggest little intelligence shop in town” and its morning intelligence summary, “Better than Wheaties.” The NYT called it the “least wrong” intelligence agency on Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and it has been credited for a more accurate assessment of Ukraine's ability to withstand Russia than its peers. “They get paid attention to because they're good and they tend to be contrarian,” notes a former chair of the National Intelligence Council. How do they manage this? Well, big question, but the deep, deep expertise of their staff – who are on average on their regional or functional area for over a decade – as well as an “intolerance for mediocrity” would be good places to start. Quote of the Week "The Geographer of the United States sits in INR. I don't think a lot of people know that. So, when there's a boundary dispute or you've got countries trying to build islands, it's INR that's actually working what the legal boundaries are. The other thing that INR does that a lot of folks don't know about is polling. Polling in the intelligence community is conducted at INR…And I will tell you that the polling capability at INR is the best I've ever seen." – Ellen McCarthy  Resources *SpyCasts* “State Department Intelligence: Inside the INR” – INR Leadership (2020) Beginner Resources Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Wikipedia [webpage] Learn About the Smallest Organization in the IC, YouTube (n.d.) [1:45 minute] Geographer of the United States, YouTube, (2011) [13:24 minute] Books “Intelligence Informs Policymaking at DoS: INR,” T. King in T. Juneau, ed. Strategic Analysis in Support of Policymaking, R&L (2017), pp. 95-110. Reducing Uncertainty: Intelligence Analysis & National Security, T. Fingar, SUP (2011) INR, Intelligence & Research at State, U.S. DoS (1973) Article The U.S. Intelligence Community Needs a ‘Wild Bill' Moment, E. McCarthy & M. Scott, Cipher Brief (2021) Video SPYCHAT: Ellen McCarthy & Chris Costa, YouTube (2021) The New IC: Ellen McCarthy Keynote, YouTube (2019) FedMentor: NGA's Ellen McCarthy, YouTube (2014) Primary Sources INR: 2025 Strategic Plan (2022) Oral History with Teresita Schaeffer (1998) Oral History with Thomas F. Conlon (1992) Oral History with Frank Burnet, (1990) Oral History with Daniel Zachary (1989) *Wildcard Resource* The Ralph J. Bunche Library State Dept. Library named after OSS intelligence analyst, diplomat & Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Bunche

You can't get past page 6 of the Mueller Report without laughing your ass off (unless you're clueless or a Marxist).  Benedict Bob Mueller lists Konstantin Kilimnik as a Russian intelligence asset even though by 2018 Mueller had HUNDREDS of pages of State Department documents that disclose how central Kilimnik was to EVERYTHING in Ukraine and Russia.  (Another person thrown under Baghdad Bob's bus because Kilimnik knows where the FBI buried the bodies.) Q: What the hell was Mueller's source to arrive at his "findings"???   PS-Mueller still has no idea what FusionGPS is.

Charlie takes the questions you email him at Freedom@CharlieKirk.com including: What values is America exporting around the world? Do we have to save the world from the values we are exporting especially as embassies across the globe are flying pride and BLM flags instead of the American flag? Charlie breaks down the State Department's "equity plan" that is now in effect everywhere the State Department's diversity, equity, and inclusion officer has authority. What do you do as a parent now that the FDA is recommending a vaccine for toddlers? What is Charlie's take on Juneteenth and why is TPUSA not acknowledging it as an organizational holiday? Is it America's second Independence Day or an assault on July 4th's unity? Finally, what is the difference between conservatism and libertarianism?  Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/support See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been 18 months since Donald Trump left office, but with one global crisis after another, the relationship between the United States and Germany has not had time to rebound. But does it matter? Is Germany squandering an opportunity to set its own international agenda? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson discusses the state of German-U.S. relations in these precarious times with:Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations and a former advisor to the State Department during the Obama administration;Joerg Lau, Die Zeit international correspondent; Laura von Daniels, head of the “Americas” research division  at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. This show was produced by Dina Elsayed. Note: This episode was taped before Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine on June 16th and announced Germany wants Ukraine to be admitted into the European Union. But extra steps are needed before that can happen.

This week in news stemming from Mueller world: the United States government on Wednesday designated an individual connected to the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) -- an ultranationalist, white supremacist organization -- as a terrorist and sanctioned two others for involvement with the group; plus some Sabotage and the Fantasy Indictment League. Follow AG on Twitter: Dr. Allison Gill  https://twitter.com/allisongill https://twitter.com/MuellerSheWrote https://twitter.com/dailybeanspod How We Win Fund swingleft.org/fundraise/howwewin

The European Union's executive arm on Friday recommended putting Ukraine on a path to membership. This comes as the U.S. and Europe pledged earlier this week to support Ukraine militarily. Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations who was on the State Department's policy planning staff during the Obama administration, joins John Yang to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

The European Union's executive arm on Friday recommended putting Ukraine on a path to membership. This comes as the U.S. and Europe pledged earlier this week to support Ukraine militarily. Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations who was on the State Department's policy planning staff during the Obama administration, joins John Yang to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

The European Union's executive arm on Friday recommended putting Ukraine on a path to membership. This comes as the U.S. and Europe pledged earlier this week to support Ukraine militarily. Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations who was on the State Department's policy planning staff during the Obama administration, joins John Yang to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Abortion-rights advocates from around the world have met with congressional, USAID, HHS and State Department leaders to discuss concerns that their countries will be next if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Daniel Payne reports.

Former top CIA, Pentagon, and State Department intelligence official Carl Ford tells Jeff Stein US intelligence is “broken.” Domestic extremism expert Jon Lewis discusses the uptick in white supremacist violence with Jeanne Meserve Guests: Carl Ford twitter.com/CarlWFord1 The Footnote https://fordc.substack.com/ Jon Lewis  https://twitter.com/Jon_Lewis27 The Program on Extremism at George Washington University https://twitter.com/gwupoe Follow Jeanne Meserve on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeanneMeserve https://www.jeannemeserve.com/ Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpyTalker Follow SpyTalk on Twitter: https://twitter.com/talk_spy Subscribe to SpyTalk on Substack https://www.spytalk.co/ Take our listener survey: http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Johanna Mikkola is the Co-Founder and CEO of Wyncode Academy, recently acquired by BrainStation, whose project-based programs have helped over 100,000 professionals launch new careers in the tech industry. Chad talks with Johanna about creating a digital skills training bootcamp, the hiring and training market and challenges, and prioritizing inclusion and diversity in the student population. BrainStation (https://brainstation.io/) Follow BrainStation on Twitter (https://twitter.com/brainstation), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BrainStation), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/brainstation/), or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/school/brainstation/). Follow Johanna on Twitter (https://twitter.com/JoMikkola) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanna-mikkola/). Follow thoughtbot on Twitter (https://twitter.com/thoughtbot) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/). Become a Sponsor (https://thoughtbot.com/sponsorship) of Giant Robots! Transcript: CHAD: This is the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots Podcast, where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. And with me today is Jo Mikkola, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Wyncode Academy, recently acquired by BrainStation, whose project-based programs have helped over 100,000 professionals launch new careers in the tech industry. Jo, thank you for joining me. JOHANNA: So excited to be here. Thank you. CHAD: I actually think that the weather we're calling from today might not be so different. It's very warm and sunny, and everything in Boston. So I'm pretty happy today. How are things where you are? JOHANNA: That's great. We're coming to you live from the 305 in Miami, and it's turning into summertime here, which means it's pretty hot and sticky. But I'm originally from Finland, so I can't complain. CHAD: [laughs] JOHANNA: The novelty after eight years of living here has not worn off on me. I do enjoy the sunshine and the palm trees. CHAD: That's great. So we'll definitely circle back and talk about Miami and the tech industry there and everything. But before we do that, I'm curious; you have recently been acquired by BrainStation. Let's rewind a little bit to getting started with Wyncode and what brought you to creating a digital skills training bootcamp. JOHANNA: It's been quite the journey. It all started back in 2013, and at the time living in Toronto. I, at that point, had been working at the National Hockey League in Toronto for eight years and had just joined the management there on the hockey operations officiating team, which was an amazing chapter of my professional journey, and I love all the individuals that I worked with there. But I got to a point in that career where I didn't quite know what the next step would be professionally, and I was looking at getting an MBA. But at the same time, while I was working at the NHL, I was helping lead an internal software build project. And it kept coming to the forefront for me that wow, hockey is being disrupted by technology or technology is being very integrated into something I thought, you know, I didn't think I would see that happen. And at the same time, my co-founder, who's also my husband, we're both from Finland. His name is Juha. He was an entrepreneur in the e-commerce sporting goods space, and he actually had joined a coding bootcamp in Toronto, an early one. And as he was going through the process, we were both kind of at this inflection point professionally about what we were going to do. And so everything he was learning, the transformation of individuals he was witnessing first-hand, him experiencing that himself, and me being a non-technical business person leading a technical project at the NHL, we were like, wow, we're on the cusp of some serious change in the world, and we want to be part of that wave. So we were like, where can we go and be first to market to provide this life-changing, career-changing education and, in turn, really dive into not only education but also the technology space? And ultimately, we landed on Miami. We had actually looked at Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles as options as well. But we arrived here in Miami, and it was very like a Hollywood thing. We were sitting at the coolest cafe in Miami at the time. We were here on Christmas holiday. And we, on a napkin, started writing ideas and brainstorming. You know, founders get very excited about logos and brainstorming names, or at least I do. CHAD: [laughs] JOHANNA: And it all came together really quickly. That was December 2013. We attended a startup meet-up here. We met four key players in this ecosystem, some of which are major drivers today, like the Knight Foundation and Endeavor. We heard their vision, and what they were doing, and how much funding was being put at the time into building a tech ecosystem in Miami. And we were like, wow, we want in. So we went from concept to launch in three months' time. And it was a pretty exciting ride. I mean, so much happened in that time [laughs], and obviously, the acquisition came early last year. And so we've kind of seen it go full circle. And for me professionally, I went from being a startup founder working very regionally, being somewhat nationally known but being a strong regional player, to being a global player overnight with BrainStation. So that also has been really exciting. CHAD: At thoughtbot, we helped create a web development bootcamp around the same time actually. JOHANNA: Love that. CHAD: And that was for Kaplan, and they ended up purchasing Dev Bootcamp and then shutting it down. So I have some experience, and not only that, but thoughtbot has hired a lot of people from bootcamps into our apprentice program. JOHANNA: Love that. CHAD: So, from a hiring and training perspective, I think it's great. From a business perspective, it seems to have been a very challenging market. How did you weather that? JOHANNA: Oh yeah. I mean persistence, unwavering commitment to the people we worked with, and the people we were helping gain these skills to change their careers. And like with any startup, there are moments where it's like, wow, you know, this is a big challenge. How are we going to overcome this? But we've always had the mentality of if there is a will, there is a way. And don't get me wrong, it doesn't always work out. But fortunately, now that I have hindsight, I can say that that mentality resulted in where we are today, and it was very positive. And I have the really fortunate position of looking back on those stressful moments and seeing the lessons now, which is such a gift and maybe also alludes to me being old, I don't know. [laughter] But it really was a great journey. And I mean, the challenges started in the beginning for us, which is turns out it was a federal offense to operate without a license in the state of Florida, you know, lots of details to talk about there. But come full circle, we ended up being the first coding bootcamp to be licensed by a State Department of Education in the entire country. So even though other people were operating in their states, it was different statutes, different legal requirements. And so, we were the first to be licensed. And as a result, we actually helped advise some of those other big names that we all see in the coding landscape to explain how it worked for us. And shout out to the Florida Department of Education and Commission for Independent Education for working with us to make it all come together. But it started off with a very exciting beginning getting that letter, which was essentially telling us to shut down before we had even begun. [laughter] And it all worked out. And we have a great relationship with them. And we learned a lot there. And I will say just in the coding landscape, what ended up happening and what's happened with a lot of for-profit education is there was a huge opportunity, and there still is. People really genuinely need these skills. They really need this vocational training, and the companies hiring really need this talent, as you know firsthand. And so a lot of people jumped in and saw that there was money to be made because professionals and maybe also people who can afford it...there are a lot of financing companies that came in. And so the thing that started wavering is the quality in terms of the training. And that's one of the things that you just, you know, one of the things we were unwilling to compromise at Wyncode and also why BrainStation, I like to say, is our soulmate because they feel the same way. To go from zero to software engineer or zero to UX designer (We also teach data science and digital marketing.), it really takes high-quality education, high-quality educators, and a high-quality network to do that at the level that we want to do that. And then the other thing that a lot of people fell into is this desire to scale really quickly, so take in too many students which quality goes down, open too many locations, quality goes down. And to be the best, you got to learn from the best, and that means learning from software engineers, product designers, individuals who are really highly sought after right now. So, in the same way that software companies are facing talent issues, for us, that was also a key piece for us to solve and work out. We're really fortunate that in the space of education, this is such rewarding work. We build such amazing relationships with the people coming through the programs and, in turn, are contributing so much to our local ecosystems that it hasn't been that hard to attract amazing talent to be our educators because it is so rewarding. They're getting an opportunity to apply their craft to something they love and really shape the minds of future technologists. And it's just a wonderful thing to watch and be part of, so really fortunate to be in that space. CHAD: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's one of the things that has made the space challenging is you come into it with the desire to have that really high quality, but there's a cost to that. And if you don't scale the number of students, you might have trouble covering that cost. How did you balance that? JOHANNA: In the early days of Wyncode, it was easy because we were self-funded, and we were growing organically. So we were quite conservative about how we scaled and how many people we took on, and we stayed very true to that. And honestly, we stayed very focused on the state of Florida. So at one point, we actually had three locations; we had Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, and we scaled them down to have a large HQ in Miami. Because we saw that when the team was together, and the community was together, the overall experience from network to learning was better because we were self-funded. And then, later, when we had partners who were committed to quality, we were able to make decisions for the sake of quality instead of profitability. And then now with BrainStation, I mean, BrainStation is an incredible company. It's been around for ten years. It has been very successful. And right now, what we've been able to do is invest. BrainStation is in a position where we're investing in different pilots to see what things will make learning even better than it already is, although I will say it's at a really high quality right now. And so we're in a fortunate position where, of course, it still needs to make sense. The unit economics needs to make sense. But we're also doing everything we can to continually iterate and make it a great environment for people to learn in. And I think that has come with taking the approach that we're in a long-term marathon. We're not in a sprint with what we're building right now. And I think a lot of the companies in this space that ran into issues were really sprinting to a certain scale, which is a way of operating that we haven't operated. CHAD: Well, so based on what you've said so far, I can make certain assumptions about how you answer this next question. JOHANNA: [laughs] CHAD: But I think it's an important topic, and so I want to make sure even if it's obvious that we talk about it and that's how to bring in students, how to scale the business while still prioritizing inclusion and diversity in the student population, in your organization. What sort of attention did you put on that? JOHANNA: Yeah, so this is a really key one. I mean, in the early days of Wyncode, we were able to do things in a different way than we are now with BrainStation. But I would say Miami is naturally a very diverse and international ecosystem. And so, from the beginning, we really wanted to see that reflected in the people who were in our programs because I knew that would, in the long term, provide so much value to building a great ecosystem. And so, in the beginning, we partnered...we worked very hard to partner with The Knight Foundation to launch what was called The Future Leaders of Tech Fellowship. This is an example of something we did with different groups throughout all the years and continue to do today, but I'll use Knight as the example, which essentially was a full-ride scholarship for underrepresented individuals in technology. So the first iteration we ran of that was a full-ride scholarship because we thought that was the main barrier. Then we realized that a lot of these individuals who hadn't had the means before and didn't necessarily have the educational training needed a little extra training, and they needed to start working right away. So what we created was a pre-program for them. It was a full-ride scholarship, and then it was a guaranteed three-month paid internship at a tech company. And of all the people who went through that program, the majority transitioned, with the exception of two, transitioned into full-time salaried roles. And those are incredible stories that are truly life-changing. But I think the important thing there and what we learned over time is people need support, financial and educational, and they need time. So obviously, in an accelerated learning program, you want things to go as quickly as possible but through the help of partners and making it work for certain communities, we were able to do that. We also partnered with the YMW...it's the Women's...YMCA for women. I cannot remember the acronym right now. CHAD: WYMCA. JOHANNA: Thank you. Thank you. We provided a program in-house for them specifically. CHAD: No, it would be the YWCA. [laughter] JOHANNA: Yeah. CHAD: Sorry to interrupt you. JOHANNA: I'm sorry. I'm not doing you all a good service here. But it's an amazing organization here in Miami. And that was geared specifically towards women from disadvantaged backgrounds, giving them the education they needed. And with that group, we had actually a 70% success rate, which was wonderful. Those are individuals who had no options for any type of white-collar position, many of whom we still keep in touch with today. So, in the beginning, with diversity and inclusion, we were doing things at a smaller scale, very specialized, and very catered to make sure that they were successful in the hope of eventually building more momentum to do this. And the work very much continues. So BrainStation, larger company, we have a lot more firepower in terms of what we're able to do. So we've partnered with companies like Ernst & Young, Shutterstock, Microsoft with our Impact Scholarship, which is also full-ride scholarships for the underrepresented communities in technology, and that's been really successful as well. And, again, education is really rewarding, but it's also really rewarding to see, in particular, those success stories. CHAD: Yeah, one of the things when I speak at bootcamps or when I talk to apprentices who are joining us, I often reinforce or remind them that they bring something to the table, which is really special. I started programming when I was in middle school. I went to school for computer science. Aside from a brief stint as a dishwasher and a checkout person at a grocery store, this is all I've ever done. And I recognize that that has pros and cons. Like, I just don't have the same perspective and diversity of experience, let alone actual demographic diversity that many of our team members bring to the table. And there's something special in that, whether it be from your experience working in another industry like hospitality or something like that. You bring a perspective. There are so many hospitality startups, for example, that would love to bring a new developer onto their team who actually has industry experience. It makes it very powerful for people. JOHANNA: Yeah, absolutely. And I think oftentimes, people in anything when you're transitioning a career, there's maybe a little bit of imposter syndrome or a lack of confidence. And I see oftentimes not only minority groups but everyone shying away from their previous professional backgrounds. But technology is built for us, for humans who are very diverse in background experience and the products and services that we need. And so we really try to emphasize at Wyncode and at BrainStation to lean into your past profession. Because if you can bring that through and really focus on the things you learn there, you can provide so much firepower to what you're building with technology, and it's super important. And I will say healthtech is big in South Florida. And so we have had various people with some type of health background, whether they were an assistant or worked in a medical office, or we've had a few doctors go through the program. They were, as you can imagine, really sought after for the healthtech companies because not only do they bring technology skills, but they have this understanding that no one else does. So it's really unique. CHAD: You're part of the tech industry now. [laughter] How has that diversity of background...you mentioned at the beginning, at the top of the episode that you were originally at the NHL, to starting to lead software projects there. How have you leveraged that for yourself and for your business? JOHANNA: Oh yeah, 100%. So we do an exercise at BrainStation where you have a chart, and you plot out your past professions, and you look at the things that you learned, and the mistakes you made, and the things you didn't like, to start to build a thread of what are things carrying over? And for me, the thing that has come to the forefront is technology or not...and I feel like anyone investing is also saying this all the time, and maybe founders say it too. But it always comes down to people and relationships and how you are listening and taking in the information to then digest it and deliver something. And so, I think my ability to connect with people and mobilize people around common goals is something that has been a common thread throughout my career. It's interesting. I'll say some of the best things I learned as a founder came from engineers, the first being agile. Like, we weren't operating like an agile company in the beginning because we weren't a software company. And our very first hire was a guy named Ed Toro, an MIT graduate. Shout out to Ed. It's actually his birthday. CHAD: [laughs] JOHANNA: Incredible, incredible engineer originally from Boston. He was our lead educator for software for so long. And he just brought so much knowledge to us about how software is built and works. And we integrated that into how we operated as business people and organized the company. I mean, it's amazing. I actually don't remember what it's like to not be organized in that manner anymore. Although I can tell you going from the NHL to Wyncode was a huge jump because NHL, even though we were using and leveraging technology, was still organized very traditionally. And so I'll give you a simple thing, some software teams...I know a lot of software engineers appreciate transparency. So, in addition to organizing in a very agile method in terms of how we operated the business, we also pivoted to be extremely transparent as a team as well in terms of how the company is doing, which is something that is not common in a multibillion-dollar industry like the NHL. Although you see that more and more with tech companies, which is interesting. CHAD: How long ago did you join up with BrainStation? JOHANNA: So we were introduced to the founders and owners of BrainStation really because they were potentially looking at coming to Florida. And a mutual friend, a mutual business person, had said, "Hey, you know, if you guys are looking at Florida, probably you guys should meet Jo and Juha. They built something called Wyncode. You're going to get to know them anyway." And so I would say a little bit over a year and a half ago, we started chatting. And we realized that we had a lot in common in terms of how we had built the businesses, where we wanted to see the business go. And the rest isn't history because we're a year and a half in. CHAD: [laughs] JOHANNA: So you know what happened. It all worked out. It's really great but also really excited for the future. Because now with the BrainStation acquisition comes a lot of firepower in terms of experience on the team, much larger team, capital, reach of team. We have students in over 100 countries. So I'm very excited for what we're going to do in the future as well because we can have so much more impact, and that is really exciting as well. 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