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RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - U.S. government officials in March asked Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras whether it could increase crude output after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent global prices soaring, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. They came away empty-handed, the sources said. Officials at Petrobras, formally Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said output levels were a function of business strategy rather than diplomacy and also that a significant short-term production boost would not be logistically possible, the sources said. "We are ... doing everything possible with our allies and partners to mitigate the economic impacts of Russian...

The Surgeon General warned of a “mental-health crisis” among young people, adding urgency to long-standing concerns. Campuses are rushing to address these issues, but their efforts may do more harm than good because they’re rooted in the disease model of mental health. The disease model sees painful emotions as evidence of a disorder. It presumes that happiness comes effortlessly to the “normal,” and “treatment” is the way to get it otherwise. The disease model began in the 1950s with the first psychotropic drug. Acceptance grew with each new medication, and now the disease model is rarely questioned. It shapes our...

A transgender woman wanted for fatally shooting her brother and also-trans lover over the weekend has been found dead, cops say, following a daylong manhunt by police. Michigan police had warned citizens to be on the lookout for 22-year-old Ruby Taverner Sunday, after finding the bodies of Ray Muscat, 26, and Bishop Taverner, 25, in the suspect's Independence Township apartment early Sunday morning. According to the sheriff’s office, Taverner formerly went by Martin, and Muscat previously used the first name Amber. The pair had been living together in the suspect's apartment. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Sunday that 5-foot-two,...

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday argued that banning abortion would be “very damaging” for the economy by reducing women’s ability to balance their careers and their families. “I believe that eliminating the right of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades,” she said in response to a question at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. In her comments, Yellen said the 1973 ruling helped allow women to finish school and increase their earning potential, leading to higher participation in the workforce. “Research...

In a letter obtained by American Greatness, the U.S. Department of Justice is threatening defendants charged with seditious conspiracy in the sprawling Oath Keepers case to accept plea deals or face life in prison.Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia handling every prosecution related to the events of January 6, 2021, imposed a May 6 deadline for the remaining defendants to accept plea deals. Three men have pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy; nine others, including Oath Keepers’ founder Stewart Rhodes, have rejected government attempts to reach a plea.“We write to advise you of applicable penalties that could...

Food planting in Ukraine is down between 25-30 per cent as the country struggles to export already harvested produce. Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to cause havoc for the country’s vital agricultural sector, with crop sowing falling by 25-30 per cent thanks to the ongoing conflict. The war-torn country is also struggling to export crops that have already been harvested, an issue that has already prompted fears of famine across the world due to the nation traditionally being responsible for a major share of the world’s wheat trade. According to a report by Reuters, the country only managed to export...

Also convicted was Joanne Chesimard, a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army who later escaped from prison in New Jersey and fled to Cuba. She became the first woman on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list and changed her name to Assata Shakur Published 1 hour ago • Updated 30 mins ago New Jersey's highest court has ordered an octogenarian convicted of murdering a New Jersey state trooper nearly 50 years ago in one of the state’s most infamous crimes released from prison, reversing a parole board's decision earlier this year. In a narrow 3-2 ruling...

On April 30, I submitted to the Harvard Crimson a detailed op-ed refuting its recently-published blood libel against Israel. Over the next several days, the Crimson first said they were “reviewing” my submission; then that they were “interested in running it;” and, on May 4, that they would run my piece “probably tonight,” promising to “reach out with edits later today if needed.” As a result of these assurances, I withdrew my op-ed from any other publications. Then, on May 4, they “decided not to publish” my piece, using the phony excuse of “very high number of submissions . ....

FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER JOHN 10:22-30 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declared that “the Father and I are one.” Jesus appeared two thousand years ago and announced that he had been sent by the Father. There was a strange “something more” regarding Jesus, for he spoke and acted in the very person of God. The first Christians had to come to grips with this strange duality: somehow Jesus was Son of God, both sent and divine. He was other than the Father, but somehow at the same level as the Father. Things got more complicated when the Holy Spirit came...

It's the first time since 2005 that the NIH royalty payments receive oversight. Last year, the National Institutes of Health – Anthony Fauci’s employer – doled out $30 billion in government grants to roughly 56,000 recipients. That largess of taxpayer money buys a lot of favor and clout within the scientific, research, and healthcare industries. However, in our breaking investigation, we found hundreds of millions of dollars in payments also flow the other way. These are royalty payments from third-party payers (think pharmaceutical companies) back to the NIH and individual NIH scientists. We estimate that between fiscal years 2010 and...

UNUSUAL DREAM FEATURING A FAMOUS ENTERTAINER AND A BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE PROBABLY FAMOUS, TOO, ALTHOUGH I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE THEMDisclaimer: This is a memory about a real dream that I really had, presented for your entertainment and possible amusement. Maybe I'm hoping someone can offer an interpretation – wait a minute. That's a bad idea. Never mind. Forget I said that. I don't think the dream was predictive, though I frequently have dreams that predict future events. For example, I had the following dream two or perhaps three days before the shooting at the DC sports field where...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—FBI agents confronted the mob surrounding Justice Kavanaugh's home today, warning them to steer clear of the house next door as a local school board member lives there."Sure would hate to have to charge one of you nice people with domestic terrorism," said Agent Raymond Epley to a group of women lighting baby dolls on fire. "By all means, threaten the justice and his family! But if you set one foot on the school board treasurer's lawn, it's a one-way trip to Gitmo."

Alice Kim, the owner of Joe's Ice Cream in San Francisco's Richmond District, has hosted several events including school fundraisers and weddings at her shop before. When she was approached by a member of the community about hosting an "Ice Cream with a Cop" event with members of the San Francisco Police Department on Saturday, April 29, she thought it would be like the other community events: calm, cordial and without controversy. She was wrong.

A week ago, exactly, an unnamed saboteur at the Supreme Court, leaked a draft opinion by Justice Sam Alito explaining why Roe v. Wade ought to be overturned. Now, people were completely hysterical over it, but actually, as a legal matter, Alito's views were not especially controversial. Roe is bad law. Over the past half-century, many have acknowledged that, including many pro-choice Democrats, including Joe Biden. So, at this point, 49 years in, if you're an office holder who supports legal abortion, the obvious solution is to vote for legal abortion, pass a law like they do in democracies. It's...

Parents in Barrington, Rhode Island have slammed a woke school district for cancelling honors classes as part of a move to increase inclusivity and equity amongst students. Barrington Public Schools were among the best in the state and known for equipping students for Ivy League colleges but have plunged 119 spots in official rankings since it changed its approach to teaching in 2020.

In November 2020, Oregon voters approved Measure 110, essentially decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs — from heroin to cocaine to opioid pills. Instead of criminal penalties, the law calls for treatment centers to be set up all over the state, so addiction could be treated as a health care issue, not a law enforcement issue. The problem, law enforcement says, is that has led to a huge increase in the amount of drugs on the streets — and now, an increase in crime. . . . "It's everywhere. It's everybody we contact. I have a couple cases that...

Sen. Rick Scott Tuesday called on President Biden to resign, alleging that Biden is mentally unfit to carry out his duties as president. "The most effective thing Joe Biden can do to solve the inflation crisis he created is resign. He’s the problem," Scott, R-Fla., said Tuesday ahead of Biden's planned remarks on inflation. "Let’s be honest here. Joe Biden is unwell. He’s unfit for office. He’s incoherent, incapacitated and confused. He doesn’t know where he is half the time. He’s incapable of leading and he’s incapable of carrying out his duties," Scott added.

I hope you had a lovely birthing persons' day. I dressed in drag to get half price mimosas at brunch, it was worth it, but other people who I call jerks went to a judge's house to protest on behalf of abortion. It seems like an ironic thing to do on a Mother’s Day weekend – cheer for abortions, which is what happened. A motherlode of manic hysterics showed up outside the homes of US Supreme Court justices on Saturday to protest the court's expected repeal of Roe v Wade, "V" is short for versus. Reminds me of an old...

It may come as a surprise to some but the head US trader of the same bank that spawns mARKKo Kolanovic’s weekly bullishness, is also one of the most bearish market commentators. Below is the trading desk commentary for JPM’s Elan Luger, head of US trading. The most positive thing I can say about this market is that what had been heavily debated in Q1 is now the overwhelming consensus. Everyone is a bear. China is shutdown, inflation is running wild, Russia / Ukraine continues to impact supply chains, animal spirits are dead, the fed has lost control, QT is...

Webb MIRI and Spitzer Comparison Image Comparison of a Webb Space Telescope Mid-Infrared Instrument image of the Large Magellanic Cloud and a past image of the same view using the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech (left), NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI (right) ************************************************************************ NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is aligned across all four of its science instruments, as seen in a previous engineering image showing the observatory’s full field of view. Now, we take a closer look at that same image, focusing on Webb’s coldest instrument: the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI. The MIRI test image (at 7.7 microns) shows part of...