This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/trial-begins-three-men-accused-pressuring-expats-return-china-rcna87266" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese Conspiracy Trial Starts</a>
One American and two Chinese nationals faced a jury Wednesday in the first trial stemming from U.S. claims of a Chinese government conspiracy. Officials say that China’s government has tried to harass and intimidate dissidents and others abroad into returning home. The three men are charged with conspiracy to hound a former Chinese city official, his wife, and their adult daughter to get him to go back to his homeland, where the government alleges he took bribes.
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/latvian-parliament-elects-first-openly-gay-president-baltic-nation-rcna87077" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World&#8217;s First Openly Gay President Elected In Latvia</a>
The world’s first openly gay president has been elected in Latvia by the country’s parliament. He received 52 votes — or just one more than necessary to win — in a close contest. Gay marriage is currently illegal in Latvia.
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/31/ftc-sues-amazon-over-ring-doorbell-privacy-violations.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon To Pay $30 Million Over Privacy Violations Suit</a>
Amazon has settled a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that its voice assistant Alexa and doorbell camera Ring violated privacy protections. The FTC claimed in one lawsuit that the tech company kept recordings of children&#8217;s conversations in Alexa. The federal agency also alleged that Amazon employees illegally monitored customers without consent via Ring. Now, Amazon will pay over $30 million to settle the accusations.
<a href="https://cbsaustin.com/newsletter-daily/gov-abbott-appoints-former-tx-secretary-of-state-as-interim-attorney-general-ken-paxton-texas-attorney-general-for-civil-litigation-impeachment-tx-house-lege-senate-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greg Abbott Appoints Paxton Replacement</a>
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has now appointed a temporary replacement for impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton — and Democrats aren’t happy about it. Abbott named former Secretary of State John Scott as the interim Attorney General this week, as Paxton awaits his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate. Some Democrats have pushed back on the appointment of Scott because he worked with former President Trump during his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania.
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<a href="https://people.com/ill-man-who-joked-he-regretted-marrying-wife-convicted-of-murdering-her-7506988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Family Feud Contestant Who Joked About Regretting Marrying His Wife Convicted Of Murdering Wife</a>
A former “Family Feud” contestant who joked on the show about regretting marrying his wife has now been convicted of murdering his wife. 40-year-old Timothy Bliefnick appeared on the show in 2020.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="&#039;Family Feud&#039; contestant who joked about regretting marriage now on trial for wife&#039;s murder" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K_lChiRhSRk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Bliefnick has now been found guilty of killing his estranged wife, Becky Bliefnick, in February. The court found that he broke into her home in Quincy, Illinois, with a crowbar and shot her 14 times. The pair was in the process of a divorce and Becky had previously text her sister, “If something ever happens to me, make sure the number one person of interest is Tim.” His sentencing is scheduled for August 11.
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Friday

Friday Afternoon Update: World’s First Openly Gay President Elected In Latvia, Amazon To Pay $30 Million Over Privacy Violations Suit

Friday Afternoon Update: World's First Openly Gay President Elected In Latvia, Amazon To Pay $30 Million Over Privacy Violations Suit

Amazon

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Entertainment

Europe

Gay Rights

General

Greg Abbott

Morning Wire

Podcast

Texas

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-releases-campaign-launch-video-twitter-launch-crashes-app-as-servers-strained" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> he will seek the nomination to be the Republican nominee for the United States presidency. The U.S. is the world’s superpower, both economically and militarily, with geopolitical interests throughout all continents and economic impact in most countries. As such, American elections garner a lot of attention, especially in Europe. 
For many reasons, Governor DeSantis has become the symbol of effective, strong conservative governance, and Florida is a blueprint for many center-Right governments in American states and European countries. The American support for his candidacy would in fact show that conservatives reject the cult of the individual, as they often have in the past, embracing instead the best common sense, conservative policies. For Europeans, it would mean a trusted and reliable partner that would strengthen the U.S. and the Western alliance in front of aggressions and hegemonic aspirations of our geopolitical adversaries and would present a model that works for bolstering the economy. 
DeSantis won the race for Congress in 2012 against all odds, going door-to-door together with his wife, Casey, and convincing people to choose an idealist who could get things done. Subsequently, he became one of the founders of the House Freedom Caucus, one of the most conservative groups in the United States Congress, advocating for fiscal responsibility, limited government, individual freedoms, less bureaucracy, and stronger national defense. Just as he managed to go into Harvard and Yale and come out more conservative than when he started his academic path, in Congress he managed to not only avoid becoming part of the swamp, but also stand up to it. Similarly, he successfully stood up to Fauci-ism and the worldwide infringements of human rights and came out victorious. 
In 2018, DeSantis won by a margin of 0.4% against Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum. Four years later, with a successful track record, he transformed the margin of victory into an almost 20% difference with his rival Charlie Crist, demonstrating that voters award competence, politicians that stick to their values and principles and policies that strengthen their freedoms and prosperity. 
It was the largest margin of any Florida Governor in 40 years, winning comfortably the vote of men (64%), women (53%), Hispanic (58%), White (65%), independent (53%), and Republican (97%) and reaching 13% with African-Americans and 5% with Democrats. He won Miami Dade, a Democrat stronghold, for the first time in two decades, and turned Palm Beach County Republican for the first time since 1986. Under him, Republicans won supermajorities in both chambers of the Florida Legislature and DeSantis used these victories to push for and sign laws based on what he actually promised when running for re-election. Mr. DeSantis showed that he can win even where Democrats think they have the upper hand. Fundamentally, he transformed a swing state into a reliable Republican stronghold, basically obliterating the Left from all positions of power. More importantly, he can win against President Biden, because he can win states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and many others that other contenders cannot. Electability is one of his greatest advantages. 
The governor, immensely popular within his state, ensured a Red Wave in Florida in an otherwise surprisingly bad year for Republicans and helped secure the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. As an example of the efficiency of his governorship together with the House and Senate of the state, just in the recent legislature, they have created the largest school choice program in American history, banned abortion after six weeks, approved a $2 billion tax cut, strengthened gun rights, banned sex change operations from being performed on minors, barred woke initiatives in universities, cracked down on illegal immigration, expanded parental rights in education, protected the rights of individuals against the overreach of government in collusion with large corporations.
Moreover, he signed a digital bill of rights, to protect his citizens from the overreach of big tech, enhanced penalties for fentanyl dealing, fined credit card companies for tracking citizens’ gun purchases, made it easier to own a house, outlawed social credit scores, banning government from considering social, political or ideological beliefs when evaluating potential vendors, outlawed central bank digital currency and approved laws that fight antisemitism and any type of discrimination. All of these common sense and widely accepted ideas are transformed into law in a way that would make it difficult for the next governor to undo them. 
That is exactly the best feature of Governor DeSantis. He is a strategist that acts with a discipline and precision often lacking in other politicians, giving the reassuring feeling that the adults are now in charge. He has made sure that his governorship is a consequential one and more importantly, that his policies continue to improve and protect the freedoms and lives of his citizens even after he is gone. All of this has been done without increasing the size or degree of interference of government, expanding instead the liberties of citizens.
He has gathered a team that works competently towards their common goal, free of leaks and unnecessary drama. As president of the United States, his record proves that he would preside over a government that cuts bureaucracy, runs efficiently, and does not sabotage itself, while enabling individuals and families to prosper and unleash their economic potential. More importantly, he has shown an admirable knowledge of conservative philosophy and policies and a willingness to study and understand laws and proposals in depth. 
Under his leadership, Florida became home of the free, and beacon of liberty across the globe, incentivizing citizens, and businesses to move there from would–be socialist states that are high in crime and low in prosperity. Florida was number one in net migration, in new business formation, in education, and economic freedom. The crime rate fell to a 50-year record low level. 
Overall, he has pursued supply-side policies such as tax cuts, deregulation, incentivizing investments in key industries and technology, while keeping government expenditure low. In fact, Florida has a budget surplus, even though it has a lower budget than New York, which through its high taxes and massive spending often goes on the brink of bankruptcy. These policies have resulted in an unemployment rate of 2.6% as of April 2023, gross domestic product real rate of growth for the fourth quarter of 2022 of 3.7%, a budget surplus for FY 2021-22 of $21.8 billion, the highest in the state’s history, and a yearly private sector employment growth of 4.7%, as of March 2023, all metrics superior to the national ones. As a conservative, he understands the necessity to lower the deficits, maintain fiscal discipline, and encourage entrepreneurship and the true free market. 
DeSantis has combined these free market, supply-side policies with a higher focus on culture, tradition, and individual freedoms. This is the fusionism of the 21st century that all the West needs to strengthen the United States and Europe as the two pillars that will keep the balance of power in the West, just as President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher did in the eighties. Wokeism and cancel culture, higher government intervention and their collusion with corporations that in fact do not serve shareholders or customers but agendas imposed by fringe segments, are the modern manifestation of communism and fascism — precisely the policies DeSantis has been fighting.
He seems to be the only one who can unite a strong coalition of the spectrum of the Right, from social and fiscal conservatives to classical liberals whose philosophy stands at the foundation of the U.S.. Moderates, national conservatives, common sense libertarians and principled realism foreign policy advocates will also find him attractive. All of these different streams of the Right, which have conflicted often with one another in many aspects, have many things in common. To win and effectively address the challenges of our time, an alliance based on the common traits of all of them is needed. I have seen this Reaganite fusion during Governor DeSantis’ governance and that will be the key to winning the Presidency and governing successfully. 
American center-Right individuals of all streams and philosophies should endorse and join DeSantis and his alliance if they want their voices heard, concerns addressed and the country safer, stronger, and more prosperous. His election can serve as an incentive to his European counterparts and help strengthen the bond between the freedom-loving nations in front of the considerable challenges and threats ahead. 
Nikola Kedhi is an economic commentator, financial consultant and contributor to various media such as Fox News, Newsweek, the Daily Signal, Newsmax and Mises Institute. Kedhi is also a co-author of the Constitution of Center-Right Values of the Democratic Party of Albania. He can be reached on Twitter: @nikedhi95 and on <a href="https://nikolakedhi.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Substack.</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-US-VOTE-ELECTION-FLORIDA-DESANTIS

Why A DeSantis Presidency Would Strengthen Our Bonds With Freedom-Loving European Nations

2024 Election

Florida

Opinion

Presidency

Readers Pass

Ron DeSantis

Police in Portugal on Tuesday resumed their search for missing British child Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from a resort in 2007.
Around 20 officers, using rakes and other digging tools, searched a patch of land near a dam about 30 miles from where McCann disappeared 16 years ago, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/madeleine-mccann-portugal-algarve-missing-germany-uk-4528b15895180b3e1d9a9aecde06bfcc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. It is not clear if progress has been made in the search.
Portuguese police are leading the operation with help from German and British law enforcement. It began after German authorities made a request. This is the fourth such search for McCann, following the initial search after her disappearance in 2007 and additional searches in 2013 and 2014. Germany also conducted its own search in Germany in 2020. The current search is reportedly the first one near the dam.
Madeleine McCann was three years old <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unsolved-the-disappearance-of-madeleine-mccann" target="_blank" rel="noopener">when she disappeared</a> from her bed in an apartment her family rented while on vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. She would be 20 years old today.
The McCann family — parents Gerry and Kate along with Madeleine and her twin siblings, who were two years old – was on vacation with seven friends, now known as the Tapas Seven, along with their children.
On the morning of May 3, 2007, the children played at the resort’s Kids’ Club before joining their parents at the pool, after which they returned to the Kids’ Club until Kate took them back to their apartment. Kate and Gerry put their children to bed before joining their friends at the resort’s tapas restaurant, located across the pool from the apartments where they were all staying. From their table, the parents could see the top of McCann’s apartment but not the doors, and they left the patio doors unlocked but closed. About every half hour, someone from the parents’ group would leave to check on their children.
A message book at the resort’s swimming pool reception area contained a note to block the same table for the McCanns and their friends each night for four evenings, with a message saying the children were sleeping in the apartments. Kate would come to believe that whoever abducted Madeleine must have seen the message book.
Another member of the Tapas Seven agreed to check on the McCann’s children around 9:30 p.m. He found the children’s bedroom door wide open, but since he didn’t hear anything, he left without checking to make sure the children were indeed in their beds.
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Kate then completed her own check on the children around 10 p.m. and found her daughter missing. She quickly searched the apartment before running back to the restaurant screaming, “Madeleine’s gone! Someone’s taken her!”
By 10:10, a member of the Tapas Seven told the resort’s reception desk to call the police, and by 10:30, the resort began its missing child search protocol, which involved 60 staff members and guests searching the premises until 4:30 in the morning.
Portuguese police said they arrived within 10 minutes of being called. Kate said they arrived around 1 a.m. They also began searching for Madeleine, but many issues with the search would later come to light. Border and marine police were not given descriptions of the missing girl for several hours, and police didn’t conduct any house searches. Kate told media outlets that the roads weren’t blocked until 10 a.m. the morning after Madeleine disappeared. Surveillance images of vehicles leaving the resort on the night of the disappearance, or the surrounding roads weren’t requested, nor was the road monitoring company approached for information.
In addition, many people staying at the resort at the time weren’t immediately interviewed, with some contacting police on their own.
The crime scene was also not properly secured, with at least 20 people entering the apartment before it was blocked. The apartment was empty for a month after Madeleine’s disappearance before the resort began renting it out again. In August 2007 – nearly three months after the disappearance, the apartment was closed once again for additional forensic tests.
Just 12 days after Madeleine disappeared, a suspect was named. The man lived close to the resort and was seen outside the McCann’s apartment shortly after their daughter disappeared. The suspect’s home and cars were searched, and his associates were questioned, but nothing linked him to the disappearance, and he was eventually cleared, later suing authorities and receiving a large settlement.
As with most child abductions without quick answers, the parents became suspects. Media in Portugal and then the U.K. began suggesting the parents were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance and had made a “pact of silence” with the Tapas Seven. Forensic dogs were brought in to search the apartment and the car the McCanns rented, but their findings have been disputed.
Still, the McCanns were named suspects, with Portuguese police claiming they accidentally killed Madeleine and hid her body, with leaks to the media falsely claiming the evidence against them was stronger than it actually was. Despite being named suspects, the McCanns were allowed to return to the U.K.
On July 21, 2008, the Portuguese attorney general announced there wasn’t enough evidence to say the McCanns were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance, clearing them as suspects and closing the case. The McCanns, however, have never stopped looking for Madeleine, setting up <a href="http://findmadeleine.com/about_us/madeleines-fund.html#:~:text=Madeleine's%20Fund%20%2D%20'Leaving%20No%20Stone,the%20Voluntary%20and%20Community%20Sector." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Madeleine’s Fund</a>: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd just two weeks after their daughter disappeared. It has since raised nearly £750,000.
The family has also hired several private investigators throughout the investigation and beyond, while the U.K. has conducted several additional probes – none of which have found Madeleine.
The most significant break in the case came in 2020, when police named “Christian B” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-in-uk-have-massive-breakthrough-in-madeleine-mccann-kidnapping-cold-case-name-suspect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as a suspect</a>, later identified <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/15-years-after-madeleine-mccann-disappeared-official-suspect-named-as-deadline-looms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as Christian Brueckner</a>. Brueckner is from Germany and is currently in prison for drug offenses, as well as a seven-year sentence for the rape of an elderly woman. Jim Gamble, a former British police officer who in 2010 led an official review of McCann’s disappearance, said in April 2022 that phone data put Brueckner near the scene of the crime within a 30-minute timeframe. Brueckner had also allegedly stolen from vacation homes in the area, with children’s clothing reportedly found in his vehicle.
“I think the circumstantial evidence that I know exists is extremely strong … I wouldn’t be surprised if charges follow,” Gamble noted. “It would just be fantastic to be able to give the McCanns peace of mind so far as knowing exactly what happened.”
Brueckner, however, denies any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.

Missing Madeleine McCann

Portuguese Police Resume Search For Madeleine McCann, Who Disappeared From Resort In 2007

Children

Crime

kidnapping

Missing Person

True Crime

United Kingdom

World

The Ford Raptor is very gay. That&#8217;s not a middle school joke, it&#8217;s an actual vehicle offered by The Ford Motor Company, which created a special edition &#8220;very gay&#8221; version of its Raptor pick-up truck two years ago, complete with a rainbow paint job. Yet nobody even noticed it until recently — which sort of makes the whole thing a lot more funny.
On May 18, Robby Starbuck tweeted, &#8220;Did you know that Ford has a truck they call their &#8216;Very Gay Raptor&#8217;? Check out their ad where the truck &#8216;comes out&#8217; of mud to reveal its trans/queer flag colors.&#8221; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Did you know that Ford has a truck they call their &quot;Very Gay Raptor&quot;? Check out their ad where the truck &quot;comes out&quot; of mud to reveal its trans/queer flag colors. Does this make you more or less likely to buy a <a href="https://twitter.com/Ford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Ford</a>? <a href="https://twitter.com/budlight?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@budlight</a> showed people are sick of this. <a href="https://t.co/hRqsdw8M3N">pic.twitter.com/hRqsdw8M3N</a>
&mdash; Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) <a href="https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1659199384196902914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Technically, it isn&#8217;t an advertisement — it&#8217;s just a social media video. According to The National Pulse&#8217;s Raheem Kassam, a spokesperson for Ford has been very quick to point that out. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Me when the Ford comms guy slides into the DMs crying that we told the world about their “Very Gay Raptor”… <a href="https://t.co/3vxpBzKnbx">pic.twitter.com/3vxpBzKnbx</a>
&mdash; Raheem. (@RaheemKassam) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1659883269016395776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
While the very gay truck has gained new prominence, or infamy depending on your persuasion, it has actually been out of the closet for some time, and Ford Europe was quite proud of its Very Gay Raptor (VGR).
&#8220;Created in 2021, &#8216;Very Gay Raptor&#8217; was born in response to a negative comment on social media, with Ford rendering its most badass nameplate in sparkling gold adorned with rainbow graphics,&#8221; a Ford Europe press release <a href="https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2022/06/21/ford_s-very-gay-raptor-set-to-redefine-tough-at-goodwood.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The positive response online was so overwhelming the manufacturer decided to make it real, and has been using it as a tool to help drive out discrimination ever since.&#8221;
Per the company, it was created as part of an effort &#8220;to redefine what &#8216;tough&#8217; actually means.&#8221; One might argue responding to internet trolls in the first place isn&#8217;t very tough, but that&#8217;s neither here nor there.
However, it seems like the stunt is backfiring in the wake of Bud Light&#8217;s Dylan Mulvaney fiasco as it receives renewed attention.
Now, the real kicker in all this is that you&#8217;ll note that the pride flag shown in the Ford Europe video is actually outdated as far as 2SLGBTQIA+ standards go. That&#8217;s the actual acronym for the rainbow alphabet movement now.
Why is it outdated? Well, if you take a few minutes out of your day, you&#8217;ll notice that the flag at the very beginning of the video does not contain a purple circle. What does that non-existent purple circle stand for? It represents &#8220;intersex.&#8221;
Somewhere along the line, an intersex individual or an &#8220;ally&#8221; felt that individuals born with an extremely rare condition where they have a combination of both male and female parts weren&#8217;t represented on the flag.
So, the flag has now been updated to include intersex as seen here, shared by the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken just this past week.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
On International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia we call for an end to harmful conversion therapy practices, including those that attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IDAHOBIT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IDAHOBIT</a> <a href="https://t.co/DA5XRXvb2Y">pic.twitter.com/DA5XRXvb2Y</a>
&mdash; Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1658927895711023104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In other words, the pride agenda has already redefined &#8220;inclusivity&#8221; to mean having pride in being intersex  — and supporting every single sex and make-believe gender represented on the flag.
So, while Ford was busy redefining the word &#8220;tough,&#8221; their comrades in the LGBTQ never-ending train of cultural Marxism were busy conjuring up new ways to undo every social norm in the book. Now, if you don&#8217;t include intersex individuals, you&#8217;re being &#8220;interphobic&#8221; — as is the official position of the U.S. State Department highlighted above.
So, in short, there is no appeasing this movement. Individuals who supported gay marriage less than 10 years ago, but don&#8217;t support radical gender ideology are labeled bigots. If you&#8217;re a Christian, Jew, or Muslim who is against same-sex &#8220;marriage,&#8221; then you&#8217;re considered a super bigot  — even if you explain you love everybody, you just believe in the institution of marriage as defined by practically all of the West until 2015.
Somewhere along the way, black and brown stripes were added — even though skin color has nothing to do with sexual orientation.
Companies, such as Ford, are dumb to think that if they show support for this movement their sales will increase. In turn, they push the entire world more woke and down the slippery slope — even if unwittingly.
Now, companies such as Bud Light are finding out that conservatives are starting to wake up and vote with their dollars. That&#8217;s why BudLight&#8217;s parent company AB-InBev has attempted to distance itself from Mulvaney and is rolling out camo-themed cans, perhaps in an attempt to appease consumers.
It won&#8217;t work, and now Ford could quite possibly become Bud Light 2.0.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Ford, LGBTQ flags

Amid The Bud Light-Dylan Mulvaney Backlash, Ford’s ‘Very Gay’ Trucks Have Resurfaced

Business

Cars

Ford Motor Co.

LGBTQ

Pride Flag

Transgender

A group of world elites, including individuals connected to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pfizer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pfizer</a>, the U.S. intelligence community, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/world-economic-forum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Economic Forum</a>, are in Portugal this weekend for a meeting to discuss a variety of topics, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a>, Ukraine, and China. 
The high-profile attendees of the annual Bilderberg meeting, which include Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and World Economic Forum President Børge Brende <a href="https://bilderbergmeetings.org/press/press-release/participants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a participant list, will discuss a variety of topics including artificial intelligence, banking, China, energy transition, Europe, industrial policy, NATO, Russia, transnational threats, Ukraine, and the United States&#8217; role in the world. 
The meeting, which is <a href="https://bilderbergmeetings.org/press/press-release/press-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking place</a> from May 18-21 in Lisbon, will feature about 130 participants in fields like finance, government, and tech from 23 different countries. Due to the nature of the meetings, little is known about the specifics of what the leaders will discuss. 
“The Bilderberg Meeting is a forum for informal discussions about major issues. The meetings are held under the Chatham House Rule, which states that participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor any other participant may be revealed,” the meeting’s website says. 
According to event organizers, the Bilderberg meetings were begun in 1954 to create dialogue between European and North American elites. 
“Thanks to the private nature of the Meeting, the participants take part as individuals rather than in any official capacity, and hence are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken and no policy statements are issued,” the Bilderberg website says. 
Several American political and military figures are listed as attendees, including two-time failed Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/stacey-abrams" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stacey Abrams</a>, U.S. general and current Supreme Allied Commander Europe Christopher Cavoli, statesman Henry Kissinger, former Obama administration National Security Council director Tarun Chhabra, and former Trump administration National Security Council member Matthew Pottinger. 
Individuals linked to the Biden administration were also listed as participants, including former National Economic Council director Brian Deese, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly, Commerce Department China advisor Elizabeth Economy, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, and National Security Council member Tom Wright.
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Leaders from Canada, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, and the European Commission were all scheduled to attend as well.
Media and cultural figures were also scheduled to be in attendance, including liberal Atlantic journalist Annie Applebaum, historian and Stanford fellow Niall Ferguson, Museum of Modern Art chair Marie-Josée Kravis, Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait, and The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes. 
Republican donors and businessmen Ken Griffin and Peter Thiel were also listed as participating, in addition to Microsoft CEO Satya ​​Nadella, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Goldman Sachs COO John Waldron, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Phoebe Robinson Emcees Reading Partners’ Dream Dinner Party Honoring Stacey Abrams & Questlove, With Special Guest, Savannah Guthrie; Co-hosted By Dawn Davis And Tara Westover

Pfizer CEO, Stacey Abrams, WEF Prez, And Other Elites Participate In Secretive Meeting In Portugal To Discuss AI, Ukraine

Artificial Intelligence

NATO

Pfizer

Russia

Stacey Abrams

Ukraine

World Economic Forum

Liberals love Europe. They think the continent is better than America, and they apologize for us lowly hoi polloi every chance they get.
Take Barack Obama. Back in 2009, a few months after he took office, he jetted off to France to say he was sorry for the United States. &#8220;There have been times where America&#8217;s shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive&#8221; toward Europe, he said.
And Democrats often cite Europe as the ideal for abortion law. Of course, the mainstream media follows suit, claiming Republicans want to send women back into the alleys with coat hangers, unlike the leftist continentals.
So it&#8217;s no surprise about the reaction to the North Carolina legislature&#8217;s override of the governor’s veto of a bill to ban most abortions after 12 weeks,
“North Carolinians now understand that Republicans are unified in their assault on women’s reproductive freedom and we are energized to fight back on this and other critical issues,&#8221; said Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/16/politics/north-carolina-abortion-ban-veto-vote/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to CNN.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement called the law a &#8220;dangerous bill that is out of touch with the majority of North Carolinians and will make it even more difficult for women to get the reproductive health care they need.&#8221;
But here&#8217;s the thing: North Carolina is now far more aligned with Europe than it is with, say, China or North Korea. European countries are far, far more restrictive than many states in the U.S.
“The United States is one of only seven nations in the world that permits nontherapeutic or elective abortion-on-demand after the 20th week of gestation,” Mississippi lawmakers wrote when defending a ban on most abortions after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“In fact, fully 75% of all nations do not permit abortion after 12 weeks gestation, except (in most instances) to save the life and to preserve the physical health of the mother,&#8221; they wrote.
Most of Europe cuts off elective abortion at 10-12 weeks. Germany and Belgium go to 14 weeks for elective abortions. After that period, many countries require one or two doctors to agree it’s necessary. And some countries allow later abortions for severe birth defects or abnormalities.
“The United States finds itself in the company of China and North Korea as some of the only countries that permit elective abortions after 20 weeks gestation,” Mississippi officials wrote, defending their law. “That is not progress. The time has come to recognize as much.&#8221;
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For the record, no less than the liberal Washington Post’s vaunted “fact-checkers” ruled in 2017 that “the data back up the claim” that “the U.S. is one of only seven countries that allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy,” the Catholic News Agency (CNA) <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249247/united-states-europe-abortion-law-comparison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in 2021.
The other six countries: China, North Korea, Vietnam, Canada, Singapore, and the Netherlands.
A study released by the Charlotte Lozier Institute in July “found that 47 out of 50 European countries, independent states, and regions analyzed either do not allow elective abortion or limit elective abortion to 15 weeks or earlier,” the CNA wrote. Just three permit elective abortions past 15 weeks, the restriction sought by Mississippi.
“No European nation allows elective abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, as is effectively permitted in several U.S. states, and America is one of only a small handful of nations, along with China and North Korea, to permit any sort of late-term elective abortion,” concluded the report’s author, Angelina B. Nguyen.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Abortion

How North Carolina’s New Abortion Rules Stack Up With Europe

How North Carolina's New Abortion Rules Stack Up With Europe

Social Issues

Pope Francis, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/catholic-church" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Vicar of Christ</a>, has a message for all you &#8220;Dog Moms&#8221;: Having a dog does not make you a mother.
Despite the fact that canines have been domesticated for 30,000 years, it has been a trend in the West recently for women of all ages to spoil their pets rotten while taking an excessive amount of pride for doing so — even going so far as to treat them as actual children and declare themselves &#8220;moms&#8221; because they now look after man&#8217;s best friend.
The pope&#8217;s comments came on Friday during a conversation with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — who is one hell of a woman in her own right (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/absolutely-fake-news-on-cnn-giorgia-melonis-political-rival-shuts-down-fascism-fears" target="_blank" rel="noopener">see here</a>). The two were discussing Europe&#8217;s dwindling birthrates, and Francis used two anecdotes to explain how that is impacting the continent.
&#8220;Two weeks ago, my secretary was in the square and a mother came in with a child&#8217;s [stroller&#8217;],&#8221; he explained, &#8220;A tender priest approached to bless the child &#8230; It was a little dog!&#8221;
Then, he shared another story. &#8220;At the Ash Wednesday audience, I was saying goodbye, and I arrived in front of a woman, more or less 50 years old &#8230; I greet the lady, and she opens a bag, and says, &#8216;Bless my child!&#8217; A little dog!&#8221;
Francis, who is sometimes known for his short temper, had had enough.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t have patience, and I scolded the lady. &#8216;Madam, so many children are hungry, and you with this little dog!'&#8221;
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Speaking at a conference on birth rates with Giorgia Meloni, Pope Francis recounts a story of how he scolded a middle aged woman for calling her dog &#39;her baby&#39;, saying: &quot;Madam, so many children are hungry, and you with this little dog!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/hniqQXSmQM">pic.twitter.com/hniqQXSmQM</a>
&mdash; Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) <a href="https://twitter.com/CatholicSat/status/1656971401411153924?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Pope Francis, Amen!
It&#8217;s about time somebody smacked these &#8220;dog moms&#8221; down.
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You know the type, they post their dog — typically some sort of Goldendoodle, French Bull Dog, or Corgi — all over Instagram. These women snuggle with it, nurture it, and praise themselves for looking after their four-legged beast with all the care in the world. They even create hashtags for their furry friends. If you ever point out that having a pet does not make them a mother, then you probably won&#8217;t get invited to their dog&#8217;s first birthday party — which might be a good thing.
Meanwhile, as the pope mentioned, children are going hungry around the globe as millions of Westerners spend thousands on pets each year.
Ultimately, Francis&#8217; message was essentially, &#8220;Have kids, not pets.&#8221; God bless him for that chastisement.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Dog Mom, Pope Francis

Amen! Pope Francis Smacks Down ‘Dog Moms’

 Amen! Pope Francis Smacks Down 'Dog Moms'

America

Catholic Church

Dogs

Motherhood

Pope Francis

Religion

The Association for Decentralized Learning, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christianity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christian</a> hybrid school provider in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a> which offers both virtual and home education, filed a lawsuit at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/europe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European</a> Court of Human Rights after government officials refused to grant the entity approval to open new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">schools</a>.
German authorities did not approve a 2014 application from the Association for Decentralized Learning to launch primary and secondary educational opportunities. Attorneys filed a lawsuit over the inaction in 2017 and presented their case in three separate hearings. The German Constitutional Court dismissed a final domestic appeal last year.
Lawyers for Alliance Defending Freedom International will represent the school before the European Court of Human Rights and contend that the denial of recognition for “an innovative school based on Christian values” should draw scrutiny, according to a <a href="https://adfinternational.org/hybrid-school-echr-germany/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from the faith-based legal advocacy organization.
“The right to education includes the right to embrace innovative approaches like hybrid schooling,” ADF International Director of European Advocacy Felix Böllmann said in the release. “By restricting this educational model, the state is violating the right of German citizens to pursue education that conforms with their convictions. When it comes to the requirement of physical presence, Germany has one of the most restrictive educational systems in the world.”
Current students at the Association for Decentralized Learning reportedly maintain average standardized test scores higher than their peers at government-controlled institutions. Court officials acknowledge the robust educational outcomes but contend that the school’s hybrid model does not offer sufficient socialization for participants.
Home education has been outlawed in Germany for more than a century; four years ago, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against a family from Darmstadt, Germany, which had <a href="https://adflegal.org/client/wunderlich-family" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asserted</a> the right to homeschool their children. Private religious schools, although legal, must follow state-mandated curricula from the area in which they are located.
Tobias Riemenschneider, a pastor at Evangelical Reformed Baptist Church in Frankfurt, Germany, said in an interview with The Daily Wire that the nation’s restrictive education laws present “great difficulty to parents who are convinced by their Christian faith that it is God’s will for them to raise their children themselves in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” He noted that parents who defy government sanctions against home education risk incurring considerable fines, prison sentences, and the possibility that authorities will take their children.
“Even for many Christians who see school attendance as generally compatible with their faith, the situation has changed fundamentally in the last three years,” Riemenschneider said. “In recent times, the state has increasingly included ideologies in the curriculum that contradict the teachings of the Bible, such as homosexuality or transgenderism. Many parents legitimately worry that their child will be indoctrinated at school contrary to their beliefs and may even be encouraged to embrace homosexuality or undergo sex reassignment surgery.”
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Riemenschneider said that Christian families, including some from his congregation, have left Germany to homeschool their children in Switzerland and France over the lack of robust private Christian schools and the cost of enrolling students in the programs. Across Europe, however, home education is “becoming increasingly difficult” or is “banned altogether.”
“If you stay in Germany, the best, and for many only, option is to put your children in as good a Christian school as possible and take the necessary time every day to correct things at home that were taught at school and may go against the parents’ faith,” he added.
Riemenschneider, an attorney by training, expressed doubt that the European Court of Human Rights would intervene in the century-old German school system.
“The current case differs from previous cases in that it is not parents who are suing, but a private school that offers a hybrid school model that combines physical attendance with homeschooling,” he noted. “Particularly in light of the fact that during COVID, public schools had themselves temporarily switched to homeschooling, maintaining such a ban would seem less than stringent.”
The outcome of the case is personal for Riemenschneider since his oldest daughter is slated to begin her formal education next year. “I still don’t know what to do about this,” he added.

Frankfurt, Germany

German Christian School Takes Case Against Nation’s Homeschool Ban To High Court

German Christian School Takes Case Against Nation’s Strict Education Regime To High Court

Christianity

Education

Germany

Lawsuit

Officials in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/netherlands" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netherlands</a> are expanding the availability of &#8220;life termination&#8221; for children between one and twelve years of age.
The <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/europe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European</a> nation will soon permit doctors to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/euthanasia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">euthanize</a> children deemed to have conditions which will lead to “hopeless and unbearable suffering,” according to an <a href="https://www-rijksoverheid-nl.translate.goog/actueel/nieuws/2023/04/14/kabinet-werkt-aan-regeling-levensbeeindiging-voor-kinderen-tot-12-jaar-die-ondraaglijk-en-uitzichtloos-lijden?_x_tr_sl=auto&amp;_x_tr_tl=en&amp;_x_tr_hl=en&amp;_x_tr_pto=wapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> from the Dutch government released earlier this month. Officials claimed that the new policy only concerns “a small group of terminally ill children” whose “palliative care options are not sufficient to relieve their suffering and who are expected to die in the foreseeable future.”
“This is a very complex subject that deals with very harrowing situations. Situations you wouldn&#8217;t wish on anyone,” Dutch Health Minister Ernst Kuipers said in the announcement. “I am pleased that, after intensive consultation with all parties involved, we have come to a solution with which we can help these terminally ill children, their parents and also their practitioners.”
The new policy also seeks to loosen requirements for physicians who attempt to euthanize children since they already “feel reluctance to perform late termination of pregnancy or termination of life in newborns.”
The government formerly required doctors to demonstrate before a committee that the administration of assisted suicide occurred with “due care,” after which the committee sent the assessment to the Public Prosecution Service, where officials would decide whether to initiate a criminal investigation. Officials will now consolidate the committee process and forward the case to the Public Prosecution Service without medical files, meaning that the agency must base any criminal investigation “exclusively on the judgment of the assessment committee.”
Physicians must therefore &#8220;come to the conviction that termination of life is the only reasonable alternative to remove the child&#8217;s hopeless and unbearable suffering&#8221; based upon &#8220;prevailing medical opinion.&#8221;
The announcement from the Dutch government did not specify what role parents of the children play in determining whether euthanasia will be administered. Current law <a href="https://www.government.nl/topics/euthanasia/euthanasia-assisted-suicide-and-non-resuscitation-on-request" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allows</a> children to request euthanasia from the age of twelve, even as parental consent is mandatory until the age of sixteen.
Legislative allowances for assisted suicide, sometimes called medical assistance in dying and abbreviated as MAID, has quickly expanded within Western nations. Canada, for instance, considered <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/canada-moves-toward-assisted-suicide-for-minors-critics-erupt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amendments</a> to the nation’s criminal code last year that would increase the availability of the practice such that a citizen with only a “mental illness” can now request euthanasia, whereas the practice was previously limited to people with serious physical illnesses or disabilities. “You do not need to have a fatal or terminal condition to be eligible for medical assistance in dying,” according to a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/medical-assistance-dying.html#a2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">webpage</a> published by the Canadian government.
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Although the new <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-33.html#h-119953" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> does not explicitly allow minors to pursue assisted suicide, the Canadian government <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/article12/p3a.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> that “children’s decision-making about health care issues occurs within a complicated legal framework.” The doctrine of the “mature minor,” for example, “allows children who are sufficiently mature to make their own treatment decisions.” Statutes related to parental consent and mature minor status vary between provinces.
Critics of assisted suicide <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/holds-autonomy-as-the-highest-virtue-christian-physician-reacts-as-canada-erodes-limits-on-assisted-suicide-for-teens" target="_blank" rel="noopener">note</a> that governments with socialized medicine have clear incentives to promote the practice rather than funding treatment for certain patients, thereby ignoring the innate value of human beings and their fundamental right to life.
Death with Dignity, an organization which pushes for expanded assisted suicide in the United States, <a href="https://deathwithdignity.org/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> that the practice ensures “people with terminal illness can decide for themselves what a good death means in accordance with their values and beliefs.” Authorities in the state of Oregon, which ranks among the most liberal with respect to assisted suicide laws but does not permit minors to be euthanized, said in a <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Documents/year25.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> that 431 people received lethal doses of medication prescribed by physicians last year.

Stylish Scandinavian newborn baby nursery with natural wooden baby cot and handmade mobile hanging over it

Dutch Government Makes ‘Life Termination’ Available For Children As Young As One Year Old

Dutch Government Makes Assisted Suicide Available For Children Between 1 And 12

Euthanasia

Netherlands

Socialized Medicine

A luxurious 1,800-year-old winery that once had fountains flowing with wine was discovered near Rome — and it wasn’t just for winemaking, according to a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/spectacle-of-production-a-roman-imperial-winery-at-the-villa-of-the-quintilii-rome/C3BFAFED7E6C5F14DBAFEB443EDB6CC2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> released Monday in the journal Antiquity.
The opulent winery dates back to the mid-third century and was made to give the Roman elite a theatrical experience of watching the winemaking process. Researchers say the “degree of luxury” displayed at the winery is a rarity for an ancient production area. The site is located at the Villa of the Quintilii, which is located southeast of Rome on the ancient Appian Way and is open to the public. Excavations of the winery <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/spectacle-of-production-a-roman-imperial-winery-at-the-villa-of-the-quintilii-rome/C3BFAFED7E6C5F14DBAFEB443EDB6CC2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">began</a> in 2017, prompting further archeological investigation and analysis of the site.
“Agricultural labor was romanticized by the ruling classes of many ancient cultures, especially as it was often the source of both their wealth and status,” Dr. Emlyn Dodd, lead author of the study, <a href="https://www.london.ac.uk/news-opinion/roman-winery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “The excavations at the Villa of the Quintilii reveal to us how ancient Roman elites reimagined the annual vintage as a ‘theatrical’ performance, prioritizing the experience of those observing over the practical needs of the workers.”
The winery has two presses, a vat for the collection of grape must, a marble grape-treading area, channels that connect to storage jars, and a wine cellar, according to the study. While treading areas are typically made from waterproof concrete, these were at least partially made up of red marble — a material that Dodd notes is not ideal for winemaking, but shows the builders <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/17/ancient-roman-winery-found-ruins-villa-of-quintilii-rome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were</a> “prioritizing the extravagant nature of the winery over practical considerations.”
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🍷Thin white marble-lined channels distributing wine across the cellar floor. 🍷16 dolia set into the ground to store the wine in a consistently cool microenvironment. 🍷And, around the cellar, 3 highly decorated rooms, likely for dining &amp; watching this SPECTACLE unfold /5 <a href="https://t.co/OBhsmKvhhW">pic.twitter.com/OBhsmKvhhW</a>
&mdash; Dr Emlyn Dodd (@emlynkd) <a href="https://twitter.com/emlynkd/status/1647862891448610816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
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After the grapes were crushed at the treading area, they would be put into the two mechanical presses, then the grape must would flow into three fountains, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/17/ancient-roman-winery-found-ruins-villa-of-quintilii-rome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The Guardian. While bright grape must flowed through these, two additional fountains flowed with water, the study notes.
“It would have been a real spectacle for those watching, the combination of fountains of wine and water, luxurious materials – especially the thin white marble channels through which the wine could be seen flowing – and the sounds of the workers and music would have resulted in a theatrical show,” Dodd <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/rome-winery-intl-scli-scn/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
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After flowing through the fountains, the grape must would end up in storage jars in the ground. The storage jars would be set into the ground to aid in the fermentation process by creating a stable microenvironment, the study notes.
Researchers believe the emperor may have made the trip to the villa yearly to see the vintage. The winery at Quintilii is only the second known winery of its magnitude, according to the study. The other is located at Villa Magna, 30 miles southeast. Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/17/ancient-roman-winery-found-ruins-villa-of-quintilii-rome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letters</a> confirming he attended banquets where winemaking occurred, and these likely would have taken place at Magna.
Dodd says that Emperor Gordian III, who <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gordian-III" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> from 238-244, might have made the annual outing for the vintage. There is also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/17/ancient-roman-winery-found-ruins-villa-of-quintilii-rome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">evidence</a> Gordian might have either built or expanded the facility, as his name is imprinted on one of the collection vats.
“Wine was a huge source of wealth for the Roman elite. They owned vast amounts of land dedicated to viniculture, winemaking, and they were selling it all across the Mediterranean,” Dodd <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ancient-roman-winery-discovered-villa-quintilli-rcna79966" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NBC.

Wine Grapes

‘Extravagant’ Ancient Roman ‘Theatrical’ Winery For The Elite Revealed

Archaeology

Food

Italy

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a> will shutter the nation’s three remaining <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nuclear-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear</a> energy plants on Saturday, marking an end to the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic</a> bellwether’s utilization of the power source despite threats to <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">energy</a> security posed by the Russian invasion of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ukraine-russia-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ukraine</a>.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved the gradual closure of the nation’s nuclear plants following the 2011 nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan. The closure of Emsland, Neckarwestheim II, and Isar II, the remaining three nuclear plants in the country, was slated to occur last year but was delayed until this month over concerns about energy security, since Germany imported more than half of its natural gas reserves from Russia ahead of the war.
&#8220;The risks of nuclear power are ultimately uncontrollable; that&#8217;s why the nuclear phaseout makes our country safer, and avoids more nuclear waste,” German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, a member of the Green Party, said at the end of last month, according to a <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-shuts-down-its-last-nuclear-power-stations/a-65249019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from German state-funded media outlet Deutsche Welle.
The popularity of nuclear energy in Germany rose amid the soaring energy prices in the early 1970s. The Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in 1986 provoked widespread hesitance toward the power source and inaugurated decades of politically charged debate over nuclear energy policy, according to an <a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-g-n/germany.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from the World Nuclear Association. Nuclear energy once accounted for one-third of electricity supplies in Germany.
The Netherlands and Poland will meanwhile expand their nuclear systems while Belgium is delaying a previously enacted phaseout. Some nations, on the other hand, proceeded with shutdowns of nuclear facilities despite catastrophic increases in energy prices induced by the conflict in Ukraine. Switzerland, for example, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swiss-nuclear-power-plant-cuts-production-in-middle-of-energy-crisis-to-protect-local-fish" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slowed</a> production at one nuclear power plant to avoid raising nearby river temperatures and thereby protect local fish populations.
The elevated energy prices severely <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-companies-pause-production-as-energy-prices-soar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impacted</a> the continent’s economy in the fall and winter as a number of manufacturers in central Europe shuttered their operations due to the cost increases. Several nations meanwhile <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/switzerland-may-jail-people-who-turn-heat-above-66-degrees-this-winter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">imposed</a> mandates for power usage, prohibiting residents from raising their thermostats or lowering their air conditioners beyond certain levels.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-union-social-market-economy-might-redistribute-fossil-fuel-profits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> last year that she would introduce standards for European Union member states to reduce “overall electricity consumption” funded by redistributing profits from oil and gas companies.
“We are proposing a cap on the revenues of companies that produce electricity at a low cost. These companies are making revenues they never accounted for, they never even dreamt of,” von der Leyen said. “In our social market economy, profits are good. But in these times it is wrong to receive extraordinary record profits benefitting from war and on the back of consumers. In these times, profits must be shared and channeled to those who need it the most.”
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The European Union, in accordance with the European Green Deal and the Paris Climate Agreement, abides by the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/climate-strategies-targets/2050-long-term-strategy_en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">goal</a> of becoming “a climate-neutral society” by 2050. Though von der Leyen has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-union-intends-to-flatten-the-curve-for-electricity-use" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledged</a> that low hydropower generation caused by droughts is partially responsible for high energy prices in Europe, she said that “the climate crisis” is the ultimate impetus for the weather conditions and called for the elimination of all fossil fuel dependence.
Policymakers in the United States have similarly asserted that rising energy prices must increase the urgency of a transition toward renewable power. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/energy-secretary-lays-out-the-only-way-to-avoid-high-gas-prices-and-its-not-producing-more-oil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> last year that the “only way out” of “boom-and-bust cycles” in energy prices is “deploying clean energy.”

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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/italy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Italy</a> has temporarily banned <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a> chatbot ChatGPT over concerns about data privacy.
In a statement Friday, the Guarantor for the Protection of Personal Data (GPDP), which oversees data privacy online, banned the U.S.-based chat website and its parent company, artificial intelligence developer OpenAI, from processing data from users in Italy. The agency said that OpenAI has no legal basis to collect data from Italian users to train the model, and has no age verification system to protect children against inappropriate answers.
&#8220;[There is] no way for ChatGPT to continue processing data in breach of privacy laws,&#8221; the agency said in a <a href="https://www.garanteprivacy.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9870847" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> Friday. &#8220;The Italian [Supervisory Authority] imposed an immediate temporary limitation on the processing of Italian users’ data by OpenAI, the US-based company developing and managing the platform. An inquiry into the facts of the case was initiated as well.&#8221;
Much of the agency&#8217;s concern stemmed from the amount of information the app collects to train its language models. &#8220;[N]o information is provided to users, nor to interested parties whose data was collected by OpenAI, LLC and processed through the ChatGPT service,&#8221; the GPDP <a href="https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9870832" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order</a> stated. The order also noted that the data processed by ChatGPT can be inaccurate, since the AI does not always match factual circumstances.
Furthermore, the order states that there is an &#8220;absence of a suitable legal basis in relation to the collection of personal data and their treatment for the purpose of training the algorithms underlying the functioning of ChatGPT.&#8221; The agency also cited a data breach that occurred on March 20, revealing both conversations and payment information of some who use the more sophisticated, paid-for version of ChatGPT.
The other issue highlighted by the Italian government was worries about age verification. OpenAI&#8217;s terms of service say that the service is for users over the age of 13, but Italy said the lack of age verification filters for minors &#8220;exposes them to absolutely unsuitable responses with respect to their degree of development and self-awareness.&#8221;  The agency said that because of the lack of age verification and the complex violations of Italian law, it had no choice but to impose a blanket ban on harvesting data from all users.
The ban went into effect immediately. OpenAI must notify the GPDP of what measures it is taking to comply with the order within 20 days, otherwise, the country will impose a fine of up to 20 million euros or 4% of the company&#8217;s global revenue.
The move from the Italian government comes just days after a Belgian man reportedly committed suicide after interacting with a different chatbot. According to <a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/31/man-ends-his-life-after-an-ai-chatbot-encouraged-him-to-sacrifice-himself-to-stop-climate-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Euronews</a>, a man in his 30s, with a wife and two young children, committed suicide after interacting for several weeks with ELIZA, another chatbot powered by a different language model.
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According to the man&#8217;s wife, who spoke with several European news outlets, the man became fixated on climate change and spent his days confiding his fears in ELIZA. The chatbot allegedly stoked the man&#8217;s fears until he developed suicidal ideation; the man reportedly suggested that he sacrifice himself so that ELIZA could save humanity through AI, his widow said.

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