Author: nick
The Bank of France has just completed a major restructuring of its gold reserves, selling 129 tonnes of gold previously stored at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and replacing it with newly refined, internationally compliant bullion now held entirely within its vaults in Paris. This operation represented roughly 5% of France’s total gold reserves and was not a reduction in holdings but a transformation in form and location. By taking advantage of the surge in gold prices, the central bank realized a capital gain of approximately €13 billion, reversing a €7.7 billion loss in 2024 into a reported profit of…
Battle Creek, a Rust Belt Icon, Battles Back Source link
The officials alleged that he had “sent repeated harassing and threatening emails” to them, and the trial court issued a stalking no contact order, apparently in part because of that. But the “no naming” order covered all speech about the officials (to the public and to third parties), not just threatening speech. And the officials’ concerns were apparently in part about the man’s “unsupported and outlandish allegations,” and his “smearing the name[s]” of the officials, not just about threats. An excerpt from the long Skertich v. Luffman, decided last week by the Illinois Appellate Court (Justice Michael McHaney, joined by…
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Rome would not renew its defense pact with Tel Aviv. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar downplayed the decision. Italy “has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel in consideration of the current situation,” Meloni told reporters at an event on Tuesday. Rome’s defense agreement with Tel Aviv began in 2005. The deal encourages technological exchange and defense sales between the two nations. Israel is becoming a pariah state due to its brutal and aggressive war tactics. Tel Aviv is in the process of committing a genocide in Gaza,…
Photograph Source: George Eastman House – Public Domain When inventor Christopher Latham Sholes debuted the typewriter in 1872, he declined to pose with his machine for press photographs. Instead, the first images of his invention depict his daughter, Lillian, operating an early prototype of the Remington No. 1 in a velvet bodice and full-skirted dress, her right hand hovering over the keys while her left hand grasps the carriage release lever. For the photograph’s 19th-century audience, the message would likely have been clear: this machine is so easy to operate that a woman can operate it. The typewriter, from its birth, has been tied to…
The military approach has backfired, with Iran’s position only strengthened. But the door is still open to a deal Source link
Headlines for the past few weeks have capitalized on the cruel connotations surrounding conversion therapy, proclaiming that the United States Supreme Court struck down “a conversion therapy ban.” The problem is that the Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision that included Justices Kagan and Sotomayor, told Colorado something that needed to be said: Your law was never actually about that. Chiles v. Salazar is being reported as a “conversion therapy” ruling. That framing is a political bait-and-switch. What the court struck down was a government mandate on what therapists may say to a consenting minor, forbidden words depending entirely on…
Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) police are performing dozens of license plate lookups on Flock cameras for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to public records that show details of the searches. The practice highlights how ICE, which does not have a contract with Flock, continues to get access to Flock’s AI-powered license plate scanning cameras through local and state police, and often in ways that are unusual, unexpected, and difficult for the public to track or hold the agency accountable for. In this case, ICE has gained access to Flock data through a law enforcement agency that is nominally…
To celebrate the second Sunday of Easter, President Donald Trump appears to have decided that blasphemy might be the best option. Source link
Democrats already had a lot to worry about in the 2026 California governor’s race, an election they would typically expect to win easily: Too many candidates. Low name recognition. Voter apathy. Source link