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The Critical Minerals Trade: The Illegal Route Connecting the Amazon with China

A complex network of actors has emerged around the critical minerals of the Amazon. Some operate along contested river corridors, trading with guerrilla groups and corrupt security forces. Others, under a façade of legality, move massive quantities of material through large port cities connected to international trade routes. Together, these operations endanger the environment and the sovereignty of entire nations.

The grayish-black sand and small stones sifted from river sediments and dug from pits across the Amazon hold little recognized value for local communities. Yet these materials are rapidly shipped abroad, where Chinese refineries process a wide variety of minerals and rare earth elements. 

In Venezuela, much of the mineral output is first collected in centers operated by the Venezuelan Mining Corporation (CVM). Collection hubs for cassiterite and coltan in Los Pijiguaos and Morichalito, two nearby towns in the state of Bolívar, were established in 2023, after the Venezuelan government designated cassiterite, nickel, rhodium, titanium, and other rare-earth-related minerals as strategic resources for exploration, extraction, and commercialization. 

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Pesticides Derived From World War II Nerve Agents — Still Sprayed on Fruits and Vegetables — Found in Pregnant Women

A study in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health finds peak concentrations of organophosphate pesticide (OP) metabolites in the urine of pregnant mothers 6-12 hours after consuming contaminated fruits and vegetables.

“High detection rates were observed for dimethylthiophosphate (DMTP, 96%), dimethylphosphate (DMP, 94%), diethylphosphate (DEP, 89%), and diethylthiophosphate (DETP, 77%) among 431 urine samples taken from 25 pregnant women, over two 24-hr periods, early in pregnancy,” the researchers reported.

The levels of metabolites within the urine correlate to the consumption of foods treated with organophosphate pesticides, highlighting the importance of adopting an organic diet — particularly for pregnant individuals and their children.

“In 2009-2010, 80 pregnant women were recruited from Ottawa, Canada for the Plastics and Personal-care Product use in Pregnancy (P4) Study,” the authors said.

“A subset (n = 25) collected multiple spot urines (up to 10 each; total n = 431) over two 24-h periods in early pregnancy — one weekday and weekend day — while logging their food consumption beginning 24 h prior to the first urine void and continuing through the following 24-h urine collection period.”

This is the first study looking at the variability of organophosphate metabolites within 24 hours in maternal urine, giving insight into “the primary sources of exposure and the temporal variability in a population of Canadian pregnant participants.”

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GOP Senators Move to Block Trump Marijuana Reclassification

Republican Sens. Ted Budd of North Carolina and James Lankford of Oklahoma are moving to block the Trump administration’s effort to reclassify marijuana under federal law, arguing the move would undermine public safety and bypass Congress.

The two senators this week filed an amendment to a House-passed, three-bill funding package that would prevent the Justice Department from reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

Marijuana has been listed as a Schedule I substance since the Controlled Substances Act was signed by President Richard Nixon in 1970, more than five decades ago.

Heroin, LSD, and ecstasy also are classified as Schedule I substances.

The Budd-Lankford amendment would bar the use of federal funds to reschedule marijuana, effectively stopping the Justice Department from carrying out the administration’s directive.

The proposal was formally entered into the Congressional Record this week as lawmakers prepare to debate the spending package in the Senate.

The language mirrors provisions that were recently removed from the appropriations bill during negotiations between House and Senate leaders.

While similar restrictions had advanced through the House Appropriations Committee, they were ultimately stripped from the final package, which passed the House Jan. 8 by a 397-28 vote.

Now, Budd and Lankford are seeking to reinsert the prohibition before the legislation clears the Senate.

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Big Law Is Yet Another Problem

Harvard Law Professor Larry Tribe was once the preeminent legal scholar in the country. The New York Times referred to him as a “legal icon” and “President Obama’s mentor.” New York Magazine called him “the nation’s foremost scholar of constitutional law.” 

But in reality, Tribe is the archetype for the supposedly solemn legal practitioner who is merely a stooge for the Democratic Party establishment. The cast of lawyers maintain facades of jurisprudential seriousness, but beneath their suits there is a Bolshevik thirst for power.

Tribe began his work in this field nearly four decades ago when he testified against the nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, calling Bork “hostile to individual rights and deferential to executive power.” 

With time, however, Tribe’s dedication to unravelling the social fabric and destroying his political enemies became more apparent. He sought to upend property rights during the Covid response by supporting a CDC eviction moratorium. He later lobbied President Biden to unilaterally cancel student loans, though he never acknowledged if that would be considered “hostile to individual rights” or “deferential to executive power.” He later defended the Biden regime’s censorship of online dissent, writing that the proliferation of ideas would “make us less secure as a nation” and “endanger us all every day.” 

Most recently, Professor Tribe joined a slew of the nation’s largest law firms in arguing that it is unconstitutional for public schools to divide their sports teams by sex. Behemoth law firms like Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP ($2.7 billion in annual revenue) and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP ($1.6 billion in annual revenue) filed amicus briefs opposing West Virginia’s law limiting female sports to biological women. 

Kathleen Hartnett, a partner at Cooley LLP ($2.1 billion in annual revenue), argued on behalf of the challenge to the law. Despite billing approximately $3,000 per hour to paying clients, she was unable to provide a definition of what it means “to be a man or woman, a boy or girl” when asked by Justice Samuel Alito. 

This occurrence is no anomaly; Big Law fundamentally distorts the American legal system by offering billions of dollars in free legal services to unconstitutional crusades and liberal pet projects while denying access to any opposition group. 

For example, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (annual revenue $3.6 billion) dedicated approximately 40,000 pro bono hours to immigration cases in 2022 alone (accounting for at least $5 million in legal work) and has continued to oppose any form of deportations of illegal aliens. The firm dedicates millions in resources to advancing other left-wing causes, including affirmative action, the trans agenda, and a “fellowship” program that states its desire to expand access to food stamps, combat election integrity efforts, and support “sanctuary city laws.” 

Big Law generally is much the same. Willkie Farr & Gallagher (annual revenue $1.5 billion) touts on its website that it served pro bono to support continued “surgical abortions” in Tennessee. In 2020, Law360 described how firms like Ropes & Gray (annual revenue $3.4 billion), Arnold & Porter (annual revenue $1.19 billion), and WilmerHale “jumped into court fights” to support mail-in voting gratis

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Carney Threatens US, Goes Full Vassal State As He Kowtows To China’s Xi Jinping -Gives Merit To Trump’s Greenland Argument

The former nation of Canada is now a full vassal state of the Chinese Communist Party. This is of course already known, as Justin Trudeau moved far down that path while trying to conceal his true intentions.

Mark Carney is doing no such thing as he kowtows to China’s Xi Jinping while on a recent trip to China.

“A pleasure to meet with President Xi in Beijing. Canada and China are forging a new strategic partnership. We’re leveraging our strengths — focusing on trade, energy, agriculture, seafood, and other areas where we can make massive gains for both our peoples,” Carney declared in Beijing.

“The progress we have made in the partnership sets us up well for the new world order.”

A reporter asked — What did you mean by the new world order?

“The architecture, the multilateral system is being eroded—undercut. The question is what gets built in its place,” Carney replied

Regardig Greenland, Carney threatened Trump.

“We are NATO partners with Denmark. Our full partnership and our obligations to Article 5 and Article 2 stand. We stand fully behind those.”

The US is urging allies to move faster on reducing reliance on Chinese critical minerals, planning a Feb. 4 meeting of foreign ministers to strengthen and diversify supply chains, reported Bloomberg.

It is not likely President Trump will take these comments sitting down.

The move may backfire as the sight of a Canadian leader licking Beijing’s boots will likely increase the American public’s support for President Trump’s Greenland viewpoint.

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Jacksonville official placed on leave after urging social media followers to dodge ICE enforcement

A Jacksonville city employee tasked with outreach to the Hispanic community has been placed on administrative leave after using her taxpayer-funded position and recording the video in her city office during work hours to broadcast warnings and evasion tips to potential immigration violators, undermining the critical work of federal agents enforcing U.S. law.

Yanira Cardona, the Hispanic Outreach Coordinator appointed by Mayor Donna Deegan, went live on Instagram on Wednesday, sounding the alarm that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were “out and about” in the city. She detailed alleged hotspots like speed traps on Emerson, Beach Boulevard, Atlantic Boulevard, and highways, where agents were supposedly targeting lawn care companies, air conditioning services, and construction vans.

“They are literally stopping them just to make sure that they have their paperwork,” Cardona complained in the video, framing routine immigration checks as some kind of harassment rather than the essential law enforcement Florida demands.

Her “advice” to followers included stocking up on lawyers, granting power of attorney for businesses and children to trusted contacts, and, after all the scheming, cooperating if actually stopped.

“I wish I could do more, and I wish I could say more,” she added.

Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the situation during a press conference on a separate topic. “I know you had that one woman in the City of Jacksonville government putting out information. Look, that’s not the way we roll here in thestate of Florida,” he said. “You know, we’re going to respect the law enforcement, respect the rule of law.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier condemned the post as “illegal and needs to be seriously addressed.”

The Republican Party of Florida demanded accountability, calling Cardona’s rhetoric “dangerous” and urging Mayor Deegan to act decisively.

“Florida taxpayers should not foot the bill for deranged anti-ICE rants on how to evade law endorsement,” they said. “[Mayor Deegan] must hold Yanira Cardona accountable for her dangerous rhetoric!”

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FBI offering $100K reward to find items taken from federal vehicles after ICE shooting

The FBI is offering a reward of $100,000 to recover items it says were taken from federal vehicles in the wake of Wednesday’s shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

FBI Director Kash Patel issued the reward offer on Thursday afternoon “for information leading to the recovery of stolen government property and/or the arrest of individuals responsible for the destruction and theft of government property in Minneapolis.”

Several federal vehicles were left unattended as protesters and law enforcement clashed following the shooting, with videos showing moments where the vehicles were ransacked and vandalized.

In one video, documents purportedly showing details of federal operations in the Twin Cities were found, while video uploaded by Brendan Gutenschwager showed a group of people using a vehicle to pull what appeared to be a safe from a vehicle.

“If you harm law enforcement or destroy/steal federal property this FBI will not hesitate to pursue you, find you, and bring you to the fullest extent of justice,” Patel said.

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Iran Protests Easing After Deadly Crackdown: Rights Groups

Iran’s deadly crackdown appears to have broadly quelled protests for now, according to a rights group and residents, as state media reported more arrests on Friday in the shadow of U.S. threats to intervene if killing continues.

After President Donald Trump’s repeated threats of military action against Iran in support of protesters, fears of a U.S. attack have retreated since Wednesday, when Trump said he’d been told killings in the crackdown were easing.

U.S. allies including Saudi Arabia and Qatar conducted intense diplomacy with Washington this week to prevent a U.S. strike, warning of consequences ‍for the wider region that would ultimately impact the United States, a Gulf official said.

The White House said on Thursday that Trump is ‍closely monitoring the situation on the ground, adding that the president and his team have warned Tehran there would be “grave consequences” if killings linked to its crackdown continue.

Trump understands that 800 scheduled executions were halted, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt added, saying the president was ⁠keeping “all of his options on the table.”

The protests erupted on December 28 over soaring inflation in Iran, whose economy has been crippled by sanctions, before spiraling into one of the biggest challenges yet to the clerical establishment that has run Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

With information ​flows from Iran obstructed by an internet blackout, several residents of Tehran said the capital had been quiet since Sunday. They said drones were flying over the city, where they’d seen no sign of protests on Thursday or Friday.

Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw said that there had been no protest gatherings since Sunday, saying “the security environment remains highly restrictive.”

“Our independent sources confirm a heavy military and security presence ‍in cities and towns where protests previously took place, as well as in several locations that did not experience major demonstrations,” Norway-based Hengaw said in comments to Reuters.

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Federal probe sought to refocus school districts’ priorities

A public watchdog has filed a federal complaint against a Wisconsin school district that prefers to hire “diverse” and “culturally competent” teachers rather than effective ones.

Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, says the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District’s 2025-2030 strategic plan details goals of “increasing staff diversity” and prioritizing “hiring and retaining a diverse workforce that better reflects our student population.”

His team, which monitors public officials and institutions for ethics, transparency, and accountability, filed this federal complaint after taking similar action against another school district in Vermont.

“We received a tip from a concerned citizen … and what we discovered when we looked into it was yet another school district that was prioritizing politics and ideology over the civil rights and the needs of students,” Chamberlain summarizes.

They are setting goals for certain ethnicities and using terms like “equity,” which Chamberlain says is wrong.

“People in education know … that means putting the needs of certain students above the needs of others based upon certain characteristics that the students can’t control and using criteria like that rather than merit and looking to improve student achievement overall,” he details.

Though the strategy does include plans to increase student success as well, the Daily Caller says the district admits that only 33% of its third grade students are testing proficient or advanced in literacy and 33% of its eighth graders are earning the same status in mathematics on the state exam.

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Three Venezuelan Illegal Immigrants Arrested in Minneapolis Ambush of ICE Agent 

Three men have been arrested in Minneapolis and are facing federal charges following what authorities described as an “attempted murder” of a federal immigration officer during a law enforcement operation on Wednesday night, according to the Department of Homeland Security, as reported by The New York Post.

DHS officials said the suspects — Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna, and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma — are all illegal immigrants from Venezuela who entered the United States during the Biden administration.

All three men are currently being held in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Three men have been arrested in Minneapolis and are facing federal charges following what authorities described as an “attempted murder” of a federal immigration officer during a law enforcement operation on Wednesday night, according to the Department of Homeland Security, as reported by The New York Post.

DHS officials said the suspects — Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna, and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma — are all illegal immigrants from Venezuela who entered the United States during the Biden administration.

All three men are currently being held in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

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