REAL CLEAR POLITICS—The White House would not say Monday why a neurologist with expertise in Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Kevin Cannard, visited the executive campus eight different times or who specifically the doctor was there to visit. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insinuated Cannard had traveled there to treat members of the military, telling reporters that “multiple neurologists” have traveled to the campus to treat the “thousands of military personnel,” many of whom “get care from the White House medical unit.” Citing privacy concerns, Jean-Pierre declined, more than once, to say if the doctor’s visits to the White House were connected in any way to the treatment of President Joe Biden, telling reporters she could not share information about any specialist “broadly from a dermatologist to a neurologist.” Late Monday evening, the White House finally offered an explanation in the form of a letter penned by Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician. He confirmed that Cannard visited campus and wrote that the Parkinson’s specialist “was the neurological specialist that examined President Biden for each of his annual physicals.” The neurologist, O’Connor continued, provided care to a number of other patients beyond just the president. “Prior to the pandemic, and following its end, [Cannard] has held regular Neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations,” Biden’s physician wrote.  The visits only came to light because of publicly available visitor logs released by the White House. No such records exist, however, for the president’s private residence in Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden retreats nearly every weekend. He often arrives on a Friday and departs the following Monday. He has spent almost nine months of his presidency there, according to one recent analysis. His administration does not keep a record of visitors there. The residence remains effectively a black hole. But the White House did say flatly that the president has not received medical care in Wilmington, far from the prying eyes of the press or the public. “He has not seen specialists in Delaware,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Real Clear Politics, adding only that “like past Presidents, he travels with a White House Medical Unit doctor.” Increased scrutiny of the age and mental acuity of the president followed his disastrous June 27 debate in Atlanta, a halting performance that left members of his own party publicly questioning not just whether he can win the coming election, but if he is physically up to the rigors of the presidency. “I think it’s a legitimate question to say, ‘Is this an episode, or is this a condition?’ And so, when people ask that question, it’s completely legitimate,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., 84, said of Biden, 81. Those questions now haunt the White House. Complicating things is the president himself, who told Democratic governors on Friday that he had a medical exam after the debate, an admission that came less than 24 hours after his spokeswoman sidestepped questions about whether the president had been examined by a doctor. On Monday, Jean-Pierre said only that Biden had “a check-in” with a doctor. The White House maintains that the president had a cold and was jet-lagged the night of the debate. The president, for his part, told ABC News that he was “exhausted” and simply had “a bad night.” Regardless of the explanation for his performance, the health of the president has subsequently reignited a debate over transparency. The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., demanded that Secret Service begin keeping a record of who visits him behind closed doors. “President Biden said he’d have the most transparent administration in history,” Comer told RCP in a statement. “As President Biden’s mental state continues to decline, now is the time for him to put his money where his mouth is and be transparent with the American people.” “He should immediately direct the Secret Service to keep visitor logs for his Wilmington residence so Americans know who he is meeting with when he travels there,” he continued. The White House previously tangled with Comer after classified documents were discovered at the Biden family home. Visitor logs for the Wilmington residence don’t exist, said a spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office, because it is a private residence. “Like every president across decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,” spokesman Ian Sams told The New York Times. “But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors’ logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.” Former President Donald Trump ended that practice during his four years in office. He also did not disclose visitor logs for any of his private residences, such as Mar-a-Largo, an omission that triggered a lawsuit from the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “It seems like we have the same problem here with Biden,” Richard Painter, the former ethics czar for the George W. Bush administration and CREW vice chair, told RCP. He added that the current president is not unique, noting that both Trump and Bush before him did not disclose visitors of their private residences. The names of anyone meeting the president on official business, or even making a personal visit, Painter said, should be disclosed: “He is the president, after all.” The U.S. Secret Service has said previously that while they do not maintain visitor logs of private residences, they do screen visitors who meet with the president. Originally published by Real Clear Politics The post No ‘Specialist’ Has Examined Biden at Residence in Delaware, White House Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

With the revelation over the past two weeks that President Joe Biden is mentally and physically diminished, Democrats have traveled through all five stages of grief; first, they experienced denial; then anger; then bargaining; next, depression; finally, acceptance. But what they’re accepting is not Biden’s mental decline. What they’re accepting is the fundamental reality that they bet on the wrong horse. And what comes next is likely to be even worse. At first, Democrats engaged in full-scale denial that anything was wrong with Biden. The White House maintained that he was hale and healthy; Democrats in Congress tried to maintain the brave front that his debate failure had been a one-off. This is a stance now relegated to Biden’s immediate family: First lady Jill Biden insists that Joe is just fine; Hunter says that Joe hasn’t lost a step. But the rest of the party quickly moved on to stage two: anger. Democrats in Congress and members of the legacy media were—and are—enraged at the Biden campaign. They knew, of course, that Joe Biden is addled. But they had faith that the Biden campaign wouldn’t put that reality on full display. They believed that the Biden campaign, even with its ailing frontman, would somehow cobble together a winning campaign against former President Donald Trump. When their hopes were stripped away all at once, they responded with pure, unbridled fury. Congressmen called for Biden to step down; The New York Times editorial board fantasized about his ouster. But as Biden continued to hold on—as he continued to stonewall all the attempts by his erstwhile allies to dump him overboard—Democrats entered Phase 3: bargaining. Now they began to fantasize about an open convention. A shortened primary process. A Kamala Harris invocation of the 25th Amendment. Anything—anything!—to get rid of Biden. Perhaps it would tear the party apart and finally sink the Democrats’ 2024 hopes … but surely the Biden campaign couldn’t continue to maintain the charade. And yet Biden continued, stolidly, to deny any problems at all. He said that only elites within the Democratic Party wanted him gone. He explained that he had won the most votes in the primaries, and that he would not leave absent an act of God. He stated that he would be fully satisfied if he ran to the end of the race and lost, so long as he had done his “goodest.” And so, Democrats descended into depression. Looking at the national and state polls, congressional Democrats began to mutter behind closed doors about the prospect of losing both the House and the Senate. Donors began shifting their money away from the presidential race and toward down-ballot races. Now Democrats seem finally to have shifted into acceptance. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who had earlier said that Biden should drop out of the race, now reversed himself. When asked whether he had done so for pragmatic reasons, he answered surlily, “Well, yeah. He said he’s gonna remain in, he’s our candidate, and we’re all going to support him.” Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who had floated the idea of a shortened primary season, announced that Democrats would be “riding with Biden.” Democrats know, of course, that Biden is in terrible shape in this presidential cycle. As Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News reported, “Very very few think he can win and that he is the right candidate for this moment post debate.” But it’s too little too late. No force on earth or in heaven can move Biden. Unless he is hit by lightning—or suffers an actual physical collapse—he’ll be the man on the ballot in November. Good luck to the Democrats. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post The 5 Stages of Biden Grief appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and My Life My Say charity co-hosted the Future of Britain Conference 2024 and heard Blair organization’s director of health policy, Charlotte Refsum, and other panelists speak in favor of more commercialization and surveillance of health data. This was one of several controversial issues covered during the event, along two main lines – more surveillance of various types, and combating “disinformation.” Blair Institute’s choice of organizing partner is telling, as well, since My Life My Say, which focuses on getting young people out to vote, lists the UK Cabinet Office and US embassy in London, as well as the mayor of London, as its past partners or backers. Related: Biden administration launches task force to share census and health data with private companies Regarding health data, Refsum urged the creation of digital health records for all citizens, as well as a private commercial entity dubbed, “national data trust” – that would be tasked with commercializing access to sensitive health data in the country, and generate revenue in that way. Blair himself was less straightforward, as a politician does, but appears to be pushing for digital health records and national data trust. But he appeared somewhat evasive when Refsum asked him about a digital health record and a national data trust, speaking about the benefits of technology in general, in terms of health. Wellcome, another charitable foundation with ties to the UK government – the Department of Health and Social Care – would like to see the National Health Service (NHS) “integrate all the data” it has to achieve a “learning population health system.” This is according to Wellcome’s Dr. John-Arne Rottingen who is also a fan of “faster intelligence” and reaching this goal by feeding massive amounts of data into the schemes. Rottingen, who is Norwegian, spoke about what he considers a positive example of Scandinavian countries that have already linked access to health data “across the full population.” In contrast to his learning population health system, is the current state of affairs where this information is “locked in different parts of the system,” noted Rottingen. He urged researchers in the UK to enter public-private partnerships in order to come up with “insights” that are supposed to provide the driving force for a future “sustainable healthcare system.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Tony Blair Institute Hosts Controversial Panel on Health Data Commercialization appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Cook Political Moves Six More States Toward Trump

Pelosi on Biden: I Support His Ability to Decide, And ... That's About It

The video starts with the arrival of an adorable duck named Honey. Her presence is immediately endearing, and it is clear that Honey has a special charm that draws people in. As soon as Honey makes her entrance, she exudes excitement and affection, capturing the hearts of everyone around. The video sets the stage for... The post Disabled duck who ‘nobody wanted’ can’t contain emotions when she finds her ‘true calling’ appeared first on Animal Channel.

Iconic actor Nicolas Cage said he doesn't want his likeness to be used after his passing and wonders what effect artificial intelligence will have on artists.Cage gave an interview ahead of his latest project described as a Spider-Man noir show for Amazon Prime and mentioned that he was dreading doing digital body scans for his role.'What are you going to do with my body and my face when I’m dead? I don’t want you to do anything with it!'The actor said that he needed to end his interview a bit early because of his prior commitments:"I have to slip out after this to go get a scan done for the show, and then also for the movie I'm doing after the show. Two scans in one day!" he said begrudgingly.The 60-year-old was asked what the purpose of the body scan was, at which point Cage began to express his discontent with the new, digital aspects of his art form. "They have to put me in a computer and match my eye color and change — I don’t know," he tried to explain. "They’re just going to steal my body and do whatever they want with it via digital AI. ... God, I hope not AI," Cage told the New Yorker."I'm terrified of that. I've been very vocal about it."The living legend clarified that he didn't know what would happen to his likeness after he passes away but is certain he doesn't want anything to be done with it."It makes me wonder, you know, where will the truth of the artists end up? Is it going to be replaced? Is it going to be transmogrified? Where's the heartbeat going to be? I mean, what are you going to do with my body and my face when I'm dead? I don't want you to do anything with it!" he exclaimed.Cage also answered questions about his aura and the "meme-ification" he has received over time for his performances, both iconic and infamous."Well, I used to be in control of [the myths]. I don't think I'm in control of that anymore. ... I'm now 60. Nonetheless, some of the roles that I've gravitated toward have created this mythology, or compounded it. When I signed up to be a film actor, we didn't have the Internet. We didn't have cell phones with cameras. I didn't know this was going to happen to me in such a pervasive way—the so-called memes. So that, now, is out of my hands."In addition to stating that he wasn't a fan of playing violent roles anymore — killing monsters is ok — he isn't interested in "$100 million science fiction" movies, either."I'm interested in 50mm [cameras], right in your face ... the psyche," he added.Cage has explained some of his meme-able roles in a 2018 interview with GQ. In the sit-down, Cage said that he was actually blackout drunk while filming "Leaving Las Vegas.""There were a couple scenes where I really wanted to be hammered because I wanted to be out of control and have them photograph that so I could reach that kind of credibility, of authenticity of what I saw on the streets of Mexico [while researching for the film]."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy is convinced that President Donald Trump is going to win in November. Ramaswamy, a potential Cabinet pick, is, however, uncertain about what making America great again means to some of those who may ultimately claim victory with Trump come Election Day. In a speech Tuesday evening at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, D.C., Ramaswamy identified two dominant branches within the America First movement and indicated which he thinks is more likely to bear fruit. In his remarks, Ramaswamy noted how Trump effectively landed the killing blow against the neoliberal consensus, offering instead a "nationalist vision for America's future." While the America First movement could apparently agree that nationalism is the way to go, Ramaswamy expressed concern about what kind of nationalism would dominate in the years to come: national protectionism, which some might alternatively recognize as economic nationalism, or national libertarianism, which he favors. National protectionism, according to Ramaswamy, is animated by a desire to ensure that "American workers earn higher wages and American manufacturers can sell their goods for a higher price, by protecting them from the effects of foreign competition." National protectionists apparently also "believe in reforming the regulatory state to redirect its focus to helping American workers and manufacturers." Judging from Ramaswamy's comments, it appears he figures Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance (R) — a favorite to become Trump's running mate — for a champion of the protectionist branch of the America First movement. Vance has, after all, signaled a willingness to use statist interventions to improve the lot of Americans, as in the case of raising the minimum wage. The Ohio senator recently drew the ire of libertarians by advocating in a New York Times interview for "applying as much upward pressure on wages and as much downward pressure on the services that the people use as possible." The national libertarianism advocates alternatively "care foremost about making sure that our trade and immigration policies do not compromise our national security and national identity, in ways that neoliberal policies inadvertently did." 'We don't want to replace a left-wing nanny state with a right-wing nanny state.' National libertarians "don't believe in reimagining the regulatory state, but instead believe in shutting it down — not because National Libertarians are agnostic to the plight of American workers and manufacturers but because it is their profound conviction that the regulatory state is indeed the enemy itself," said Ramaswamy. Despite railing against the old consensus, Ramaswamy advocated in his speech for the kind of deregulation that previous National Conservatism speakers indicated was symptomatic of the outgoing liberal regime — the kind of deregulation that elements of the protectionist group might otherwise be resistant to. After detailing the divergence between these two branches of America First nationalism when it comes to the regulatory state, immigration, and trade, Ramaswamy underscored that he is partial to the national libertarian view because he believes it "is the way to help American workers and manufacturers." "The National Libertarians — and if it's not obvious already, that's the camp I'm in — believe that we won't beat the left by adopting its methods," Ramaswamy said in his conclusion. "We don't want to replace a left-wing nanny state with a right-wing nanny state. Instead our goal is to dismantle the nanny state and its regulatory apparatus altogether, permanently, once and for all; to metaphorically burn its edifice and then to burn the ashes. And if we succeed in doing so, that will mark the beginning of an American revival that starts with the radical principle of our Founding: The people we elect to run the government will once again be the ones who actually run the government." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Grand strategy games like Crusader Kings 3 or Hearts of Iron 4 can be a great time, but the complexity that lies at the center of their appeal can also be intimidating to genre newcomers. Fortunately, those who want a gentler introduction to the strategy space can find enjoyably (but not impenetrably) dense starting points like Total War: Pharaoh, Age of Empires 4, or, very soon, the RTS and grand strategy mash up of the upcoming Renaissance Kingdom Wars. Continue reading Renaissance Kingdom Wars is a new spin on the grand strategy genre

What do you get when you mix the customizable suits of Warframe, the blood and looting from Diablo 4, and a hefty dose of cyberpunk dystopia? You get Shell Runner, that's what. In the nightmarish future it imagines, megacorporations rule over all, leaving people fighting for their lives in the gutter. It blends top-down tactical shooting in a remote-controlled bodies with the objectives of an extraction shooter to create what looks to be a frenetic and fun time. Continue reading Warframe meets Diablo 4 in this new cyberpunk extraction shooter MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best cyberpunk games, Best FPS games, Best PC games