The Moderate Voice https://themoderatevoice.com An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:53:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.18 https://themoderatevoice.com http://themoderatevoice.com/media/favicon.ico The Moderate Voice Trump and Climate https://themoderatevoice.com/trump-and-climate/ https://themoderatevoice.com/trump-and-climate/#respond Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:53:30 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290919 Trump has been adamant about climate change being fake for many years and has ended measures that would have helped moderate it. He removed the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords for the second time after Biden had rejoined it. He has been against renewable energy and has allowed the Chinese to dominate the field. […]

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]]> Trump has been adamant about climate change being fake for many years and has ended measures that would have helped moderate it. He removed the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords for the second time after Biden had rejoined it. He has been against renewable energy and has allowed the Chinese to dominate the field. Stopping the building of wind farms that were partially completed, companies are awaiting rulings on these actions by the judiciary. However, the administration paid the energy companies almost $900 billion to kill their wind projects and invest in fossil fuels. Seven Democratic states that were expecting more and cheaper energy from wind are suing the Trump administration. Besides hurting energy production, cutting wind farms will eliminate huge numbers of jobs and damage the economy. The President has also stopped federal subsidies for electric cars and essentially killed the electric vehicle industry in the United States, ceding the field to China. Trump supports unlimited use of fossil fuels for transportation and energy, including coal, the dirtiest of these substances. In fact, he wants to stop almost all closures of coal plants. Taxpayers have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to keep these aging coal plants open on Trump’s orders. Some of his biggest supporters and donors are fossil fuel magnates, and it is uncertain whether this convinced him to oppose renewable energy, which is cheaper for consumers, healthier and more efficient. The scientific data on global warming is clear, but Trump has never paid much attention to science or experts. An administration proposal in May 2026 would add a new annual fee on electric vehicles for road usage, since there is no payment of federal fuel taxes. Recent evidence suggests that the time course for global warming to wreak havoc on our planet may be longer than previously believed, but its effects will still be devastating. And aside from global warming, the use of fossil fuels themselves is unhealthy, with particulate matter in the air from gasoline and coal causing respiratory problems in many individuals. Coal is particularly unhealthy, both for miners (black lung disease), and the population at large (respiratory problems from polluted air). This is also true of the smoke from forest fires that has become more frequent with global warming. And the storms, hurricanes and flooding that have resulted from climate change are also responsible for death and damage all over the planet. Growing crops has been impacted as well, with famines and starvation as desertification occurs in some areas. But Trump is unconvinced of the significance of climate change and the role of fossil fuels in its production. The EPA headed by Lee Zelden ruled in February 2026 that climate change did not endanger public health despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary. Trump is fully in agreement with this decision, his administration rescinding the 2009 endangerment finding that the six greenhouse gases were driving climate change, including carbon dioxide and methane. The EPA also reversed regulations that limited hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired plants, including mercury, other heavy metals and toxic substances. Under Trump’s aegis, the EPA has abandoned its legal obligations to protect Americans’ health and the environment. 546 polluting facilities have been given exemptions from Clean Air Act rules, permitting toxic air pollution to be uncontrolled. It is estimated that 4.6 million Americans could be exposed to higher cancer risks, some of whom already have air-pollution risks 80 times greater than existing EPA standards. Some of the companies that Zeldin excluded from EPA pollution rules have provided funds for Trump or MAGA related organizations.
The reasons the Trump administration is ignoring climate change and clean air is not important. There must be realization of the health hazards these impose on the American population.
www.robertlevinebooks .com

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/trump-and-climate/feed/ 0 GAVIN NEWSOM SAYS TRUMP’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS INVESTIGATING HIM AND HIS WIFE https://themoderatevoice.com/gavin-newsom-says-trumps-justice-department-is-investigating-him-and-his-wife/ https://themoderatevoice.com/gavin-newsom-says-trumps-justice-department-is-investigating-him-and-his-wife/#respond Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:57:07 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290908 Are we now seeing the unfolding of the latest manifestation of Donald Trump’s second term retribution campaign? It seems we are: Major Democratic Trump critic California Governor Gavin Newsom says Trump’s Justice Department is investigating him and his wife. And he’s throwing down the gauntlet. Federal agents have questioned friends and associates of Gov. Gavin […]

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Are we now seeing the unfolding of the latest manifestation of Donald Trump’s second term retribution campaign? It seems we are:

Major Democratic Trump critic California Governor Gavin Newsom says Trump’s Justice Department is investigating him and his wife. And he’s throwing down the gauntlet.

Federal agents have questioned friends and associates of Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and his wife, Mr. Newsom said on Monday in a video in which he accused President Trump of using the Justice Department to punish a political enemy.

The full scope of any investigation remains unclear. But Mr. Newsom’s aides say part of the federal investigation appears to focus on his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Former employees of the governor and people affiliated with his wife’s nonprofit groups are among those who have been questioned by agents, according to the governor’s office.

A person familiar with the matter confirmed that multiple federal investigations were underway related to the governor, including one looking at his wife’s finances. But the person disputed Mr. Newsom’s assertion that the investigations were politically motivated, and said they had been initiated by federal law enforcement officials in California, not launched by officials in Washington. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Mr. Newsom, a Democrat who is widely seen as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, the last year of Mr. Trump’s term, described the investigation as a fishing expedition in which federal agents had started sifting through “years and years of random documents” and knocking on the doors of family friends and associates of the Newsoms to try to find evidence of an unspecified crime.

“Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Mr. Newsom said in the video. “He’s coming after me because I am considering running for president.” He added, “To get me, he’s coming after my wife.”

Several people associated with the Newsoms have been contacted by federal agents in the past week, according to the governor’s office. Mr. Newsom’s aides believe the agents have also subpoenaed banking records, but said they had seen no written evidence of that.

Siebal Newsom is also speaking out:

Ms. Siebel Newsom said Mr. Trump would stop at nothing to try to punish those who stand up to him.

“This is not presidential behavior, and the Governor and I will continue to speak truth to power because the American people deserve so much more,” she said in a statement.

Ms. Siebel Newsom, who calls herself California’s first partner, is a documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on the social impacts of sexism. She founded a nonprofit organization called the Representation Project that advocates for gender equity, in part by developing educational materials based on Ms. Siebel Newsom’s documentaries.

Ms. Siebel Newsom also owns a film production company called Girls Club Entertainment. It is listed as a contractor of the Representation Project on the nonprofit’s tax returns. Tax records show that the Representation Project makes annual payments to Girls Club Entertainment. In 2024, the nonprofit paid Girls Club Entertainment $161,250 for film production work.

Ms. Siebel Newsom is also a co-founder of the California Partners Project, a nonprofit that works to get more women onto corporate boards, address the gender pay gap and make technology safer for children. Some of the donors that support the California Partners Project are groups with business before the state government.

For years, critics have raised the possibility of self-dealing, but no public evidence of wrongdoing by any of the entities tied to Ms. Siebel Newsom has surfaced, and it remains unclear what precise issues and actions investigators have been asking questions about.

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/gavin-newsom-says-trumps-justice-department-is-investigating-him-and-his-wife/feed/ 0 Trump’s US-Iran ceasefire deal is a costly return to prewar conditions — and resolving nuclear questions will run into the ‘indivisibility problem’ https://themoderatevoice.com/trumps-usiran-ceasefire-deal-is-a-costly-return-to-prewar-conditions-and-resolving-nuclear-questions-will-run-into-the-indivisibility-problem/ https://themoderatevoice.com/trumps-usiran-ceasefire-deal-is-a-costly-return-to-prewar-conditions-and-resolving-nuclear-questions-will-run-into-the-indivisibility-problem/#respond Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:13:27 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290903 People ride motorcycles past a large billboard in central Tehran on June 8, 2026. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images Farah N. Jan, University of Pennsylvania Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, which served as the key negotiator between the U.S. and Iran, announced on June 14, 2026, that the two sides had agreed on […]

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People ride motorcycles past a large billboard in central Tehran on June 8, 2026.
Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images
Farah N. Jan, University of Pennsylvania

Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, which served as the key negotiator between the U.S. and Iran, announced on June 14, 2026, that the two sides had agreed on a deal to end the war. It will be officially signed on June 19 in Switzerland.

President Donald Trump announced it on Truth Social as a triumph, claiming that the Strait of Hormuz is open for everyone, the U.S. blockade has been lifted, and the oil is flowing again. What Trump did not mention was Iran’s nuclear program and what happens to its enriched uranium stockpile, one of the main reasons cited for starting the war.

The nuclear issue – along with core issues such as ballistic missiles and Iran’s proxies – has been deferred for 60 days.

This raises two important questions: What was the war actually for? And what did the U.S. achieve?

As an international and nuclear security expert, I believe the answer is nothing – and in the process the U.S. lost credibility as a negotiating partner.

Why the nuclear question is the hardest

The “rationalist theory of war,” as developed by political scientist James Fearon in 1995, identifies three problems that drive states to war when they would prefer to reach a deal: incomplete information about each other’s resolve; the inability to credibly promise a deal or commitment; and what international relations scholars call the indivisibility problem – when the thing in dispute cannot be split or shared, because it leaves no middle ground to settle on.

The war clarified the first reason. Each side saw what the other would actually do – how much force the U.S. was willing to use and what Iran could absorb while still staying in the fight.

What the war could not solve was the nuclear commitment problem. And this goes far back between the U.S. and Iran.

Iran adhered to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the landmark nuclear deal that restricted Tehran’s nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency verified that Tehran kept uranium enrichment to 3.67% and its stockpile under 300 kilograms – a concentration used to fuel a power reactor but far too low for a weapons program.

But the U.S. walked away in 2018, and Trump later called it “the worst deal ever” over its sunset clauses and on its silence on Iran’s ballistic missiles.

A woman waves a flag in a city square.
A woman waves an Iranian flag in Islamic Revolution Square in Tehran, Iran, on June 14, 2026.
AP Photo/Vahid Salemi

Iran returned to negotiations in 2025, and the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran while those talks were still taking place. Similarly, in February 2026 the negotiations were ongoing and a deal was within reach when Israel and the U.S. struck Iran – killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and lead negotiator Ali Larijani.

The U.S. has demonstrated a record of reneging on its deals and breaking the negotiating process. Which is why Iran now insists on guarantees and demands sanctions relief before signing a deal, and not just good faith.

A state that previously kept its commitments and was still bombed has little reason to accept promises of relief in the future. For this reason, I believe the 60-day deferral is a window for Tehran to watch whether the U.S. and Israel will hold the ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon.

The third problem of indivisibility – when the thing or issue in dispute can’t be split or shared – is why the nuclear question is the hardest.

Most disputes can be split. Sanctions, for example, can be lifted by degrees. Even a nuclear program can be split, which the world saw in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action deal, with centrifuges counted, enrichment capped and a stockpile metered.

What cannot be split is the U.S. demand for zero uranium enrichment and Tehran calling uranium enrichment a sovereign right.

A deal, a war and a ceasefire

The 2015 nuclear deal also limited Iran’s centrifuges – the machines that do the enriching – and placed Iran’s nuclear program under the most intrusive inspections, all in exchange for sanctions relief.

The nuclear question was not part of the 2015 deal – it was the actual deal.

During the June 2025 negotiations with Iran, and again in February 2026, the U.S. position was about the nuclear program, but in the opposite direction from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It was not about limits but the total elimination of Iran’s nuclear program.

In both rounds of talks in 2025 and 2026, Washington’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, demanded zero enrichment and the dismantling of Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan – Iran’s three most important nuclear sites. Iran called enrichment a sovereign right and refused.

Both rounds of negotiations ended in bombings.

A man points at a screen with a map of the Strait of Hormuz.
A man points toward the positions of ships in the Strait of Hormuz on a screen at the Maritime Information and Cooperation and Awareness Center in Brest, France, on April 27, 2026.
Fred Tanneau/AFP via Getty Images

The current deal to be signed on June 19 does not put a cap on Iran’s enrichment, nor does it discuss the elimination of its nuclear program. It ends the fighting, reopens the Strait of Hormuz and consigns enrichment, the stockpile, missiles and Iran’s regional proxies to 60-day negotiations.

In a recent New York Times interview, Trump said he was in no rush to remove the near-bomb-grade fuel still buried under the bombed sites. He claimed Iran would suspend enrichment for 15 or 20 years and enrich only for nonmilitary purposes.

In the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action deal under President Barack Obama, the nuclear question was addressed where 97% of Iran’s stockpile was shipped out of the country and the cap was a verified fact.

Because it doesn’t address any of these issues, the Trump deal is a ceasefire agreement, not a nuclear agreement.

A costly return to the status quo

Going back to the bargaining theory, we know the war settled the information problem – it revealed what each side would endure.

The commitment problem remains. Neither side can yet make a promise the other believes, least of all an Iran whose negotiators were killed.

And I believe the indivisibility problem is now worse. The question of zero enrichment versus a sovereign right cannot be split. The current 60-day deferral is not a resolution. It is the same unsolved problem with a clock attached.

The one thing that could change is American restraint. If Washington holds Israel from striking Iran and Lebanon, it can slowly rebuild its credibility that was destroyed by the two wars. And that is a real challenge for the Trump administration.

Even as the deal was being finalized, Israel struck Beirut, the kind of action that can derail any talks.

In my view, the 60-day window should be read not as the path to a settlement but as the interval or pause before the next one fails.

I argued in April that this conflict would not end in a clean settlement but in a series of contested pauses. The deal to be signed on June 19 is the first of them.

Iran emerges with its enrichment knowledge intact, its stockpile buried and fresh reason to believe that only a nuclear weapon would have deterred the U.S.-Israel attack.

But Iran also knows that it stood its ground and was able to strike U.S. bases and allies in the region. It has discovered leverage it did not previously know it held. The Strait of Hormuz has proved a better deterrent than the nuclear bomb.

The strait is open, the oil is flowing, and the question the war was fought over sits exactly where it began. Thousands of lives were lost to arrive back to square one. Nobody has won, though both sides will say they did.The Conversation

Farah N. Jan, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Pennsylvania

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/trumps-usiran-ceasefire-deal-is-a-costly-return-to-prewar-conditions-and-resolving-nuclear-questions-will-run-into-the-indivisibility-problem/feed/ 0 IRAN PEACE DEAL KOOL AID SERVED UP AT G7 https://themoderatevoice.com/iran-peace-deal-kool-aid-served-up-at-g7/ https://themoderatevoice.com/iran-peace-deal-kool-aid-served-up-at-g7/#respond Tue, 16 Jun 2026 02:43:45 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290900 The post IRAN PEACE DEAL KOOL AID SERVED UP AT G7 appeared first on The Moderate Voice.

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Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 16, 2026
Amidst global skepticism, Trump’s theatrical power play collides with a fragile peace proposal as he faces wary G7 leaders.
Trump’s G7 Gambit: Spectacle Over Substance
As Air Force One touches down in France for the G7 Summit, President Donald Trump arrives not merely as a leader but as a disruptor-in-chief, carrying with him the echoes of a spectacle that captivated and confounded in equal measure. Fresh off an unconventional display at the White House — a fusion of combat sports, political theatre, and military bravado — Trump seeks to project an image of strength. Yet, beneath this high-testosterone veneer lies a peace plan as fragile as the alliances it threatens to undermine.
News: Trump Arrives for Group of 7 as Allies Rethink Their Relationship With U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/us/politics/trump-group-of-7-summit.html
The South Lawn event was a deliberate orchestration of power, a spectacle reminiscent of ancient gladiatorial displays, designed to signal dominance. Critics and commentators saw it as a theatrical assertion of Trump’s self-perceived strongman image — one that prioritizes optics over substance. This comes at a time when the world grapples with the aftermath of a U.S.-Iran conflict that has not only claimed lives but also sent shockwaves through the global economy.
The proposed U.S.-Iran memorandum, hastily announced, lacks the solidity of a treaty. With a scant 60-day window, it offers more questions than answers. Verification remains ambiguous, enforcement mechanisms are unclear, and the terms are so loosely defined that they invite divergent interpretations. For European leaders, skeptical of Trump’s commitment and wary of his unilateral tendencies, this deal is a precarious foundation upon which to rebuild trust.
News: For His 80th Birthday, Trump Brought a Cage Match to the White House Lawn https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/us/u

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/iran-peace-deal-kool-aid-served-up-at-g7/feed/ 0 A Review of the Best Three Travel YouTubers https://themoderatevoice.com/a-review-of-the-best-three-travel-youtubers/ https://themoderatevoice.com/a-review-of-the-best-three-travel-youtubers/#respond Tue, 16 Jun 2026 02:34:55 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290894 In the future “armchair internet” will be how people mostly travel for recreation and I am an excellent armchair tourist. We can “walk” though most cities on google maps street view, click through unlimited museums, art galleries, restaurants and click into places that even were we wealthy we would never see. What amazing times we […]

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In the future “armchair internet” will be how people mostly travel for recreation and I am an excellent armchair tourist. We can “walk” though most cities on google maps street view, click through unlimited museums, art galleries, restaurants and click into places that even were we wealthy we would never see. What amazing times we live in.

To “flesh out” the armchair travel experience are independent travel youtubers of varying quality. Being a former frenetic traveller myself I watch many and three of the best I present here.

First would be “Escape with Emily.” Emily is a 20 something (very) American woman who has the temerity, courage and curiosity to visit all 196-ish countries and she’s nearly done with about a dozen to go.

Her appeal is her honest appraisal of the places she’s visited over the past six years. Like an autist with a new atlas her curiosity is obvious and she’s journalistically careful with her facts on the history of her destinations. She’s not a backpacker but rather stays at places where a lone female traveller can be safe and (a bit of an obsession for her and also with women I’ve travelled with) have a perfectly clean bathroom.

I’ve travelled to some of her destinations in the Third World and she doesn’t shirk from reporting, with measured emotion, the hassles: grifters, beggars, the shocking filth, the dangerous hazards, infuriating inefficiencies and scams. In several African countries, exasperated, she proclaims (accurately) there’s “really very little to see and do here.”

Yet she manages to find and gleefully report magic and beauty in all this mess. On occasion she aids the terrible plight of third world cats and dogs which although I’ve done myself, strikes me as adorable. Seeing her go out of her way to buy food for a suffering puppy in Gambia nearly broke my heart.

She’s also honest about health problems, an unavoidable consequence of “exotic” travel, yet she comes up portraying even the worst machetlands, jihadistans and hell holes in the best light she can.

Lots of young male youtubers do this “every country” box ticking routine but one gets the feeling many of the boys are trying to “conquer” countries or are at best passport stamp collecting. Drew Binksy comes to mind though he is pretty good.

Another recommendation is (British) Matt and (Russian) Julia, an early 30s married couple seeing the world, particularly Eurasia with an emphasis on Russia and East Asia. Julia’s English is perfect and Matt’s Russian is very impressive. They experiment with other languages, lately Chinese and like the other two youtubers here they’re intellectually curious. Another enjoyment of their show over the many years is watching how their obviously loving marriage endures while they frequently move bases and show us their adventures.

“Bald and Bankrupt” is the most scandalous on our list today. A very British GenXer he started his channel about a decade ago specialising in Soviet aesthetics in the former USSR. There’s hardly a concrete Brutalist monster or delightful leftover USSR mosaic he hasn’t admired. I love that. In recent years he’s expanded to most of Eurasia.

B. & B. has copped a lot of flak from younger, scornful and probably jealous critics on youtube and social media. He’s a middle aged guy with last century’s jokes, bawdy at times, but he’s so not the raging sex pest he’s made out to be by young incel scorns and modern school marms. If he worked in a corporation he’d be in trouble for sending spicy but hilarious memes, a detriment to both human warmth and humor. His young critics paint him wrongly, like he’s Benny Hill or some other atrocity by today’s puritan values.

His blokey observations and an eye for passing female beauty seem like authentic honesty to me. His Russian (which I speak) is very good, his analysis is solid and his adventures – often with a beer (of all horrors!) are worth our viewing time.

With travel youtubers the central questions are: “Am I interested in where they’re going, what they’re showing, and were I travelling and run into them randomly would I enjoy the experience?” We live life virtually now, a vast civilizational level improvement. If you agree, these folks are your best fellow travellers online.

https://www.youtube.com/@EscapewithEmily11
https://www.youtube.com/@baldandbankrupt
https://www.youtube.com/@MattandJulia

ID 18161668 ©
Lucian Milasan | Dreamstime.com

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/a-review-of-the-best-three-travel-youtubers/feed/ 0 CAPITULATION IN IRAN SETS STAGE FOR MIDTERMS https://themoderatevoice.com/capitulation-in-iran-sets-stage-for-midterms/ https://themoderatevoice.com/capitulation-in-iran-sets-stage-for-midterms/#respond Tue, 16 Jun 2026 02:10:42 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290891 The post CAPITULATION IN IRAN SETS STAGE FOR MIDTERMS appeared first on The Moderate Voice.

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/capitulation-in-iran-sets-stage-for-midterms/feed/ 0 URGENT FUNDRAISER TO RAISE $331 (UPDATE 4) https://themoderatevoice.com/donate-to-the-moderate-voice/ https://themoderatevoice.com/donate-to-the-moderate-voice/#respond Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:50:33 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=286946 With recent donations the total needed now is $331 The Moderate Voice is now dealing with a legal issue and has to raise $700. TMV has been around since 2003 and now has a wider reach since Google News has picked it up as a news source and also the SmartNews phone app also runs […]

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With recent donations the total needed now is $331

The Moderate Voice is now dealing with a legal issue and has to raise $700. TMV has been around since 2003 and now has a wider reach since Google News has picked it up as a news source and also the SmartNews phone app also runs some of its posts. This current crisis came out of the blue.

$50 was donated to our last fundraiser so I’m deducting that from the $750 that must be paid for a goal of $700. No amount is too small and certainly no amount up to $700 is too big:)

If you know of someone who might want to donate to TMV please spread the word. Since it’s inception The Moderate Voice has been 100 percent independent and has no very big donor, no corporate support. It operates on donations from readers and quite modest ad revenue which is paid quarterly.

Donations can be made on the right on the Go Fund Me link.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/donate-to-the-moderate-voice/feed/ 0 WHO rings alarm about children hit by deadly new Ebola virus strain in Central Africa https://themoderatevoice.com/who-rings-alarm-about-children-hit-by-deadly-new-ebola-virus-strain-in-central-africa/ https://themoderatevoice.com/who-rings-alarm-about-children-hit-by-deadly-new-ebola-virus-strain-in-central-africa/#respond Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:48:11 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290882 . A fast-moving outbreak of the Ebola virus, caused by the deadly Bundibugyo strain for which there is no approved vaccine or targeted treatment, is increasingly hitting children in Central Africa’s Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a beleaguered World Health Organization (WHO) reported. This particular version of the disease is unique and alarming for […]

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A fast-moving outbreak of the Ebola virus, caused by the deadly Bundibugyo strain for which there is no approved vaccine or targeted treatment, is increasingly hitting children in Central Africa’s Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a beleaguered World Health Organization (WHO) reported.

This particular version of the disease is unique and alarming for children partly because many of them are malnourished and unvaccinated against preventable illness. Their extreme vulnerability to this rare virus is worsening the region’s humanitarian crisis compounded by relentless fighting between government forces and armed militia.

Meanwhile, the White House focus is on containing the disease in its current regions and protecting American citizens. It has imposed strict travel bans prohibiting entry for non-citizens and green card holders who have been to DRC, Uganda or South Sudan within the last three weeks. WHO advises against any restriction of travel and trade with the DRC or Uganda based on the currently available information. But American caution may be warranted since the new Ebola outbreak is spreading quickly.

“Every day, cases are being identified in new health zones. And that reflects the real scale of this outbreak, a scale that is much bigger than what is being detected” since it is driven by high population mobility in the region, said Olivier le Polain, head of epidemiology and analytics at WHO.

Infections are rising in the Ituri and South Kivu provinces across about 1,000 km. Cases have been reported in 34 health zones in those regions while new areas in North Kivu are also being infected. Since June 11, 2026, the DRC has confirmed 676 cases and 136 deaths while Uganda has reported 19 cases and two deaths.

On May 17, 2026, WHO officially declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), which means that the event is extraordinary, presents a clear threat to other countries and cannot be managed by one nation alone.

Douglas Noble, Global Lead for Public Health Emergencies at the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) said the disease spreads among children through household transmissions when it infects adults. Past Ebola outbreaks in DRC have shown that children “made up a significant share of cases and an even greater share of deaths, with the youngest facing the highest fatality rates and many left orphaned or separated from caregivers”, he explained.

Worse, more than half of children under five in Ituri province are “chronically malnourished”. “What we now need are the resources and humanitarian access,” he urged.

The US is currently the largest financial contributor to the international Ebola response but it has drawn criticism for strictly tightening domestic border restrictions. It has provided $220 million in special funding paired with $350 million earmarked specifically for Ebola response and humanitarian relief out of a broader $1.8 billion package sent to the UN humanitarian relief agency (UN OCHA).

This funding supports UNICEF and other agencies that are combating the disease by financing necessary actions, e.g., purchasing 150 metric tons of water and hygiene supplies, operationalizing 100 regional health facilities and deploying over 100 border screeners.

The Bundibugyo virus strain of Ebola is spreading mainly through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals, contaminated medical settings, family caregiving networks who don’t know how to handle Ebola, and unsafe burial practices. Because there is currently no approved vaccine or specific therapeutic treatment for this particular strain, containing transmission relies on other public health interventions.

Patients are frequently misdiagnosed because early symptoms of Ebola, such as fever and fatigue, perfectly mimic common regional illnesses like malaria or typhoid. This has led to the accidental infection of doctors and nurses who may treat patients without the isolation protocols required for Ebola.

ID 457909830 | Ebola ©
Skypixel | Dreamstime.com

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/who-rings-alarm-about-children-hit-by-deadly-new-ebola-virus-strain-in-central-africa/feed/ 0 DONALD TRUMP AND LINCOLN https://themoderatevoice.com/donald-trump-and-lincoln/ https://themoderatevoice.com/donald-trump-and-lincoln/#respond Sat, 13 Jun 2026 16:14:25 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290878 The post DONALD TRUMP AND LINCOLN appeared first on The Moderate Voice.

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/donald-trump-and-lincoln/feed/ 0 The World’s First Trillionaire (In Words and Numbers) https://themoderatevoice.com/the-worlds-first-trillionaire-in-words-and-numbers/ https://themoderatevoice.com/the-worlds-first-trillionaire-in-words-and-numbers/#respond Fri, 12 Jun 2026 17:32:20 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290859 Today, the man who has been called “both bonkers and brilliant” became the world’s first trillionaire with the launch of his SpaceX blockbuster Initial Public Offering (IPO). Elon Musk’s “sprawling rocket-building, satellite-launching and artificial intelligence company” which trades under the ticker symbol “SPCX,” has as its mission statement, “to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate […]

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Screen Shot https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06/12/business/spacex-ipo-elon-musk?emc=edit_na_20260612&nl=breaking-news&segment_id=221419

Today, the man who has been called “both bonkers and brilliant” became the world’s first trillionaire with the launch of his SpaceX blockbuster Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Elon Musk’s “sprawling rocket-building, satellite-launching and artificial intelligence company” which trades under the ticker symbol “SPCX,” has as its mission statement, “to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.” Its vision statement reads, “to make life multi-planetary by establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars.”

Numerous articles have been written to try to put Elon Musk’s wealth into perspective and to help visualize the magnitude of one trillion dollars.

On Elon Musk’s wealth:

• Only 19 countries have GDPs that surpass $1 trillion, ranging from the U.S. to the Netherlands, according to World Bank data.

• That wealth makes Musk richer than the bottom 46% of the world’s population, or a combined 3.8 billion people, according to Oxfam. (A global confederation of non-governmental organizations dedicated to ending poverty, fighting inequality, and providing humanitarian aid worldwide.)

NBC News puts it this way: “In terms of purchasing power, Musk’s trillion could buy 8,880 Boeing 737s or the New York Knicks 102 times over. Put another way, it would take the typical U.S. household, earning almost $84,000 a year, nearly 12 million years to accumulate that much wealth…”

Yahoo Finance: “All the property in Houston, both residential and commercial, is worth less than Musk’s fortune.”

There are plenty of ways to help one visualize the sheer magnitude of one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000).

My “AI assistant” with the help from YouTube tells me:

• If you were to count to one trillion out loud, saying one number per second continuously, it would take you about 31,546 years.

• A stack of one trillion $1 bills would reach roughly 67,800 miles high. Laid end-to-end, they would wrap around the Earth roughly 4 times.

• Transporting one trillion dollars in physical cash would require nearly 80 Boeing 747 cargo planes. If stacked in a room, you would need a massive warehouse covering the length of a football field to securely hold it.

NBC News:
“If one were to spend $1 million every hour every day, it would still take more than a century to spend $1 trillion.”

Verdantu:

• Earth is about a trillion meters far from the Moon
• The Galaxy contains about a trillion stars
• There are around 3 trillion trees on Earth

And how about this one:

As I started reading NBC’s “1,000,000,000,000 by any other name: A trillion in words and graphics,” I was advised:.

You’ve started reading.
We’ll track how long you spend on this article. When you reach the end, we’ll show how much money you would win if you were awarded $1 billion for every second you spent on this page.

And lo and behold, at the end, the statement below appeared

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/the-worlds-first-trillionaire-in-words-and-numbers/feed/ 0 NDAs were already a problem. Trump wants to bring them to government. https://themoderatevoice.com/ndas-were-already-a-problem-trump-wants-to-bring-them-to-government/ https://themoderatevoice.com/ndas-were-already-a-problem-trump-wants-to-bring-them-to-government/#respond Fri, 12 Jun 2026 15:44:05 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290841 Not one to avoid controversy, President Trump has proposed that civil service employees sign extraordinarily broad non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Supposedly, an employee may refuse to sign but that could lead to dismissal. The Atlantic points out that there’s a reason the federal government hasn’t already implemented NDAs: they aren’t necessary. Employees “who work with classified […]

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Not one to avoid controversy, President Trump has proposed that civil service employees sign extraordinarily broad non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Supposedly, an employee may refuse to sign but that could lead to dismissal.

The Atlantic points out that there’s a reason the federal government hasn’t already implemented NDAs: they aren’t necessary. Employees “who work with classified information already sign a binding agreement, known as SF-312, to never share sensitive material.”

Moreover, sharing unclassified information has no broad criminal ban.

Other laws prohibit federal employees from sharing personal information residing in government databases. After all, as Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Scott Kupor told Federal News Network in May, “Americans should be able to trust that their personal data and sensitive government information are being handled responsibly.”

Remember the controversy last year when DOGE accessed Social Security Administration (SSA) databases? A whistleblower reported that DOGE employees put some of that data on a “vulnerable cloud server.” That’s not responsible handling of personal data.

In January 2026, the SSA updated 2025 “testimony given by top agency officials” in a lawsuit alleging that DOGE was illegally accessing Social Security data.” Yes, DOGE employees (not civil service but definitely covered by federal law) “secretly and improperly shared sensitive personal data last year.”

Then this month, we learned via a whistleblower that DOGE “planned to mark 2.7 million living people as dead in Social Security records as part of an immigration enforcement push.” This is the risk of political appointees with fealty to the president working in agencies rather than civil service employees.

That’s why the Pendleton Act of 1883 ended the spoils system, where politicians handed out jobs as political rewards. That Act created the nonpartisan civil service.

Forcing civil service employees to sign broad NDAs is a step towards turning them into partisans.

For example, Joe Spielberger, senior policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, told the Federal News Network that the NDA proposal appears “more designed to protect against potentially politically damaging information from getting out … and to further shield the administration from more transparency and oversight.”

The stated goal, after all, is to reduce press leaks. Yet there’s no mention of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s infamous Signal chat that included a journalist and disclosed secret military information. Nor is there any indication that the NDAs would be extended beyond civil servants to political appointees like Hegseth or DOGE.

It’s worth noting that Trump’s prior efforts to silence employees have met repeated court challenges. For example, during his 2016 presidential campaign, he had staff sign NDAs that were designed to “chill the speech” of staff “about matters of public interest,” the judge wrote when finding the NDAs illegally broad.

This NDA proposal is equally broad. It covers federal information including, but not limited to, “internal agency operations, personnel matters, procurement processes or any sensitive, pre-decisional or deliberative material that is not currently publicly available.”

But what about information that could be publicly available via a Freedom of Information Act request? Under what reasoning might Trump lump it into an NDA? Unexplained.

This NDA proposal privileges secrecy over transparency, which should be a core aspiration of a democratic government. And the Trump Administration has repeatedly claimed to be the “most transparent in history,” despite its record.

The silencing works on multiple levels.

According to Pat Parenteau, emeritus professor at the Vermont Law and Graduate School, the Administration is “trying to persuade, intimidate, threaten employees who are disclosing deliberative process information that discloses attempts by agencies to hide facts that the public is entitled to.”

Nick Bednar, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, narrowed that technique to one of intimidation in a conversation with The Atlantic. “As I see it, the goal of the NDA is to chill employees who would otherwise whistleblow on unlawful activity or mismanagement,” he said.

“Taken alone, today’s proposed rule may seem relatively harmless, but taken in context, it is a significant move toward building a federal workforce loyal to the President above all else,” David Kligerman with Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit law firm representing whistleblowers, said in written statement.

This proposal would sideline the independent Merit Systems Protection Board which determines eligibility for federal employment. More importantly, it strips away the board’s role in protecting civil servants from partisan political coercion, handing both functions to the White House via the OPM.

Muzzling public servants is the wrong thing to do. Censoring them after they leave government, except for classified information, is also unconstitutional. But this NDA would do that as well.

There are solid reasons to oppose broad federal NDAs. First, since 2017, federal agencies have been prohibited from entering into a contract with an outside firm that requires employees to sign NDAs. Moreover, before bidding on a federal contract, a firm must certify that they do not employ NDAs.

If that is a good rule for contractors, it should be good for civil service employees as well.

Moreover, NDAs are being abused in the private sector and, subsequently, have been restricted by law and courts.

Trump’s proposal is more than importing a private sector technique of dubious practice into government. This is the government importing a practice that even the private sector is being forced to curtail.

Once upon a time, NDAs were reserved for C-suite executives, people who knew lots of private information about products and services in the corporate pipeline. Today, however, between 33% and 57% of U.S. employees must work under an NDA or a similar mechanism. For those in “computer or mathematical jobs,” about 3-in-4 employees report being forced to sign an NDA.

Some NDAs even prevent employees from revealing that such an agreement exists.

There is an intrinsic power imbalance between employer and employee here that employers are manipulating. Employers get silence; employees get a figurative gag.

As an example, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found Amazon’s confidentiality agreements so overbroad that they impeded the employee right to organize a union. According to a lawyer in the case, the agreement affected “almost a million” employees. There was also a non-compete agreement, which the NLRB’s counsel “retroactively rescinded.” Relevance? Amazon is the country’s second-largest private employer.

Ironically, research suggests that employers may be increasing costs with those broad NDAs: more narrow NDAs reduce worker turnover.

NDA abuse has gotten so extreme that almost 20 states have taken action to curtail employers that silence workers about harassment, discrimination and unsafe conditions.

Washington state’s law (2022) is considered the gold standard: it prohibits employers from banning discussion of“[c]onduct that the individual reasonably believes to be illegal discrimination, illegal harassment, illegal retaliation, a wage and hour violation or sexual assault.” Nor can an employer prohibit discussion of conduct that violates a “clear mandate of public policy.”

There’s another reason there’s been no such action at the federal level: NDAs are traditionally used to protect business trade secrets that have monetary value. Federal employees aren’t protecting a market position; they’re being silenced about the public’s own government operations.

This OPM proposal ostensibly does not prohibit employee disclosures about fraud, abuse and misconduct, otherwise known as whistleblowing. However, severe institutional barriers exist right now.

For example, imagine you work for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a career civil servant. It’s 2015, and you’ve witnessed something troubling, whether data are being manipulated or an enforcement action has been quietly buried. You know the law protects you. You file a whistleblower complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). That year, OSC referred 62 of the 1,965 disclosures it received for formal investigation. Your odds: roughly 1-in-32.

Those aren’t great odds. But the system existed, it functioned and it occasionally delivered results.

Fast forward to 2025. You’re still at the EPA, or what’s left of it. You’ve watched scientific findings being suppressed. You’ve signed the required nondisclosure agreement as a condition of continued employment. The NDA tells you that whistleblower channels remain open. So you file a complaint. This year, OSC referred 27 of the 2,535 disclosures it received for formal investigation.

That’s less than half of the referrals from 10 years earlier with a 25% increase in complaints. Your odds drop dramatically: roughly 1-in-94. Turns out 2025 was the “worst year on record” for investigating whistleblower complaints.

A path to reporting is technically open. Its door simply leads nowhere.

Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, told CNN: “This proposed NDA is another attempt by the administration to purge the civil service of nonpartisan career employees and replace them with loyalists who won’t speak out against waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Replacing nonpartisan civil servants with loyalists is the opposite of transparent government. As the masthead of the Aspen Daily News says, “If you don’t want it printed, don’t let it happen.”

This post first appeared at Substack.

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/ndas-were-already-a-problem-trump-wants-to-bring-them-to-government/feed/ 0 World Cup Quandaries https://themoderatevoice.com/world-cup-quandaries/ https://themoderatevoice.com/world-cup-quandaries/#respond Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:21:43 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290846 As World Cup fever sweeps the world once again, with the first match about to begin in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, I am sure most soccer aficionados have already picked their favorite team to walk away with the iconic, golden 2026 FIFA World Cup Trophy at the end of the 39-day “biggest sporting spectacle on […]

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Ecuador’s World Cup Team Credit: “X” https://x.com/LaTri/status/1932639731835191496

As World Cup fever sweeps the world once again, with the first match about to begin in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, I am sure most soccer aficionados have already picked their favorite team to walk away with the iconic, golden 2026 FIFA World Cup Trophy at the end of the 39-day “biggest sporting spectacle on earth.”

For most people, as is for this writer, the choice is easy and obvious: One’s native or adoptive country.

But that doesn’t mean that, with 48 countries participating in 104 matches across the U.S., in Canada and in Mexico, there will not be other teams to cheer for.

But there can be some “quandaries.”

Take this writer: Born in Ecuador; brought up during his early youth in Curaçao, then part of the Dutch West Indies; educated in the Netherlands and with Dutch ancestors; finally, a naturalized American.

To make things more interesting, the author’s bride of 65 years is a native of England.

Of course, I will be rooting for the USA team from their very first match against Paraguay on June 12, until they hopefully reach the finals five weeks later at the “New York New Jersey Stadium.”

And I’ll be rooting for Ecuador when they play Côte d’Ivoire this coming Sunday in Philadelphia. And for Curaçao in their match against Germany the same day. And for the Netherlands in their game against Japan, also the same day. And for England in their match against Croatia on June 17.

Those are easy calls. Things get more interesting and complicated when these latter four countries play against each other.

For example, Ecuador plays against Curaçao in Kansas City on June 20.

Let us look at these two countries and their teams.

Ecuador, my native country is, in my opinion, the most beautiful country in the world. I have frequently acclaimed its beauty, a paradise stretching from the emerald Amazon rainforest (El Oriente), across the majestic Andes Mountains (La Sierra), into the tropical Pacific lowlands (La Costa). Even then, there is more beauty, for six hundred miles from its sun-kissed beaches, across the azure Pacific, lie the enchanted Galápagos Islands.

Ecuador, a small country with a rich in diversity population of nearly 19 million, secured the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualification after a (scoreless) draw against its southern neighbor, Peru, in June 2025.

The Ecuador team members can proudly call themselves “¡Somos mundialistas!” (We are World Cup Participants) as this will be the fifth World Cup appearance this century for the “La Tri” (La Tricolor) team.

I lived on the Caribbean island of Curaçao — then part of the Netherlands Antilles — from ages ten to fourteen. Just as in Ecuador, life on this small sun-drenched island, with shimmering turquoise waters surrounding dozens of powdery-white-sand beaches, pristine coral reefs and a magnificent marine life, was idyllic…a life, a country easy for a young person to get attached to and to fondly remember for the rest of his/her life.

Today this small, “autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands” is defying the oddsmakers and is, for the first time, participating in the World Cup, after an unbeaten CONCACAF campaign (“the premier annual continental club football competition in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean”) and after a hard-fought scoreless draw against Jamaica in November 2025.

The achievements of Curacao’s “Blue Wave” team with its rallying cry, “Nos ta e Ola Blou” (“We are the Blue Wave” in Papiamento), become even more amazing when one considers that Curacao is the smallest country, both by land area and population, to ever participate in the World Cup.

There are countries orders of magnitude larger than Curacao (in area and population) that, despite their size and passionate fan bases, have never qualified for the World Cup. One of them, with a population of more than 1.4 billion people.

On June 20, Ecuador and Curaçao will be facing each other in Kansas City.

I’ll be there is spirit rooting for both countries, knowing that only one will triumph and hoping it will be “my team.”

With the first of a trilogy of World Cup 2026 opening ceremonies taking place today in Mexico City, I am sure you already have your favorite team(s) selected.

I hope your choice(s) wasn’t/weren’t as cumbersome as mine and, as always, may the best team win.

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/world-cup-quandaries/feed/ 0 America loves a comeback. Meet Hunter Biden (UPDATED) https://themoderatevoice.com/america-loves-a-comeback-meet-hunter-biden/ https://themoderatevoice.com/america-loves-a-comeback-meet-hunter-biden/#respond Thu, 11 Jun 2026 15:46:51 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290849 For years, Hunter Biden was less a person than a political symbol. Republicans turned him into a one-man crime wave, Democrats often treated him as a liability to be ignored, and much of the media covered him as a walking scandal. Now, in one of the strangest political plot twists, he’s becoming a major social […]

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For years, Hunter Biden was less a person than a political symbol. Republicans turned him into a one-man crime wave, Democrats often treated him as a liability to be ignored, and much of the media covered him as a walking scandal.

Now, in one of the strangest political plot twists, he’s becoming a major social media star, attracting nearly one million followers on X by doing something radical: talking honestly about his own failures.

He’s hailed for candidly discussing his recovery, for his self-depreciation and wry wit, clashes with media figures and right wingers, and defending his family.

He doesn’t deny his past, he leans into it. That’s a very different approach to 21st century American politics where everyone usually denies, deflects, blames or attacks.

If someone insults him as a drug addict he often responds with variations of “Yep. That’s my story” When one person called him a “meth head” Biden replied: “You mean crack head.” And when hit with homophobic slurs he shoots back, “And all your gym pictures with your greased muscles are really hot.”

He has some critics.

“A lot of Biden’s posting is unobjectionable and sometimes even wholesome — at least by the standards of online attention-seeking behavior,” writes MS NOW’s Zeeshan Aleem. “But there’s an aspect of his new identity that I find more troubling: his attempts at cross-partisan political populism. Regardless of what his intentions are, he’s exhibiting a naiveté about noxious right-wing ideas.”

What has surprised many is Hunter Biden’s social media presence isn’t built on denial or image-polishing. He speaks with remarkable candor about addiction, often using humor at his own expense while reminding followers that addiction nearly destroyed his life. He argues that recovery is indeed possible. In an era where public figures often hide their failures, his willingness to discuss his addiction openly may be one reason so many people find him relatable.

Meanwhile, Biden’s life has been a roller coaster.

When he was a child a car accident killed his mother and sister and devastated his father, former President Joe Biden. Hunter became a successful lawyer and businessman. Then he lost his brother, Beau Biden, to brain cancer. He spiraled into crack and alcohol addiction. He faced years of congressional investigations, political attacks, lawsuits, leaked private material, and relentless public scrutiny. He has now been sober for seven years.

Hunter Biden’s story taps into something deeply American: the belief that a person’s worst chapter doesn’t have to be the final chapter.

Consider some famous second acts:

Ulysses S. Grant flopped in business, struggled financially, and was considered washed up before becoming the Union’s most important general and later president. Winston Churchill was considered a political has-been before becoming Britain’s historical wartime leader.

Johnny Cash’s addiction nearly destroyed his career and he made one of music’s greatest late-life comebacks. Robert Downey Jr. went from arrests and addiction to becoming a Hollywood mega-star. Muhammad Ali lost years of his career and public standing before becoming a global icon. Martha Stewart went from prisoner to media powerhouse again. Betty Ford transformed personal struggles with addiction into a legacy of helping others recover.

The common thread is not perfection. It’s survival.

And perhaps the appeal isn’t really Hunter Biden at all. Perhaps it’s because in an age of spin, excuses, denials and endless finger-pointing, people are encountering someone who says, “Yes, I made terrible mistakes. No, I’m not proud of them. But I am here.”

The strange thing isn’t that Hunter Biden is finding an audience. It’s that after years of investigations, hearings, leaks, accusations and headlines, the thing people seem to like most about him is the one thing nobody expected:

He sounds human.

People who spent years telling us Hunter Biden was finished may have overlooked something. Americans love comeback stories. We make movies about underdogs. We cheer when Rocky gets off the canvas. We admire people who refuse to stand down.

Never underestimate the power of a second act.

Copyright 2026 Joe Gandelman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

UPDATE: Hunter Biden just posted this. Click on the SHOW MORE button to read it in its entirety:

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/america-loves-a-comeback-meet-hunter-biden/feed/ 0 Is soccer taking over America … or are Americans taking over football https://themoderatevoice.com/is-soccer-taking-over-america-or-are-americans-taking-over-football/ https://themoderatevoice.com/is-soccer-taking-over-america-or-are-americans-taking-over-football/#respond Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:33:01 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290837 Not all soccer fans are happy with American interest in their clubs. Phil Cole/Getty Images Kirk Bowman, Georgia Institute of Technology Soccer purists have long feared the “Americanization” of the game. But in one key respect, it is already happening: ownership. Americans now own more than 40 European soccer clubs, including current English Premier League […]

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Not all soccer fans are happy with American interest in their clubs.
Phil Cole/Getty Images

Kirk Bowman, Georgia Institute of Technology

Soccer purists have long feared the “Americanization” of the game. But in one key respect, it is already happening: ownership.

Americans now own more than 40 European soccer clubs, including current English Premier League champion Arsenal, Italian Serie A champion Inter Milan and storied teams such as Manchester United and Liverpool. Americans are also investing heavily in the lower leagues, taking ownership of two dozen clubs outside the top division, including Birmingham City, whose ownership group includes former NFL star Tom Brady, and Norwich City, purchased by Milwaukee Bucks owner Mark Attanasio in 2022.

And while global fans may carp at superficial changes that hint at the growing influence of American culture – halftime shows, cheerleaders and the use of “soccer” over “football – the reality is, it is at the level of ownership where Americans have the biggest capacity to change the game. It is a trend my colleagues and I have been charting for several years.

The yanks are coming, the yanks are coming!

U.S. sports ownership norms and rules differ greatly from the traditional European model: U.S. owners tend to operate like “emperors” who can move franchises from city to city in pursuit of bigger profits; European owners are more inclined to act as “caretakers” and traditionally come from the local business community. They see their teams as passion projects that they’re willing to sink money into.

But the global rise of soccer has seen wealthy Americans increasingly take an interest in European teams. It began in earnest in 2005 when American businessman Malcolm Glazer bought Manchester United. The Glazer-leveraged buyout sparked protest from the club’s supporters trust at the time and has grown as the owners sucked out more than 1 billion pounds from the club to pay back debt interest, repayments, dividends and fees.

But such opposition, which has only accelerated since 2018 with the entrance of U.S. private equity groups, has done little to put off American owners.

A large banner is seens saying 'MUFC Rest in Peace. Glazer rot in hell.
Malcolm Glazer isn’t everyone’s favorite person in Manchester.
Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images

Today, there are 11 American ownership groups in the English Premier League – and they are more accustomed to the U.S. way of doing things. Combined, they own six NFL teams, four NBA teams, two MLB franchises and four NHL clubs. Stan Kroenke, the owner of English champion Arsenal, also owns the Los Angeles Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.

Ownership of these franchises has made some very rich men ever more wealthy as the value of top teams grew. But traditional soccer fans are increasingly concerned about this shift toward a profit-driven style of ownership.

The ups and downs of the pyramid system

But there is a potential barrier to these American owners making megabucks: the structure of soccer itself. It represents a battle between U.S. “closed” leagues – that is, with fixed franchises – and a European pyramid structure in which teams can drop down divisions, wiping millions of dollars off their valuation in the process.

To understand why U.S. and English leagues have these different models, you need to look back to how professional sports leagues in the two territories were originally designed. Until the late 19th century, sports in England and the U.S. followed similar trajectories, with the baseball teams in America and soccer teams in England playing in organized leagues with predictable schedules.

Then, in 1876, baseball’s National League was founded with territorial exclusivity for teams and, by 1891, a constitution that enshrined eight permanent members. New franchises were not absorbed into the National League but instead formed the American League. Underperforming professional baseball teams could not be ejected or relegated to a minor league even if they lost every game. Meanwhile, franchises could relocate to new cities at will.

Other U.S. sports adopted baseball’s monopolistic system of fixed teams with all-powerful owners – a system that, by the 21st century, produced regular profits, the world’s highest-valued sports teams and absolute power for owners.

In contrast, England’s Football League, which began life in 1888, had a fluid membership – exchanging its weakest teams with the strongest teams from the rival Football Alliance to create a two-tier system. The English pyramid system took shape after another rival league was absorbed in 1894 as the third tier.

From the outset there was the possibility of teams moving up – or being promoted – based on their performance on the pitch. Conversely, teams could be demoted if they played badly.

This pyramid structure quickly became the norm for soccer around the world and enshrined in FIFA statutes.

A group of people stand and kneel with a sign reading 'Kroenke out'
Arsenal fans gather to demand the resignation of club owner and American billionaire Stan Kroenke on May 6, 2021.
Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images

A fans’ revolt

Promotions and regulations create drama, romance, season-long tension and fan passion that help make soccer the most popular sport in the world.

But it also terrifies many American owners.

Burnley and West Ham, English clubs with significant American investment, were recently relegated to the second tier of the English pyramid – a move that will likely devastate their budgets and valuations. American-owned Hellas Verona and Pisa in Italy and Girona and Mallorca in Spain were likewise demoted to the second divisions.

Spooked U.S. owners have begun to lobby for change – and the safeguarding of their lucrative sporting investments. And it was little surprise that American fingerprints were all over the April 2021 announcement of the “closed” European Super League. The elite competition would have guaranteed permanent participation for 12 to 15 teams, plus a handful of rotating annual participants, in a new, multibillion-dollar continental competition.

The breakaway league was to be financed with $4 billion from U.S. banking giant JPMorgan. Four of the teams – AC Milan, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United – are American-owned.

The European Super League would have Americanized elite European football in one fell swoop, with fixed franchises, no threat of relegation and league control by the owners or presidents of the permanent teams.

But fans, coaches and former players from the six English Premier League teams involved revolted against an elite competition without relegation, calling it an “ultimate betrayal.” All six formally withdrew within 72 hours of the league’s announcement, joining Germany’s two biggest teams, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, which refused from the outset to join. France’s Paris Saint-Germain also refused an invitation.

A person in a football jersey holds a sign reading 'Say No to the Super League. R.I.P. Football.'
Chelsea fans protest on April 20, 2021, against the establishment of the breakaway European Super League.
David Cliff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

While the effort to create fixed franchises in Europe has, for now, been foiled, Americanization is still happening in smaller steps. Many of the changes are benign, such as cheerleaders and halftime entertainment. Other changes are more profound. American professional sports leagues often tweak rules to increase scoring, and FIFA is now experimenting with a new offside rule that would lead to more goals, reduce major upsets and benefit wealthier clubs.

Todd Boehly, co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers, Strasbourg FC in France’s Ligue 1 and Chelsea in the U.K., is one of the American cheerleaders for this type of change.

He argues that the English Premier League should learn from American sports to increase revenue, including by introducing all-star games and postseason playoffs. Much of this is self-interest: Boehly’s Chelsea FC needs all the additional revenue it can find as the club announced record pre-tax losses of US$349 million for the 2024-25 season.

Welcome to … where now?

Some American franchise owners have given up on trying to change the European game and are looking elsewhere. U.S. capital is now being invested in a potential fixed-franchise league in Mexico. Mexico’s first division, Liga MX, whose television viewership in the United States exceeds that of the English Premier League and MLS combined, paused relegations for six seasons in 2020 due to the financial uncertainty brought on by COVID-19. Five of the 18 Liga MX clubs are now American-owned, and a return to relegations looks increasingly unlikely.

A group of people point and stand.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, co-owners of Wrexham FC, celebrate their team’s success on March 7, 2026.
Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA via Getty Images

Hollywood actor Rob Mac (formerly McElhenney), who co-owns Wrexham FC in the U.K. with Ryan Reynolds, documented the romance of promotions in the TV documentary “Welcome to Wrexham.” But as a co-owner, with Eva Longoria, of Liga MX club Necaxa, Mac appears less enamored of the pyramid system in Mexico, pointing out “the potential value and devaluation of the clubs.”

Liga MX could soon become the first soccer league to fully transition from an established promotion and relegation system to a fixed-franchise model.

And that would be a significant step toward the global Americanization of the beautiful game.The Conversation

Kirk Bowman, Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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]]> https://themoderatevoice.com/is-soccer-taking-over-america-or-are-americans-taking-over-football/feed/ 0 Lies and Hissy Fits (Cartoon and Column) https://themoderatevoice.com/lies-and-hissy-fits-cartoon-and-column/ https://themoderatevoice.com/lies-and-hissy-fits-cartoon-and-column/#respond Tue, 09 Jun 2026 05:31:13 +0000 https://themoderatevoice.com/?p=290833 A black female journalist stands up to a bully Donald Trump had an interview with a national news network, and he got fact-checked. Obviously, this network was not Fox News, because it would typically allow him to lie unabated. It was a wide-ranging interview with NBC News’s Kristen Welker that aired Sunday on Meet the […]

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A black female journalist stands up to a bully

Donald Trump had an interview with a national news network, and he got fact-checked. Obviously, this network was not Fox News, because it would typically allow him to lie unabated.

It was a wide-ranging interview with NBC News’s Kristen Welker that aired Sunday on Meet the Press, and ended abruptly in a hissy fit on his part. Trump claimed that the California gubernatorial primary is “rigged” in favor of Democrats. Instead of letting his lie slide by, Welker pushed back and pointed out that there is no evidence to his claim. Welker was professional and tried to move the interview forward after calling out his lie, but Trump would not let it go.

Trump has a tradition of castigating black female journalists, and he continued it with Welker, saying, “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” before ending the interview in a tantrum.

More than 35 minutes into the interview, after Trump defended his regime’s planned “anti-weaponization” fund for individuals who believe that the government “wronged them,” Trump repeated his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” in favor of Joe Biden, who fairly defeated him and won the election, and said that “it’s happening again right now in California.”

Vote-counting is still ongoing in California, with 73 percent of the vote counted as of Sunday morning. Democrat Xavier Becerra will advance to the November general election with 27.2 percent of the vote, while Republican Steve Hilton is in second with 25.9 percent, leading Democrat Tom Steyer, who has 25.5 percent. There are 61 candidates for governor, so counting is taking a while.

Trump said that election officials in California are “crooked,” along with Welker and her media colleagues. “They’re crooked, just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” said Trump.

Welker replied, “To be fair, I’m not crooked,” and attempted to move the conversation along. She also repeatedly noted that there is no evidence that the 2020 presidential election or the California primary was rigged. Trump could not take it. Kristen Walker is not Laura Ingraham. She is an actual journalist with nearly 30 years of experience. She is also a Harvard grad, so she is not stupid.

He said, “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid. You play right into their hands with this crap. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged.”

Trump later said, “Your elections are crooked, and you’re crooked, and ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked. And so is ABC and CBS and CNN.” He then called NBC News a “one-sided crooked network.”

And your mom’s stupid and crooked, and so is your father. And your mee-maw, she’s stupid and crooked too. Stupid, stupid, stupid, and crooked. And your dog is stupid. Do you have a goldfish? Well then, he’s stupid too. What, you had a pet turtle when you were a kid? I bet he had a stupid and crooked face, stupid, stupid, stupid. Everybody’s stupid and crooked. Your cameraman is looking at me funny. I bet he’s stupid and crooked, too. Is that your producer over there in the corner? He’s stupid and crooked.

And then Trump said, “Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.” Then Trump took off his microphone and tossed it to the ground.

You know, the last person to tell me to have a good time was the lady who sold me a hot dog in Reykjavík, except she probably actually meant it. Here, Trump obviously did not mean for Welker to have a good time with the results of the interview that she traveled to Wisconsin for to conduct in a barn that was leaking rainwater on top of them. And yeah, it’s weird when someone tells you to have a good time after you buy a hot dog from them. It wasn’t like I was going to take it dancing and try to get to second base with it. And if you saw that hot dog, you would know that nobody has a good time with an Icelandic hot dog. It has ketchup and remoulade on it. Do you know what remoulade is? It’s a gunky, yellow mayonnaise sauce, and here, it’s mayonnaise on a hot dog. You’re not going to have a good time with a hot dog slathered with ketchup and mayo, even if you do get to second base with it.

Before walking away, Trump said, “A country can never be great with a dishonest press.” Except that is exactly what Donald Trump and MAGA want.

Donald Trump wants a press that is dishonest and slanted in his favor. He wants a press that does not challenge his lies. He wants to change our laws that eliminate a free press. He wants the FCC to be able to cancel late-night talk shows that make fun of him. He wants critics to be limited in what they can say. Donald Trump does not want to be challenged. He especially does not want to be challenged by female journalists, especially if they are black. Donald Trump hates women, and he is a racist.

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Visit Clay Jones’ website and email him at clayjonz@gmail.com.

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