Newsletter Jun 14, 2021

President Biden reassured allies that America is back as the leader of the free world, and his first test comes this week in the form of Vladimir Putin.

3 Things

Welcome back, America: President Joe Biden's visit to meet with European leaders has done more than build an alliance to address issues like climate change and global taxes. It has also restored allies' faith in the American president as the leader of the free world.
Following four tumultuous years of former president Donald Trump in office, organizations like the G7 weren't exactly where America stood. Trump's isolationist policies and fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin had NATO members wondering if the balance of power had swung to the east in Russia and China's favor.
"It used to be complete chaos," one world leader commented. "Before, we were on edge the entire, the whole time just trying to keep the G7 intact ... you don't have to worry about that now."
Biden's trip to meet G7 leaders over the weekend and Monday's start of NATO summits in Brussels has displayed the willingness of the U.S. to return to the world stage. He has reassured allies that the U.S. is ready to deliver a harsh message to Putin on Wednesday..
NATO leaders are expected to draft a direct message to Russia and China about issues like cyberattacks, trade and intellectual property rights. Then Biden will deliver the statement directly to Putin to send a strong signal that Russian interference will no longer be tolerated.
FIND OUT WHAT BIDEN IS EXPECTED TO DEMAND OF PUTIN

Shalom and hello: Europe wasn't the only thing on Biden's foreign policy plate over the weekend. He also spent some time addressing the Middle East situation by congratulating incoming Israeli Prime Minister Naftari Bennett on his unseating of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Both leaders released statement expressing their wishes for continued cooperation between the two nations, but region experts are concerned about how the new Israeli government might function under a splintered coalition with very different visions for Israel. Their only common ground appears to be their disdain fpr Netanyahu.
Bennett, a right-wing Jewish nationalist and former tech millionaire, takes over an Israeli government loosely pieced together by an eight-party coalition. His alternate leaders are considerably less hawkish and represent a more moderate and liberal ideology.
Say what you want about Bibi, but at least you knew where he stood.
SEE HOW THE U.S. PLANS TO DEAL WITH THE NEW ISRAEL

Calling all AGs: The next political hot potato on Capitol Hill appears to be the recent revelation that the Trump administration seized phone records of Democratic leaders and members of the media.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday called on former attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions to testify before Congress about the seized data records of prominent Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee. The February 2018 order came during attempts to identify leaks about the Russian election meddling case.
Pelosi called the intrusion even worse than the Watergate scandal, saying it "goes even beyond Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon had an enemies list. This is about undermining the rule of law." Her comments come after the Justice Departmentâ€™s independent inspector general opened an inquiry into the secret seizures.
FIND OUT IF REPUBLICANS WILL SUPPORT SUCH A PROBE

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No vax, no job

The lingering legal question about whether an employer can requires its workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to retain their jobs has only been a theoretical one until now, but a federal court ruling involving a Texas hospital has put the issue to rest -- no inoculation, no occupation.

A US judge threw out a lawsuit by more than 100 employees of one of Texas's largest hospitals, which set a June 7 deadline for workers to prove they had received at least one dose of the vaccine or face termination.

Federal court Judge Lynn Hughes ruled against the workers over the weekend, saying the vaccines' safety was not at issue and Texas law only protects employees from refusing to commit a crime, not getting a shot.

The decision backs what the many constitutional scholars have said about the matter, contending that employers have a right to ensure the safety of its customers and employees. It is expected to open a floodgate of vaccine requirements, particularly among the medical service community.

SEE WHAT THE JUDGE SAID ABOUT HOLOCAUST COMPARISONS

Crypto crazy

It's official; Elon Musk has done more flips on bitcoin than an Olympic gymnast, but he always seems to land on gold when it comes to crypto.

The self-titled Master of Coin (at least when he's not serving as the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX) was at it again over the weekend, tweeting about Tesla's back-and-forth affair with accepting bitcoin as payment for an EV.

Bitcoin's price skyrocketed when Musk announced Tesla would treat it as legal tender, but the value dropped like a rock last month when he reversed course and claimed that crypto mining used to much energy.

After trying to smooth things over by meeting with mining groups, Musk took to Twitter to say that Tesla will again accept bitcoin when the mining process can cut energy usage in half. The tweet again pushed bitcoin's price higher, but who knows? He could have tweeted again since then.

GET THE LATEST ON MUSK'S IMPACT ON THE CRYPTO MARKET

Whale of a story

So you think you had a rough weekend? Consider the unlikely fate of this unlucky Massachusetts lobster fisherman who found himself in a real-life encounter with "Jaws" -- minus the teeth.

Michael Packard was scouring the ocean's surface for the crawling crustaceans when he was suddenly scooped up into the mouth of a massive humpback whale. The aquatic beast trapped Packard in its mouth for an estimated 30 t0 40 seconds before finally letting him go (apparently people do not taste like plankton).

Experts say the whale, a strict vegetarian, must have accidentally picked up his victim while trying to engulf its microscopic food and decided to spit Packard out once it realized the mishap, but at least it gave Packard one heck of a whale tale and no major injuries.

READ ABOUT PACKARD'S SCARY ENCOUNTER WITH A WHALE