Stories Speak Volumes: June 1-5
A Round-Up of National and International News
Compiled by
There are so many stories making up the mosaic of national/international news that we can’t cover them all every week. The biggest stories now seem to be: Israel and Iran, the Trump presidency (lawfare and judges), immigration (migrants and illegals), wars, weaponization of government (the deep state) against Trump and conservatives, our nation’s debt, massive inflation, climate change controversy and related expenses of government, industry attempting to address these issues, the Chinese threat, national security, abortion, taxpayer cuts, Ukraine peace, and hatred and violence against Christians. Here are just a few:
Google Seeks Federal Approval to Release 32 million Sterile Mosquitoes in California and Florida
June 1: Breitbart by Lucas Nolan
Tech giant Google is pursuing government authorization to deploy up to 32 million sterile mosquitoes across California and Florida through its specialized “Debug” program designed to combat disease-carrying insects.
The Debug program claims to operate on a principle of using beneficial insects to eliminate harmful ones. The initiative involves releasing male mosquitoes that carry a naturally occurring bacteria called Wolbachia, which renders them incapable of producing offspring with wild female mosquitoes. Since male mosquitoes cannot bite or spread disease, this biological intervention aims to reduce populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes over time.
Google Debug emphasizes that traditional mosquito control methods have proven inadequate. The company states on its project homepage that pesticide-based approaches are becoming less effective while posing environmental concerns. Similarly, efforts to eliminate standing water where mosquitoes breed cannot address all potential breeding sites. Most diseases carried by mosquitoes lack effective vaccines or treatments, necessitating alternative strategies. The Debug approach distinguishes itself from genetic modification techniques. Program scientists stress that their method relies on naturally occurring bacteria without employing chemicals, toxins, or genetic engineering. The technique draws upon sterile insect methods that have been safely deployed against various pests for decades.
According to documentation in the Federal Register, the EPA is currently reviewing Google’s Experimental Use Permit applications under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. The proposed timeline calls for releasing up to 16 million mosquitoes in Florida during the first year, followed by another 16 million in California during the second year. The EPA has opened the proposal for public review and comment. Citizens interested in learning more about the project or submitting feedback can access the Federal eRulemaking Portal using docket identification number EPA-HQ-OPP-2025-3951.
President Trump Reveals His Pick to Replace Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence
June 2: Gateway Pundit by Cullen Linebarger
President Donald Trump announced that Bill Pulte, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will serve as acting Director of National Intelligence. Trump also said that Pulte will remain Director of FHFA and the Chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while serving as acting DNI.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced last month that she would be resigning as the Director of National Intelligence. She is stepping down to be with her husband as he battles an extremely rare form of bone cancer.
Iran Launches Attacks Against Multiple Gulf States with American Bases, US Responds
June 2: Red State by Nick Arama
Iran launched missiles and drones at Kuwait, according to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense. Iran also attacked Bahrain and triggered air raid sirens there, according to Bahrain’s Interior Ministry. There are also sirens sounding in Saudi Arabia, although they have not yet confirmed an attack. Those states have U.S. military bases.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) explained that the attacks failed and/or were intercepted, and we retaliated with “self-defense strikes.” U.S. forces successfully defeated multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, and conducted self-defense strikes on Qeshm Island in response to attempted attacks by Iran across the Middle East, June 2.
Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward regional neighbors; however, all failed to hit their intended targets. Two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait fell short or broke apart enroute, and three missiles launched at Bahrain were immediately intercepted by U.S. and Bahrain air defense forces.
Moments earlier, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces shot down three one-way attack drones launched by Iran toward civilian mariners that were rightfully transiting regional waters. American forces also conducted self-defense strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island. No U.S. personnel were harmed. CENTCOM forces remain vigilant and ready to defend against unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing ceasefire.
Fauci’s Foreign National Bat Virus Mad Scientist Vincent Munster and His Researcher Charged with Smuggling Monkeypox into America from African Outbreak
June 3: Gateway Pundit by Cassandra MacDonald
Top NIH virologist and gain-of-function advocate, Vincent Munster, has been charged with allegedly smuggling undeclared pathogen samples into America from Africa. For years, animal testing watchdog White Coat Waste has documented how Munster’s reckless, cruel experiments on primates and bats waste millions in taxpayer dollars while posing serious biosafety and national security risks.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced that Munster, 53, a Dutch citizen and Chief of the Virus Ecology Section at NIH’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton, Montana, and his colleague Claude Kwe, 38, a Cameroonian research fellow in Munster’s lab, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox into the United States and making false statements to federal law enforcement.
According to the Justice Department complaint, Munster and Kwe flew into Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s McNamara Terminal on January 25 after traveling from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, where a monkeypox outbreak was actively underway. Customs and Border Protection officers noticed the pair carrying a large black plastic case. When questioned, both men falsely claimed it contained only “diagnostics and testing equipment.”
According to the DOJ, “subsequent investigation by CBP and FBI agents revealed that the case actually contained 113 vials in Styrofoam coolers. As of the date of the complaint, the FBI has tested 20 of the 113 vials. Seventeen of them contained deactivated monkeypox virus, one contained the Chickenpox virus, and two contained only human DNA.”
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. did not mince words: “These NIH experts apparently broke our laws by smuggling viral pathogens on a packed commercial airplane from an outbreak in the Republic of Congo. Let that sink in.”
President Trump Orders Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Freeze and Seize Illegal Alien Bank Accounts
June 3: Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft
President Donald Trump announced a sweeping new crackdown on the financial infrastructure supporting illegal immigration, revealing that his administration will move to shut down bank accounts used to facilitate illegal immigration, human smuggling, cartel activity, and even accounts used to store welfare benefits received by illegal aliens.
In a new executive order, the Trump administration directed the Treasury Department to increase scrutiny of financial activity tied to illegal immigration, including potential payroll tax evasion, concealed account ownership, off-the-books wage schemes, labor trafficking, and the use of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) without verified legal presence documentation.
Banks will now be pressured to strengthen customer identification requirements and think twice before handing out accounts, loans, credit cards, or any financial services to those here illegally.
In a fiery Truth Social post on Tuesday, President Trump declared that illegal immigrants and foreign fraudsters are stealing billions of dollars from American taxpayers every year and vowed that his administration would use every available tool to stop it.
Air Force Fighter Shortage Crisis: Now Below Congress-Mandated Legal Minimum
June 3: Red State by Ward Clark
Congress has set a floor for how many fighter aircraft the United States Air Force has to maintain. And now, Representative August Pfluger (TX-11), a former Air Force F-22 pilot, is warning that the Air Force has dropped below that minimum.
The Air Force’s primary fighter fleet dipped below the minimum allowable size under law earlier this year—and that fact should rally a “call to action” for the nation to reinvest in its airpower, a key lawmaker said June 2.
Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), a former F-22 pilot now serving in Congress, is sounding the alarm. “This is the moment I think that Congress needs to take action,” Pfluger said during an interview at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “Just that stat right there should wake up everybody. It should definitely be a call to action.”
Congress wrote into law in 2017 that the Air Force must maintain at least 1,145 fighters in its primary mission aircraft inventory (PMAI)—defined as those aircraft “assigned to meet the primary aircraft authorization to a unit for the performance of its wartime mission.”
The Trump administration’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget includes billions of dollars to improve aircraft readiness, but the Air Force’s procurement plans call for adding just 62 new USAF fighters in 2027: 38 F-35s and 24 F-15EXs. The service has long maintained that it needs to acquire at least 72 fighters a year, but consistently has fallen short of that mark.
House Hearing Reveals What Auditors Found in Ohio’s Medicaid System
June 4: Red State by Ben Smith
Ninety-four Medicaid companies registered to a single Ohio address billed taxpayers $66 million. One woman reportedly renamed her janitorial company, began billing Medicaid $100,000 in her first month, eventually reached $650,000 a month, and then left the country.
Wednesday, House Oversight’s new Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses held its first hearing to examine what witnesses say could be more than $1.2 billion in fraud in Ohio’s Medicaid home-health program. Task Force Chairman Brandon Gill (TX-26) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (KY-01) launched the investigation May 13 after Daily Wire reporter Luke Rosiak published a series on northeast Columbus, where storefront after storefront billed federal Medicaid dollars for home-health services that showed signs of fraud.
Rosiak testified that one building at 6161 Busch Boulevard contained those 94 companies. Some offices displayed “stepped out to lunch” signs while months of unopened mail piled up behind the doors. Public records also led Rosiak to True Home Healthcare, which he testified was operated by a man with three fraud convictions and a wife with three theft convictions. He also cited Omega Home Health, incorporated by the wife of a felon previously convicted of billing the government for nonexistent elder-care services. Medicaid paid the company $6 million while the husband remained delinquent on court-ordered restitution.
Ohio Auditor Keith Faber told lawmakers his office has identified more than $9 billion in unsupported or fraudulent public expenditures since he took office, with Medicaid and unemployment programs representing the largest areas of concern. His latest State Single Audit found a 15.6 percent ineligibility rate and up to $4.4 billion in fraud-related exposure tied to Ohio Medicaid programs. Faber testified that his office identified more than $455 million in Medicaid benefits paid to ineligible recipients in 2020. In 2022, auditors found $118.5 million tied to duplicate or improper payments involving prison inmates and deceased individuals.
‘BIG Cheating’: President Trump Orders Investigations into California’s Elections
June 4: TownHall by Dmitri Bolt
President Trump announced Wednesday night that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles will investigate why it takes California so long to count votes, as state officials have warned it may take weeks before the final election results are known.
California’s prolonged vote-counting process has not only fueled concerns of election integrity but has also drawn significant criticism from Republicans, as they now hold a major stake in California’s election integrity, and delays could affect two key opportunities to shift the political direction of one of the nation’s most progressive states.
Steve Hilton is currently leading the state’s gubernatorial primary, and Spencer Pratt is expected to advance to the general election in the Los Angeles mayoral race. While both candidates currently appear on track to advance, the continued counting of mail-in ballots could quickly alter the trajectory of the election.
America Created 172,000 Jobs in May, Nearly Twice as Many as Expected
June 5: Breitbart by John Carney
The U.S. economy added 172,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists had expected 85,000 jobs, with forecasts ranging from 55,000 to 110,000. The unemployment rate was forecast to be unchanged at 4.3 percent. The April gain was revised up by 64,000 to 179,000 and March was revised up by 29,000 to 214,000, for a total of 93,000 additional jobs.
Economists have been underestimating job growth for three consecutive months. The three-month average of job growth, a measure that smooths out monthly volatility and is considered by many to be a better guide to the health of the labor market, moved up to over 188,000. The private sector added 120,000 jobs, far more than the 90,000 consensus forecast. The April estimate was revised up from 123,000 to 177,000.
The federal government added 1,000 jobs in May after two consecutive months of shrinking payrolls. Compared with a year ago, federal government payrolls are down by 311,000, reflecting President Donald Trump’s efforts to reprivatize the U.S. economy. Compared with the peak of federal employment in October of 2024, payrolls are down by 346,000. State governments shed 4,000 workers. Local governments added 55,000.
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose 0.3 percent. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.4 percent. The average workweek was unchanged.
The labor market in the U.S. has experienced a significant shift away from dependence on an immigration-driven workforce. Jobs numbers that may seem anemic compared with recent years may actually indicate healthy—even robust—growth under current conditions, according to economists.
Pulte To Fire “Large Number” Of Deep State Intel Community Members
June 5: Gateway Pundit by Cristina Laila
Acting DNI Bill Pulte is preparing to fire a “large number” of Deep State Intel Community members. According to The Wall Street Journal, President Trump has urged Bill Pulte to “start the process” of firing intel officials. President Trump said he wants to reduce the size of the federal intel agencies.
The Wall Street Journal reported: President Trump said he wants Bill Pulte, his incoming acting director of national intelligence, to begin the process of firing a large number of employees as part of a shake-up of the U.S. intelligence community.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday, Trump said he has privately told Pulte that he believes the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, which oversees 18 federal intelligence agencies and units, is “unnecessary and/or too big. I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump said, pointing to holdovers from the Biden and Obama administrations. Asked whether he is calling on Pulte to fire people, Trump said he wants him to “start the process,” adding that his eventual nominee to serve in the role permanently should continue that work.
Mike Hernandez is co-founder of the Citizens Journal–Ventura County’s online news service and writes for CitizensJournal.net and MountainTopMedia.com. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor, writer of “Prayer Over News Daily” and edits the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes” and other columns. Mr. Hernandez mentors citizen journalists with trainings held every other month (on Saturdays at Shasta Bible College and online) and can be contacted at MikeHernandezMedia.com.