Secret Service chief snaps up Big Tech job

James Murray is to head security at Snapchat after 27 years in government service

US Secret Service Director James Murray announced his retirement on Thursday, leaving the White House for Silicon Valley. After 27 years in government service, including the last three in charge of protecting two US presidents, Murray will take over as head of security at the parent company of Snapchat at the beginning of August.

Murray “embodies the meaning of service over self, and protected the families of US Presidents like they were part of his own. We are incredibly grateful for his service to our country and our family,” President Joe Biden and his wife Jill said in a statement commenting on his departure.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he “benefited tremendously” from having Murray as “a trusted advisor and highly regarded leader” at the DHS, which has overseen the Secret Service since 2003.

Murray took over the Secret Service in May 2019, under President Donald Trump. In his three years as director, Murray “contributed significantly to the agency’s continued professionalization and growth, and helped the agency navigate the unique challenges presented by the historic [Covid]-19 pandemic,” the Secret Service said in a statement.

Snap said the company was “thrilled” to have Murray as their head of security. When he reports to his new job on August 1, he will be in charge of security for the company’s 5,000 employees worldwide and report directly to co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel.

Murray joined the Secret Service in 1995 as a financial investigator, but transferred to the presidential protection branch in 2001. He was offered the job in April, but chose to wait till July in order not to be a “distraction from the president’s NATO summit, the Summit of the Americas out in Los Angeles and the G7 summit,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Daily Mail. He also wanted to wait until he could present the agency’s budget request to Congress, Guglielmi added.

The Secret Service was recently brought into the controversy around the 2021 riot at the US Capitol. During a televised hearing before the House January 6 committee at the end of June, Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, claimed that Trump had attacked his head of security Bobby Engel after he refused to drive him to the Capitol that day. Hutchinson said she heard the story from deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato and that Engel did not dispute it at the time.

However, the Secret Service said Hutchinson’s claim was not true, and that both Engel and Trump’s driver were willing to testify under oath to that effect.

https://www.rt.com/news/558608-secret-service-chief-snapchat/

DeSantis Effect: At $21.8 billion, Florida records highest surplus in state history

“Despite the headwinds created by the Biden administration’s policies, Florida is in a strong fiscal position because we preserved freedom and kept our economy open,” governor declares.

The state of Florida saw a surplus of $21.8 billion for the 2022 fiscal year, the highest in state history and more than 21% higher than the state's spending plan, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.

Tax collections in May were $742 million above estimates; preliminary data for June is approximately $950 million above estimates.

“Despite the headwinds created by the Biden administration’s policies, Florida is in a strong fiscal position because we preserved freedom and kept our economy open,” DeSantis said. “Our responsible policies have allowed us to make record investments to support our communities, promote education, protect the environment, and provide record tax relief for Floridians, all while building record reserves to protect the state against the reckless fiscal policies from Washington.”

Florida’s surplus includes a record $15.7 billion in unallocated general revenue, $2.8 billion in unallocated trust funds and $2.7 billion in the Budget Stabilization Fund, otherwise known as its Rainy-Day Fund, the highest in state history.

The surplus also includes $499 million in the newly created Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund.

Florida also continues to outpace the nation with record employment growth and low unemployment.

The unemployment rate remains steady at 3%, 0.6% lower than the national rate. It’s remained lower than the national rate for 18 consecutive months, since December 2020, and has declined or held steady for 22 consecutive months.

Between May 2021 and May 2022, Florida’s workforce grew by 313,000 jobs, or 3%, faster than the national rate of 2.2% over the year.

Also, between May 2021 and May 2022, Florida’s total private sector employment grew by 459,500 jobs at a rate of 5.9%, faster than the national rate of 5.1% over the year.

Over the past two years, from May 2020 to May 2022, Florida employers have added jobs for 25 consecutive months. Since April 2021, Florida’s private sector over-the-year job growth rate has exceeded the nation’s for 14 consecutive months.

Florida tourism is also continuing a record streak. In the first quarter of 2022, 36 million people visited the Sunshine State, a 39.6% percent increase from the same period last year, according to VISIT FLORIDA.

It’s the third consecutive quarter that overall visitation to Florida has surpassed pre-pandemic visitation levels.

According to VISIT FLORIDA data, revenue generated from tourist spending saves every Florida family more than $1,600 in taxes every year. Additionally, bed tax revenues collected by counties have in total funded nearly $445 million in environmental projects over the past five fiscal years, including coral restoration, wetland mitigation, park maintenance and beautification, natural disaster recovery, and turtle rehabilitation.

A recent VISIT FLORIDA survey shows that Floridians “have a deep appreciation of their home state and its tourism industry, with nearly 60 percent agreeing that tourism improves their quality of life, and 70 percent agreeing they are proud to live in Florida.”

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/218-billion-florida-records-highest-surplus-state-history

Aussie journalist says Jacinda Ardern 'talks so much nonsense so consistently' and 'gets such lavish, wonderful praise for it'

The Australian's Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan blasted Jacinda Ardern in chat

Said she comes from 'worst, woke, unreal, fantasy-dwelling strain' of NZ politics

China's growing sway in the Pacific has raised concern in Australia and the US

An Australian journalist has blasted Jacinda Ardern and said he doesn't know any other leader in the world who 'talks so much nonsense so consistently' and 'gets such lavish, wonderful praise for it'.

Appearing on Sky News, the Australian's Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan was asked for his take on recent comments from Ms Ardern on the Pacific and climate change.

Host Peta Credlin played a clip of the New Zealand Prime Minister addressing the Lowry Institute in Australia on Thursday.

In her speech, Ms Ardern warned against 'positioning the Pacific in such a way that they have to pick sides'.

Describing the speech as 'a shocker' Ms Credlin asked Mr Sheridan for his view.

'I don't know what she's taking in her morning coffee. We're trying to give the Pacific an alternative from being conscripted into debt traps and hegemony by the most ruthless, authoritarian dictatorship in the world,' Mr Sheridan replied.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10993423/Greg-Sheridan-slams-Jacinda-Ardern-talking-nonsense.html