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Gain of Function Gets TKO'd, Israel Strikes Back, Beagles Shown Mercy, Grass Root Billionaires?

• Ranting Politics • Season 1 • Episode 163

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Trump's ban on risky gain-of-function research, Israel's airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, NIH closing their controversial Beagle testing lab, and the revelation that "grassroots" May Day protests received substantial billionaire funding. We explore each story with unfiltered commentary and context to help you understand what's really happening behind the headlines.

• Trump prepares executive order banning gain-of-function research in countries without proper oversight, five years after COVID pandemic
• Multiple intelligence agencies have concluded the pandemic likely originated from a lab accident in Wuhan
• Israel launches massive airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen following a missile attack on Tel Aviv's main airport
• NIH Director announces closure of notorious government research facility conducting cruel experiments on beagles for decades
• At least 2,100 beagles died during experiments where bacteria was pumped into their lungs
• May Day demonstrations across America received over $500,000 from billionaire donors including Hans-Jörg Wyss, George Soros, and the Arabella Network
• Participating protest groups publicly railed against billionaires while receiving millions from them

Follow us on X at Ranting RP. You can also catch our full episodes on YouTube, Spotify, iHeartRadio and Apple Podcasts. For more in-depth coverage and our complete news archive, visit us at RantingPolitics.com.


Source Credits:

https://nypost.com/2025/05/05/us-news/trump-to-ban-risky-gain-of-function-research-in-china-nations-lacking-proper-oversight/ https://nypost.com/2025/05/05/world-news/israel-hits-back-at-houthis-with-airstrikes-after-iran-backed-terrorists-struck-ben-gurion-airport/ https://nypost.com/2025/05/05/us-news/nih-shutters-notorious-lab-accused-of-slaughtering-beagles-for-four-decades/ https://nypost.com/2025/05/05/us-news/lefty-groups-behind-grassroots-may-day-protests-in-us-propped-up-by-billionaires-and-dark-money-network/ 

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Speaker 1:

Hello America JOC here with your Ranting Politics headline updates, where we are diving into today's most explosive political stories that you need to know about Coming up. We're diving into four major headlines President Trump's upcoming executive order banning gain-of-function research in countries without proper oversight, which comes years after the COVID pandemic that intelligence agencies believe likely originated from a lab accident. We'll also cover Israel's major airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen following a missile attack on Tel Aviv's main airport. The NIH's decision to finally close that notorious Beagle testing lab after decades of controversial experiments. And the eye-opening revelation that those supposedly grassroots May Day protests were actually bankrolled by billionaire donors. If you're just tuning in for the first time, welcome to America's fastest-growing daily news rundown, designed specifically for your commute run or coffee time. Stick around for all this and more in your daily dose of unfiltered news and common sense commentary. This is Ranting Politics Headline Updates.

Speaker 1:

Big news out of Washington today, as President Trump prepares to sign an executive order that will ban all federal funding of risky gain-of-function research in China, iran and other countries lacking proper oversight of these potentially dangerous experiments. This comes more than five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that US intelligence agencies have since concluded most likely resulted from a lab accident, according to a White House fact sheet obtained by the New York Post. The executive order will immediately cut funding from any present and all future gain-of-function research. It will also task the National Institutes of Health and other agencies with identifying biological research that could harm public health or threaten national security. The White House specifically called out the kind of bat coronavirus research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, stating that these new measures will drastically reduce the potential for lab-related incidents like those that may have sparked the global pandemic. This isn't just speculation, folks. The FBI, energy Department and CIA have all pointed to a lab leak as the most likely explanation for the COVID outbreak. Even former CDC Director, dr Robert Redfield, has backed this theory, though others, like Dr Anthony Fauci, have maintained that natural animal-to-human transmission is more plausible. Speaking of Fauci, remember when he called lab leak proponents conspiracy theorists? Well, the evidence keeps mounting that taxpayer dollars were flowing to some seriously questionable research. The NIAID, under Fauci, and the US Agency for International Development funneled over $1.4 million through EcoHealth Alliance to the Wuhan lab between 2014 and 2021 for bat coronavirus research.

Speaker 1:

The order goes further than previous restrictions, while Biden had signed a ban on such research in China in December 2022, that law allowed Health and Human Services secretaries to override the restriction. After review, trump's order appears to close that loophole. Perhaps most concerning is what a Pentagon inspector general found last year. The feds haven't even been able to track how much gain-of-function research is being conducted in China or other nations. Their review found at least 15.5 million flowing through sub-recipients to research organizations in China and other foreign countries for research potentially enhancing pandemic pathogens. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, who forced an audit by including a provision in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, praised the move, saying I have been fighting for years to end the insane practice of sending tax dollars to China for sketchy pseudoscience. This is a great win for the American people and common sense. The New York Post reporting on this story highlights the growing bipartisan consensus that potentially pandemic-causing research needs much stricter oversight, especially when conducted in nations with questionable biosafety standards.

Speaker 1:

Israel has just launched a dramatic series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen's port city of Hodeidah. This military action comes in direct response to the Houthi terrorists' brazen ballistic missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, which injured six people and forced foreign airlines to suspend all flights to Israel. The operation was massive in scale. Approximately 20 Israeli Air Force fighter jets were deployed to the Yemeni coast, dropping around 50 munitions on targets in Hodeidah and a concrete factory in the nearby city of Bajil. According to the IDF, hodeidah was specifically targeted because it serves as a key transfer point for Iranian weapons equipment for military needs and other terror purposes. As for that concrete factory in Bajil, israeli officials claim it's an important economic resource for the Houthi terror regime that's being used to construct tunnels and military infrastructure. While the Israeli Air Force carried out these strikes in coordination with the United States, american forces, reportedly, weren't actively involved in the operation.

Speaker 1:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn't mincing words about his intentions either. In a video shared on X, formerly Twitter, he vowed multiple attacks against the Iran-backed group, stating we operated against them in the past and we will operate in the future. It's not bang, that's it, but there will be bangs. This marks Israel's first bombing campaign in Yemen in nearly four months. Following a joint strike with US and British forces back in January, the United States had previously launched its own large-scale attacks against the Houthi in March. After the group continued targeting American ships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the Houthis have been escalating their attacks on Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza War, with this latest missile strike on Ben Gurion Airport representing a significant escalation in their capabilities and willingness to directly target Israeli civilian infrastructure. The situation remains fluid, as Israel appears committed to a sustained response against the Iran-backed militant group.

Speaker 1:

In a major development that animal rights advocates are calling a long-overdue victory, nih Director Jay Bhattacharya has officially announced the closure of a notorious government research facility that's been conducting what critics describe as cruel drug experiments on beagles for at least four decades. The NIH's controversial in-house clinical center, located on its Bethesda, maryland campus, had been accused of particularly brutal experimentation, including pushing pneumonia-causing bacteria into the lungs of over 2,000 beagles. Patacharya confirmed the shutdown during an appearance on Fox Friends Weekend, where he explained the administration's broader shift away from animal testing. We put forward a policy to replace animals and research with other technological advancements AI and other tools that actually translate better to human health. Patacharya stated we got rid of all of the Beagle experiments on NIH campus. The closure represents a significant policy shift under the Trump administration, which has been actively working to phase out animal testing across multiple federal agencies. The FDA recently revealed plans to eliminate such experimentation for antibody therapies. While the EPA is moving to reinstate a phase-out of animal testing that was pursued during Trump's first term, details of what happened at the facility are genuinely disturbing. According to investigations by the White Coat Waste Project Watchdog Group, scientists at the lab would surgically insert tubing into beagles' lungs to pump deadly pneumonia-causing bacteria into them. These experiments, related to septic shock and organ failure, typically ended with the dogs being euthanized after about four days and their bodies stored in refrigerators. At least 2,100 beagles died during these processes, with the government reportedly paying between $1,000 and $1,500 per dog from Envigo's puppy mill in Cumberland, virginia.

Speaker 1:

The closure comes after years of mounting pressure from both sides of the political aisle. White Coat Waste Project founder Anthony Bellotti praised the decision, calling the NIH's beagle testing the biggest animal testing scandal in history. His organization has been campaigning against the practice for nine years. During the COVID pandemic, dr Anthony Fauci faced significant criticism when it was revealed he had signed off on the Beagle experiments. Fauci later defended his actions, saying he approved them because they were approved by a peer review, though critics argued his position in the chain of command made him responsible for what they described as taxpayer-funded torture of dogs. The issue even generated rare bipartisan consensus, with nearly two dozen lawmakers from both parties signing a letter to Fauci condemning the experiments. Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York expressed hope that this is only the beginning of NIH's efforts to eliminate funding for inhumane and outdated animal experiments, while Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas called for testing on dogs of any breed to be outlawed entirely. According to the New York Post, the NIH had confirmed to Congress just last month that experiments on dogs in that laboratory were still ongoing and appeared to be seeking additional funding for it, albeit significantly less than in previous years.

Speaker 1:

Well folks, nothing says power to the people, quite like billionaire-funded protests against billionaires In what might be the most ironic development since Diet Soda. It turns out those supposedly grassroots mayday demonstrations across America had some seriously deep-pocketed backers. A new analysis reveals that more than $500,000 from Swiss billionaire Hans-Jörg Wyss, george Soros' Open Society Foundations and the shadowy Arabella Network has flowed to progressive groups organizing the recent protests. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. Just make sure. The 50-51 movement, that's 50 protests, 50 states, one orchestrated over 1,000 demonstrations nationwide beginning May 1st. Their public messaging railed against Trump and his billionaire profiteers, claiming they were demanding a country that puts our families over their fortunes. Meanwhile, the movement's participating organizations were quietly cashing checks with a whole lot of zeros from different billionaires. About three dozen groups involved in these anti-Trump demonstrations received approximately $29.3 million from Weiss's organizations, $47 million from the Arabella Network and $194 million from Soros's Open Society Foundations. Some of the most prominent participants included the Sunrise Movement, indivisible and Planned Parenthood all substantial beneficiaries of this funding pipeline. Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, didn't mince words about the contradiction.

Speaker 1:

The hypocrisy of the May Day protests is glaring. These organizations project the illusion of being driven by everyday Americans, but in reality they're being bankrolled by some of the biggest dark money mega donors in politics. When contacted by the New York Post, representatives for open society foundations insisted they did not fund or coordinate the May Day protests, while an Arabella spokesperson stated they have no connection to the May Day protests. Both organizations acknowledge supporting various progressive causes, but maintain that how these groups engage politically is their own decision. Weiss, who, at 89 years old, has emerged as a major funder of left-wing causes, despite being unable to donate directly to US political candidates due to his Swiss citizenship, did not respond to requests for comment. The billionaire made his fortune selling medical device company Synthese to Johnson Johnson over a decade ago, perhaps the most on-the-nose example of this funding disconnect. One of the largest protest participants was a group called Families Over Billionaires, which is actually the trade name for the 1630 Fund, a massive liberal dark money organization that received more than $278 million from Weiss's organizations.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes reality really is stranger than fiction, folks. Or, as I like to say, follow the money and you'll find out whose revolution it really is. And that wraps up today's Ranting Politics headline updates From Trump's decisive action on risky gain-of-function research to Israel's strategic airstrikes against the Houthi, the long-overdue closure of that horrific Beagle testing lab and the eye-opening revelation about who's really bankrolling those grassroots May Day protests. If you found today's rundown valuable, follow us on X at Ranting RP. You can also catch our full episodes on YouTube, spotify, iheartradio and Apple Podcasts. For more in-depth coverage and our complete news archive, visit us at RantingPoliticscom. This is JOC signing off and thank you, our loyal listeners, for choosing Ranting Politics headline updates. We'll be back soon with the updates you need to navigate these interesting times. Remember we don't align with a political party. We align with you, the American citizen. Until then, stay tuned, stay informed and, as always, stay free.