The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | April 2nd, 2024: Ukraine's AI-Drones Infiltrate Russia & JK Rowling Dares UK Police To Arrest Her Over Hate Crime Law

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     Military leaders in Kyiv are pressing the attack inside Russian territory, increasingly leveraging their AI-enabled drones to target Putin’s energy infrastructure despite U.S. concerns about escalation. Freedom of speech appears to be under attack in the U.K., as Scotland passes a controversial hate crime law that could put offenders away for up to 7 years for simply not using a person’s preferred pronouns. We’ll have the latest reactions, including Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s fiery rebuke. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last night, you spent two hours deciding what to wear to the party. This morning, it'll take you two minutes to list it on Deepop and make your money back. Just grab your phone, snap a few photos, and we'll take care of the rest. The sheer dress and platform heels you'll never wear again, there's a birthday girl searching for them right now. Your one-and-done look is about to pay for your next night out, or at least the right home. Your style can make you cash.

Start selling on Deepop, where Taste recognizes taste. It's Tuesday to April. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, military leaders in Kiev are pressing the attack inside Russian territory, increasingly leveraging their AI-enabled drones to target Putin's energy infrastructure despite U.S. concerns about possible escalation. Also, freedom of speech appears to be under attack in the U.K. passes a controversial hate crime law that could put offenders away for up to seven years for simply not using a person's preferred pronouns. We'll have the latest reactions, including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's fiery rebuke. Now, it's very literary,

isn't it, fiery rebuke? It also sounds like a spell that she would include in one of her books. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Ukraine is taking the fight deeper inside Russian territory, leveraging AI-enabled drones to attack the Putin regime's energy infrastructure. Ukraine has shifted to this tactic in recent months, as Russian forces have increasingly targeted Kiev's energy grid with relentless missile strikes over the winter months. Kiev's latest battlefield victory came on Tuesday as a Ukrainian drone struck Russia's third largest oil refinery, which sits nearly 800 miles from the front lines of the war, and that's according to a CNN report. The drone attack on Tuesday also reportedly hit a Russian plant in

Tardistan, assembling long-range Iranian-made Shahed attack drones that Putin is using inside Ukraine. It was the deepest attack inside Russia since the war began, injuring at least 12 people and causing partial damage to the primary refining unit at the plant, though it was unclear if the damage was serious. Now, that plant accounts for roughly 6.2% of Russia's refining capacity, and the unit that was hit accounts for around half of the plant's total refining capacity. Ukrainian intelligence sources said the aim of the attack was to make a dent in Russia's oil profits, which remain, of course, the biggest source of revenue for Moscow's war economy. While each drone attack may only chip away a small portion of Russia's oil industry, it appears that the consistent attacks from Kiev are having

the desired effect. An analysis by Reuters shows that roughly 14% of Russia's refining capacity has been shut down due to Ukrainian drone strikes. This is particularly notable as global demand for refined oil products from Russia is much higher than the demand for their crude product. A source close to Ukraine's drone program told CNN that the attacks have been made possible due to integrating a basic form of artificial intelligence into the drones to help them navigate with incredible precision. The source said, quote, accuracy under jamming is enabled through the use of artificial intelligence. Each aircraft has a terminal computer with satellite and terrain data. The flights are determined in advance with our allies, and the aircraft follow

the flight plan to enable us to strike targets within meters of precision, end quote. Now, we should note that despite U.S. support for Ukraine, their drone strikes inside Russian territory are making leaders in Washington nervous about the possibility of escalation. Just last month, U.S. officials reportedly urged Ukraine to halt strikes on Russia's energy industry, arguing the drone incursions risk provoking a larger-scale retaliation by the Putin regime, not to mention the possibility of rising gas prices during an election year. Okay, that was childish me to point out. The U.S. also cited concerns about the effects the drone strikes are having on the price of oil. What? Which has risen nearly 4% in the wake of Ukraine's attacks. Oh, so maybe I wasn't

being childish after all. Look at that. Tuesday strikes also prompted Russian officials to lash out at the U.S. and NATO allies, accusing the alliance of actively helping to organize strikes inside Russian territory. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Petruchev, a close confident of Putin, went as far as to accuse NATO of essentially using Ukraine as a proxy to fight a war with Russia. And it's surreal and yet somehow oddly entertaining to hear Putin and his minions moralize about anything. He said Tuesday, quote, The West considered the collapse of the Soviet Union only as one of the stages of the confrontation with Russia, the weakening of our country as an economic and political competitor,

and its subsequent removal from the political map of the world through dismemberment are the long-term strategic goals of Washington, London, and the countries of the collective West controlled by them, end quote. All right, chill out, Nicolai. The only country, trying to dismember another country, is, oh, Russia. Coming up after the break, and we'll discuss a controversial new hate crime law in the UK that could put offenders away for up to seven years for simply not using a person's preferred pronouns. I'll be right back. How many discounts does USA Auto Insurance offer?

Too many to say here. Multi-vehicle discount. Safe driver discount? New vehicle discount. Storage discount. Legacy. How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usaa.com slash auto discounts. Restrictions apply.

This is Euphoria Calvin Klein. The new elixir collection featuring three perfume intense scents. Inspired by a unique orchid accord paired with vanilla, each with its own distinct attitude, each with its own universe. Bold elixir. Sensual. Woody. Addictive.

Magnetic elixir. Sweet and romantic elixir. like a lingering touch. Solar elixir, a radiant expression of joy, ultra-concentrated for amplified impact and lasting power. Find your euphoria. Discover the euphoria elixir collection by Calvin Klein. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Freedom of speech is once again under attack in the UK, as a new hate crime law goes into effect in Scotland this week. And now, one of the nation's most successful authors, J.K. Rowling, is daring police to arrest her. A little background on this. The so-called hate crime and public order act came into effect on Monday,

and it creates a new crime category of, quote, stirring up hatred, relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, or being intersex, and honestly, I can't keep up with the growing list of categories. It found guilty of the crime, an offender can face up to seven years in prison as well as a stiff fine. Champions of the law, including Scotland's first minister, Hamza Yusov said it would help to deal with a, quote, rising tide of hatred, end quote. But who's going to deal with the rising tide of stupidity? So what exactly constitutes a criminal offense of stirring up hatred under this new law?

Well, according to at least one Scottish official, the bar seems pretty low. Scotland's Minister for Victims in Community Safety told the Daily Telegraph that, for example, calling a transgender woman he instead of by the pronouns which align with their gender identity could be considered a crime. It's almost as if angst-ridden progressives in their daily struggle to demonstrate their progressive credentials are in a contest to see who can come up with the most moronic ideas. Enter Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, a resident of Edinburgh and a vocal opponent of gender ideology. Taking to X, Rowling posted, quote, in passing the skis Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men

performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, then on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls, end quote. Rowling then shared a series of posts about transgender women, some of which related to criminal cases, adding, obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren't women at all, but men every last one of them, end quote. Rowling concluded by saying, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment, end quote. Now, she's referring to the period of time from the mid-18th century to mid-19th century when Scotland experienced a shift from religion to reason in producing a wide variety of intellectual achievements in the fields of philosophy, literature, science, medicine, and economics. It was a time of debate of expression of ideas, rather than, than a time of group think and stifling of debate and free speech. Should we expect Rowling to be led away in cuffs when she returns to Scotland?

That's, of course, up to the police. However, it does appear that she has some supporters in high places. Responding to the controversy, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said people should not be criminalized for stating, quote, simple facts on biology, end quote. Well, careful there, Prime Minister. You don't want to get nicked for talking about science. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday to April. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com.

And be sure to check out our new premium membership at PDBPremium.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Ryan Reynolds here from IntMobil. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month, that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistants assistants assistants switch you to MintMobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan equivalent to $15

per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com.