Deal in the Works:  A bipartisan group of 10 Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed to a nearly $1 trillion, five-year infrastructure bill to improve the country’s roads, bridges, pipes, and internet connections.

  The group took up talks after President Biden’s discussions with the Republicans broke down.  It’s unknown whether the White House and enough Republicans will approve of the new agreement.  

  The deal calls for about $974 billion in infrastructure spending over five years. It includes roughly $579 billion in new spending.

  Part of what’s happening here is that moderate Democrats in the 50-50 senate are wielding their power. This deal is the result of Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema going outside of official channels to work with Utah Republican Mitt Romney.

Sea Change: President Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed a new version of the 80-year old “Atlantic Charter,” redefining the Western alliance and drawing a line between democracies and their autocratic rivals, led by Russia and China.

  Biden and Johnson are seeking to focus international attention and cooperation on the current threats of cyber attacks, the Covid-19 pandemic, and climate change.  Biden hopes that the agreement makes clear that  the Trump era of America First is done.

  The original agreement was forged by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt as a commitment to Western democracy and territorial integrity on the brink of the US entering  World War II.

  The new language calls for both countries to adhere to “the rules-based international order,” a phrase that Donald Trump and his aides sought to erase from previous statements by Western leaders in the belief that it was a globalist threat to Trump’s America First agenda at home.

Plumbing Problem: In an effort to plug information leaks, the Trump Justice Department in 2018 secretly subpoenaed Apple for the data of two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, as well as their current and former staffers and family members, The NY Times reports. 

  The targets were California representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell. “President Trump repeatedly and flagrantly demanded that the Department of Justice carry out his political will, and tried to use the Department as a cudgel against his political opponents and members of the media,” Schiff said in a statement. 

  The Justice Department under Trump had also sought the records of reporters covering the administration.  

Price Hike in Aisle 5: Everything Americans want or need to buy is getting more expensive. From furniture, to used cars, lumber, and roast beef, consumer prices have grown steadily since January as the economy recovers and Americans are spending money again.

  But it’s not just resurgent demand. The continuing Covid pandemic has jammed and delayed supply chains.  

  Overall, prices in May were up 5 percent over May 2020, the biggest jump since the summer of 2008 and more than the predicted 4.7% increase.

Viral News: Financial giant Goldman Sachs sent employees a memo requiring them to report their Covid vaccination status by noon yesterday. The memo said, “Registering your vaccination status allows us to plan for a safer return to the office for all of our people as we continue to abide by local public health measures.”

  At the G-7 summit in England, world leaders are expected to pledge to provide 1 billion doses of Covid vaccine to poorer countries in an effort to stamp out the pandemic. “This is about our responsibility, our humanitarian obligation, to save as many lives as we can,” President Biden said in a speech.

  As of this morning, 3.75 million people worldwide have died of Covid-19. 

The Spin Rack: Six California men connected to the radical gun rights movement Three Percenters were charged with plotting to assault the Capitol on January 6th in the first indictment of people accused of planning the attack. — A 28-year-old Frenchman who describes himself as a right wing “patriot” who slapped President Emanuel Macron on a rope line has already been tried, sentenced to four months in prison, and banned from ever hold public office.  

Two by Too Many Problems: The British government has detained a giant floating replica of Noah’s Ark built as a travelling Bible museum to determine whether it is seaworthy.  The ark has no engine. It was built on a steel barge and needs to be towed wherever it goes.

  The 230-foot vessel was brought to England 19 months ago and has been held there since, building up daily fines. Officials from the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency wrote of the ark that, “We cannot rely on the grace of God that it can be safely towed to Holland.” 

  The museum claims that that the ark is a “noncertified floating object” subject to no “requirement for the vessel to comply with international regulation.”

  In case you are wondering, the arc’s owner said it used to carry live animals, but they “caused too many problems.” 

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