According to Russian government sources, President Vladimir Putin is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognizes the current battlefield lines. Meanwhile, Ukraine plans to sack some of its army generals and send them to the front line.
In other news, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to immediately halt its offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, JW, LP, McN, MM, Reader from Chicago, Roger, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
A recent trend of mega corporations rolling back prices and reintroducing deals has emerged. Whether this is potentially due to pressure from the White House ahead of elections or, as Goldman pointed out, “Consumer caution mounts as cracks in resilience theme emerge,” there’s growing evidence that working poor consumers are struggling in the era of failed Bidenomics.
About two weeks ago, after three years of ‘McFlation’ that sent the price of combo meals as high as $18, McDonald’s weighed on new plans to reintroduce $5 combo meal deals. The report, initially from Bloomberg, specified the deal could include a McChicken or a McDouble, fries, and a drink.
Elsewhere, Walmart, Target, and Aldi have lowered prices on thousands of everyday items, including staple foods. This comes in response to a spending slowdown among cash-strapped working-poor consumers who are drowning in insurmountable credit card debt and drained personal savings amid elevated inflation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
IMF: French Public Debt to be ‘Significantly Higher Than Government Forecasts’
The International Monetary Fund has challenged the French Government’s projections on future public debt, estimating that the country will end up running a significantly higher deficit than Paris is predicting.
According to a report by the body, the measures taken by French President Emmanual Macron’s administration are insufficient to curb the phenomenon, and “substantial additional efforts, compared to staff’s current policy baseline, will be needed over the medium term, starting in 2024, to strengthen public finances”.
“Under current policies, which incorporate only legislated and clearly specified measures, [IMF] staff projects the overall deficit to remain elevated at 5.3 per cent of GDP in 2024 and decline modestly to 4.5 per cent in 2027,” the IMF said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Most Americans Believe Biden’s Economy is in Recession, Poll Shows
A new poll has revealed that the majority of Americans believe the economy under Democrat President Joe Biden is currently in a recession.
According to research firm The Harris Poll, most Americans blame the Biden administration for harsh economic conditions.
Around 56% of people surveyed thought that the U.S. economy was in recession, according to the poll conducted for The Guardian.
55% thought that the economy was shrinking.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
19 State AGs File Federal Lawsuit Against Democrats’ ‘Radical’ Climate Policies
The attorneys general of 19 states have joined forces in a federal lawsuit against the Democrats’ “radical” green agenda policies which purport to “fight climate change.”
Alabama is spearheading a coalition of 19 Republican-led states in the federal lawsuit against five Democrat-run states.
They allege the Democrat-led states are trying to coerce red states into complying with strict globalist “climate” policies that could imperil their residents’ access to affordable energy.
The filing was made at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Long considered one of the best medical schools in the world, the University of California, Los Angeles’s David Geffen School of Medicine receives as many as 14,000 applications a year. Of those, it accepted just 173 students in the 2023 admissions cycle, a record-low acceptance rate of 1.3 percent. The median matriculant took difficult science courses in college, earned a 3.8 GPA, and scored in the 88th percentile on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT).
Without those stellar stats, some doctors at the school say, students can struggle to keep pace with the demanding curriculum.
So when it came time for the admissions committee to consider one such student in November 2021—a black applicant with grades and test scores far below the UCLA average—some members of the committee felt that this particular candidate, based on the available evidence, was not the best fit for the top-tier medical school, according to two people present for the committee’s meeting.
Their reservations were not well-received.
When an admissions officer voiced concern about the candidate, the two people said, the dean of admissions, Jennifer Lucero, exploded in anger.
“Did you not know African-American women are dying at a higher rate than everybody else?” Lucero asked the admissions officer, these people said. The candidate’s scores shouldn’t matter, she continued, because “we need people like this in the medical school.”
Even before the Supreme Court’s landmark affirmative action ban last year, public schools in California were barred by state law from considering race in admissions. The outburst from Lucero, who discussed race explicitly despite that ban, unsettled some admissions officers, one of whom reached out to other committee members in the wake of the incident. “We are not consistent in the way we apply the metrics to these applicants,” the official wrote in an email obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. “This is troubling.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Alec Baldwin Judge Denies Actor’s Motion to Dismiss Involuntary Manslaughter Charge
The judge in Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” involuntary manslaughter case ruled to deny his motion to dismiss the indictment on Friday.
The judge rejected both of Baldwin’s dismissal arguments regarding the grand jury process, concluding it wasn’t prejudiced against him, court documents obtained by Fox News Digital showed.
The defense had argued that prosecutors flouted the rules of grand jury proceedings to divert attention away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses, which prosecutors have denied, calling him “shameless” and pointing out contradictory statements he made.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Admin is Hiring a ‘Meme Manager’; Hilarity Ensues…
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news
The Biden campaign has posted a job listing seeking a ‘meme manager’ prompting many to submit examples of their finest Biden meme manager memes.
The listing, seeking a ‘Partner Manager, Content and Meme Pages’, was posted on Daybook. It states, “In this role, you will initiate and manage day-to-day operations in engaging the internet’s top content and meme pages.”
“The ideal candidate for this role is passionate about bringing political content to voters where they already are on the internet,” it adds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Nominee Ordered Google to Hand Over Emails of Journalist Who Obtained Ashley Biden’s Diary
Judge Sarah Netburn, who was nominated by Joe Biden to a lifetime judicial appointment, previously ordered Google to secretly hand over the private emails of a journalist who had obtained the diary of the Democrat president’s daughter Ashley.
Netburn has gained significant attention recently, especially following her recommendation regarding the transfer of a convicted male sex offender to a women’s federal prison.
On Wednesday, Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned Netburn about this decision, sparking widespread interest in her career and background.
Netburn was eviscerated by Republican senators for alleged partisanship during her confirmation hearings this week.
Unmentioned, however, have been her actions in 2020.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Admin Orders Ban on Presidential Election Betting Markets
Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration is moving to ban betting markets from taking bets and publishing odds on the outcome of the presidential election.
Biden and the Democrats have been desperately trying to convince the American people that President Donald Trump doesn’t already have the November 2024 election locked up.
Polling data increasingly shows Trump soaring among voters while Biden plummets.
Now, the Biden admin is attempting to eliminate betting odds from the equation by cracking down on the industry ahead of the critical November election.
According to Breitbart, “The Biden administration ordered a ban on 2024 election betting markets, which often show former President Donald Trump winning in November and President Joe Biden remaining his party’s nominee.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s Latest Student Debt Handout for College-Educated Voters Costs Taxpayers $7.7 Billion
Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration has just announced that U.S. taxpayers will be paying out another $7.7 billion to wipe the debts of college-educated voters ahead of the critical general election.
On Wednesday morning, the Biden admin revealed that $7.7B will be spent on clearing debt for more than 160,000 borrowers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Boston Democrat Unloads in Wild Tirade at Council Meeting: ‘Dismantle the White Backdrop’
A Democrat member of Boston’s city council has left her liberal colleagues raising the alarm over her anti-white threats, calls for a “revolution,” and aggressive, wild tirades.
A liberal city hall employee reportedly spoke with Fox News about radical Democrat council member Tania Fernandes Anderson.
The source said they requested anonymity because Fernandes Anderson has created an “unhealthy” environment.
During city meetings, Fernandes Anderson has called to “dismantle the white backdrop” in America and “create a revolution.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Approves Online Digital ID Rules for Social Media Use
The California Senate has approved SB 976, a bill mandating age verification for social media use, sparking concerns over online anonymity and free speech. Critics argue that this legislation could pose significant threats to privacy, affecting not just Californians but potentially all Americans.
We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Legalizes ‘Human Composting’ to Fight ‘Climate Change’
Democrat-controlled California has legalized the practice of composting human remains in order to “save the planet” from “climate change.”
State lawmakers have already voted and passed the measure to legalize the process.
The new laws come into effect in 2027, allowing liberal California residents to continue virtue signaling about “fighting global warming” even after they die.
However, some of California’s eco-warrior residents are not willing to wait that long.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago: Man Ordered Held in Fatal Stabbing at City Winery
As patrons dined and employees hustled to serve food and drinks, a City Winery dishwasher chased a server into the dining room and fatally stabbed him, prosecutors alleged Friday. A Cook County judge ordered Clarence Johnson, 41, be detained while awaiting trial after prosecutors described what they said was a shocking attack at the popular West Loop establishment. Johnson is charged with murder and one felony drug possession count in the slaying of his 47-year-old co-worker.
“This isn’t something that intimately occurred in a home,” said Judge Deidre Dyer as she delivered her decision. “It happened in a public restaurant in a public place where people don’t have an expectation of being murdered.”
Chicago police officers were called to the establishment about 5 p.m. and found Francois Reed-Swain lying on the floor in the dining area, according to a police report. A witness pointed at Johnson and said: “That’s him. He’s the one who did it,” according to the report.
Before the stabbing, a bartender heard Johnson make statements “praising Jesus” and saw him lay facedown on the floor, Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord said. The bartender then observed Reed-Swain ask Johnson why he was on the floor, she said.
He got up, and the two walked away from the bar, the bartender reported to authorities. Then Johnson pushed Reed-Swain and started hitting him, McCord said.
Johnson chased Reed-Swain into the dining room where two patrons were seated, she said, and stabbed him with a knife. Workers ordered him to drop the knife and he eventually complied. The bartender rushed to help Reed-Swain, she said, but he was pronounced dead a short time later at Stroger Hospital.
After his arrest, Johnson made spontaneous statements that he “he didn’t mean to do that” to Reed-Swain, prosecutors said.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Democrat Attends NYC MAGA Rally, Flips on Biden, Declares Trump Will ‘Make America Great Again’
A Democrat voter attended President Donald Trump’s New York City rally in the Bronx and declared that the 45th POTUS is going to “Make America Great Again.”
The woman, who said she was a “registered Democrat,” warned that “we can end up in World War Three” under President Joe Biden.
She also noted that Biden “is destroying the country.”
While explaining that she is “not at all” a Trump supporter, the liberal woman said she has “no choice” but to vote for the 45th president because he’s “much better.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has come under fire over allegations of politically motivated attacks and deep partisan bias.
Reports have emerged that some of the OIG’s personnel have an apparent political bias against the targets of their investigations.
This alleged bias has reportedly led to the OIG “targeting political opponents.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: Feds Secretly Knew for Years Joe Biden Met With Son’s Chinese Partners on Official Trip
Federal agents gathered evidence during the 2016 election that Hunter Biden had used access to his father on an official government trip to Beijing aboard Air Force Two to connect prospective Chinese business partners with then-Vice President Joe Biden, according to a massive cache of documents recently turned over to Congress and obtained by Just the News.
“They got to meet Dad. All very good. Talk later,” Hunter Biden wrote in a December 2013 email confirming how he connected his Chinese associates with his father in a Beijing hotel after the vice president had met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The younger Biden also bragged in his emails that his father was so enamored with China’s communist leader that “I think they are in love with each other,” the emails showed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Exposing the CIA’s Secret Effort to Seize Control of Social Media
While the CIA is strictly prohibited from spying on or running clandestine operations against American citizens on US soil, a bombshell new “Twitter Files” report reveals that a member of the Board of Trustees of InQtel — the CIA’s mission-driving venture capital firm, along with “former” intelligence community (IC) and CIA analysts, were involved in a massive effort in 2021-2022 to take over Twitter’s content management system, as Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi and Alex Gutentag report over at Shellenberger’s Public (subscribers can check out the extensive 6,800 word report here).
According to “thousands of pages of Twitter Files and documents,” these efforts were part of a broader strategy to manage how information is disseminated and consumed on social media under the guise of combating ‘misinformation’ and foreign propaganda efforts — as this complex of government-linked individuals and organizations has gone to great lengths to suggest that narrative control is a national security issue.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Faculty-Backed Gaza Camp at Western Washington University Under Investigation for Hate Crime
Vandalism and an assault at Western Washington University (WWU) are reportedly being investigated, even as outside agitators are planning on making the trip from Seattle to Bellingham to join the new Gaza camp on campus. Since anti-Israel activists erected the encampment on the Old Main Lawn on May 14, the Gaza camp has continued to grow, as reported antisemitic incidents and vandalism have increased.
The school is currently investigating a possible hate crime after a Jewish student was allegedly spat on while walking past the encampment wearing a Star of David on May 17, days after the encampment formed.
The victim told the Bellingham Herald, “(Protesters) were chanting in Arabic that the entire land is exclusively Arab land. They were chanting to kick out ‘Zionists’ from (WWU) and specifically the Ethnic Student Center.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza Camp Agitators Attack Journalist During Occupation of UCLA Building
While covering the occupation of Dodd Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Thursday, Today is America journalist Cam Higby was shoved to the ground by a group of Gaza camp agitators.
The keffiyeh-clad assailants were seen on video pushing him after he tried to make his way through the entrance of the hall and cover what was going on inside.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Panel Approves Measure to Rehire Troops Fired for Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine
Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
The House Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment in the annual defense policy bill on May 22 that, if cleared through Congress, would force the Pentagon to rehire U.S. troops who were fired for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine.
The measure was adopted late on May 22 by lawmakers on the panel, who marked up and advanced their version of the annual appropriations bill, authorizing a defense budget of $849.8 billion.
The 2025 bill, titled the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act, will serve as the base text for forthcoming debate as it makes its way through Congress.
On May 22, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who offered the amendment on rehiring veterans separated under the vaccine mandate policy, confirmed its adoption.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Illinois Democrats Demand Term ‘Offender’ Changed to ‘Justice-Impacted Individual’
Democrats in Illinois are pushing to change state law so convicted criminals can be referred to in terms that are less “offensive.”
Far-left Illinois lawmakers are hoping to change a 2009 bill to reclassify the term used for criminals.
Fox News reported on Wednesday that House Bill 4409 is being sponsored by several Democrats.
The bill seeks to amend the Illinois Crime Reduction Act’s references to remove the term “offenders” to describe convicted criminals.
Instead, Democrats want convicts to be called “justice-impacted individuals.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police bodycam footage has been released showing the moment a homeless woman was found squatting inside a Michigan rooftop grocery store sign.
The 34 year old, whose identity remains anonymous, had been living behind the triangle-shaped sign — approximately 5ft wide and 8ft high that has a door accessible from the roof — of the Family Fare supermarket, located in Midland, a city approximately 130 miles north of Detroit.
The woman had turned the crawl space into an apartment, which included flooring the woman had laid down, bedding, a houseplant, clothing, a Keuring coffee maker, a desk, a printer, and a computer. She was resourceful, utilizing a power cord plugged into an outlet on the roof to use the grocery store’s electricity.
The vagrant would have not been found had it not been for a contractor who was performing a routine maintenance check up on the grocery store’s roof.
‘It was crazy. I about had a heart attack,’ the worker told police officers, per Mlive. ‘This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever found.’
When the woman emerged from her makeshift home, she was wearing an all black ensemble, which included a ski mask, a puma track suit, Adidas track pants, gloves, and ski googles — an outfit she wore because she claimed she was allergic to the sun, according to police.
Footage obtained by Mlive documented the entire incident, from the moment police congregated behind the store to make a game plan to the moment the women was escorted out of the space she had called home for over a year.
‘She’s got a whole set up in there,’ the manager tells police, requesting that the police remove the woman in a peaceful manner. The manager reiterated that she didn’t want the situation to escalate, but unfortunately she had to ask the woman to leave as it posed a liability to the store and its employees.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Man Survives After SUV Explodes When He Tried Lighting Up a Cigarette Inside
LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — A man tried lighting up a cigarette in his SUV with propane canisters inside, leading to a sudden explosion with the vehicle flying into pieces in Van Nuys Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Firefighters and police rushed to a supermarket parking lot in the 7200 block of Van Nuys Boulevard after receiving a call about an SUV that exploded around 10:30 p.m., police said. When first responders arrived, the man inside the vehicle told them he had been trying to light a cigarette when the explosion happened.
He suffered minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, according to LAPD.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
Miscarriages Surge in Vaxxed Women, ‘Millions’ of Babies Lost
Leading experts are warning that miscarriage rates have soared so dramatically in Covid mRNA-vaccinated women that “millions” of babies have now been lost who should have been born.
One of those experts raising the alarm is Dr. Kimberly Biss, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) who has been involved in thousands of pregnancies throughout her career.
In a new interview, Dr. Biss reveals the shocking data regarding the number of miscarriages among women who received Covid mRNA injections.
As Slay News previously reported, Biss testified before Congress in November regarding an alarming spike in miscarriages.
She joined a panel of experts to testify before Congress in the “Injuries Caused by COVID-19 Vaccines” hearing on Capitol Hill.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mississippi Man Pleads Guilty to Beheading Satanic Statue in Iowa Capitol
Mississippi Navy Reserve veteran and former congressional candidate pleaded guilty Friday to vandalizing a Satanic statue in the Iowa state Capitol in exchange for prosecutors dropping a hate crime.
The Satanic Temple of Iowa brought a display to the Iowa Capitol building during the holidays, which is allowed under Iowa state laws. The display included a statue of the horned deity Baphomet, which veteran Michael Cassidy admitted to partially dismantling in December. Cassidy claimed at the time that the statue made him “outraged” as a Christian man.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NCAA, 5 Power Conferences, Agree to Allow Universities to Pay Student Athletes
On Thursday, the NCAA as well as the five power conferences of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern Conference (SEC), and Pac-12, have agreed to allow colleges to pay atheletes.
ESPN reported that the announcement came following a multibillion-dollar agreement in the House v. NCAA antitrust case. According to the outlet, the NCAA will pay over $2.7 billion in damages to past and current athletes. Division I athletes from 2016 forward are eligible to receive a portion of the payout.
A sports economist developed a series of formulas that will reportedly be used to determine how to split the $2.7 billion among over 10,000 current and former athletes. As part of the agreement, the NCAA and the conferences agreed to a revenue-sharing plan of approximately $20 million per school per year with athletes that will start in the fall of 2025. The group also announced that they are proceeding with two other federal antitrust cases, Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Northwestern President Won’t Commit to Excluding Anti-Semites From Anti-Semitism Task Force
Northwestern University president Michael Schill refused to say he wouldn’t appoint anti-Semites to the school’s committee to combat anti-Semitism during a congressional hearing on Thursday.
Northwestern’s task force to combat anti-Semitism was appointed by Schill last fall in response to concerns about rising anti-Jewish sentiment at the school. The committee was recently disbanded after seven Jewish members resigned in protest over the university’s decision to negotiate with anti-Israel protesters.
Schill was questioned by lawmakers about his decision to appoint several members who advocated anti-Israel boycotts, supported the eliminationist “From the River to the Sea” chant, and defended a Palestinian terrorist who murdered college students.
He declined to say he wouldn’t appoint members with similar views to a future committee.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Megan Redshaw, J.D. via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A new analysis suggests COVID-19 was reported more frequently than it should have been as an underlying cause of death, inflating COVID-19 mortality numbers and attributing deaths from other causes to the virus.
In a preprint paper published in Research Gate, researchers aimed to identify who truly died “from” COVID-19 versus who died “with” COVID-19 but were included in U.S. COVID-19 mortality numbers.
To determine if COVID-19 was overreported as an underlying cause of death, researchers calculated the overreporting adjustment factor and compared the ratio of reporting COVID-19 as a multiple—or contributing—cause of death versus an underlying cause of death on death certificates from 2020 to 2022. They also examined how “pneumonia and influenza” were reported on death certificates from 2010 to 2022.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Penn Protestor Who Claims She Was Left ‘Homeless’ is Daughter of Affluent Celebrity Game Show Host
One Penn encampment student who claimed to have been left ‘homeless’ by the administration’s ‘violence’ has been found to be the daughter of a jet-setting, caviar eating business owning parents.
University of Pennsylvania sophomore Eliana Atienza was placed on mandatory leave for participating in an encampment on Penn’s campus, according to the Free Beacon.
She then went on to tell the Philadelphia Inquirer that she was the real victim, and that she had been left homeless with no family in the United States to turn to.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rand Paul: Fauci and NIH Emails “Sound Like the Mob Talking”
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news
GOP Senator Rand Paul earlier this week charged that newly released emails dating from the pandemic exchanged between COVID era health officials working with Anthony Fauci provide evidence of an “extensive cover up.”
The communications were obtained by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic via subpoena from Dr. David Morens, Fauci’s former senior adviser.
In a press release, the subcommittee stated that the emails suggest “Dr. Fauci was aware of Dr. Morens’ nefarious behavior and may have even engaged in federal records violations himself.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
RFK Jr. Slams Trump on COVID Lockdowns at Libertarian Convention: ‘He Caved in’
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday addressed the Libertarian National Convention and excoriated former President Donald Trump over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“President Trump presided over the greatest restriction on individual liberties this country has ever known,” he insisted.
“I think he had the right instinct when he came into office. He was initially very reluctant to impose lockdowns… He caved in,” Kennedy said. “It all started with the social media and the mainstream media apparently without any government prompting began censoring any speech that departed from the government’s orthodoxies.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
RFK Jr. Wins Reform Party Nomination, ‘Supercharging’ Fundraising, Bringing Florida Ballot Access
The Reform Party nominated Independent Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for president on Thursday evening.
The Kennedy campaign said on Friday that the nomination now grants him “ballot access in Florida” along with a “major fundraising advantage.”
Individuals can contribute up to $6,600 to the campaign but the party can now raise an additional $41,300 from individual donors and “spend it in coordination with the campaign to support Kennedy,” read an announcement on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senator Schmitt Challenges Big Tech Collaboration With Feds
Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri is taking action against federal agencies, demanding they disclose records related to their recent initiatives aimed at censoring online comments flagged as “disinformation” ahead of the 2024 elections.
Schmitt’s letter calls on FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to reveal documents detailing their collaboration with Big Tech companies to suppress information seen as unfavorable to the federal government.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Friday, Senate Democrats requested a formal meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts of the United States Supreme Court to discuss the flag controversy involving Justice Samuel Alito.
The letter demands Justice Roberts ensure that Justice Alito recuses himself from any cases related to the 2020 presidential election, January 6, and former President Donald Trump’s presidential immunity hearing.
This follows a New York Times hit piece on Justice Alito published earlier this month about flags that had been flown at two of his residences, including an upside-down American flag in 2021 at his Virginia residence and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag spotted at his New Jersey residence last summer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top RFK Jr Advisor Quits Campaign, Cites ‘Increasingly Hateful and Divisive Atmosphere’
A top adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has issued a damning statement to announce she is leaving the independent presidential candidate’s campaign.
Angela Stanton King cited an “increasingly hateful and divisive atmosphere” as the reason for her departure.
As The Hill reported, this is likely a setback for the third-party bid as it accelerates its efforts to gain access to the ballot across the country.
Angela Stanton King, who was in charge of black voter engagement for the campaign, stated that Kennedy’s candidacy “no longer aligns with my values.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Files Fuel Massie’s Fight Against Government-Funded Censorship
Congressman Thomas Massie has announced HR 8519, legislation aimed at ending the practice of spending taxpayer money to fund various censorship and “disinformation” research programs.
A press release said that Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, and the subsequent publishing of the Twitter Files — a batch of internal documents showing how the government and this social platform colluded in the previous period — played a pivotal role in opening the public’s eyes to the realities of the situation.
We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UCLA Medical School Denies Whistleblower Allegations, Claims Students Admitted ‘Based on Merit’
The dean of the University of California, Los Angeles, medical school on Friday denied allegations that it lowers academic standards for minority applicants, asserting that admissions decisions are “based on merit” and made in compliance with state law.
“There have been false allegations about [the medical school] in media outlets,” the dean of the medical school, Steven Dubinett, wrote in an email to students and faculty, referring to a Washington Free Beacon report about the school’s admissions policies. “We want to affirm here that both [medical school] students and faculty members are held to the highest standards of academic excellence.”
Dubinett also claimed that “medical student final exam scores are well above the national average.” It is not clear whether he was referring to the shelf exams—standardized tests that up to 50 percent of some UCLA cohorts now fail, according to the school’s own data—or to some other test. Dubinett and UCLA did not respond to requests for comment.
The defiant message comes in the wake of whistleblower allegations from eight UCLA professors—four of whom have served on the medical school’s admissions committee—that the school holds black and Latino applicants to lower standards than their white and Asian counterparts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Teen Arrested for Melee at UCLA Gaza Protest
Police have arrested a teenager who is accused of attacking pro-Palestinian protesters at an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The attack three weeks ago led to brawling that ended after more than two hours, when police cleared the site.
The arrest of Edan On, 18, appears to mark the first arrest of a counter-protester linked to the overnight campus chaos.
Mr On is reportedly the person, in widely shared pictures and video of the melee, seen wearing a white hoodie and mask and hitting protesters with a wooden pole.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Group Tied to Islamic State Plotted Fatal Ontario Restaurant Shooting: Crown
A gunman who is accused of killing a young Ontario man and shooting four of his family members at their small Mississauga restaurant in 2021 was allegedly part of a trio who had pledged allegiance to the listed terrorist group Islamic State, a Crown attorney said in an opening statement in the Brampton murder trial this week.
The victim, 25-year-old Naim Akl, became a target when he realized the loyalties of the group, which operated a warehouse business in the Greater Toronto Area, and planned to go to Canadian authorities, said Crown Attorney David D’Iorio.
“They weren’t just buying and selling products. They had pledged allegiance to ISIS, the Islamic State, and money was being used to finance that organization — sent back home to further that cause,” D’Iorio said in his address to the jury this week.
“You will hear evidence that Naim Akl had become aware that… the group had pledged allegiance to ISIS,” he said. “He was planning to go the authorities and betray the others. It’s our position that the others came up with a plan to prevent that from happening: a plan to kill Naim Akl and his family.”
D’Iorio identified the gunman as Anand Nath, Suliman Raza as the getaway driver, following Naqash Abassi’s orders. All three are charged with one count of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. The charges have not been proven in court.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Poilievre Calls Out Trudeau’s ‘Wacko and Unhinged Claim’ That Carbon Taxes Will Stop Forest Fires
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre took aim during Wednesday’s Question Period at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claim that the carbon tax is fighting climate change and stopping forest fires by asking, “How high would his tax have to go for forest fires to stop?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“The Far Left is the Useful Idiot of Islamism”: An Interview With Emmanuel Razavi
According to a report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), the Students for Justice in Palestine (one of the main organisers of the protests at Columbia University) have received millions from charities with alleged links to Hamas. In a recent interview, Emmanuel Razavi described the flow of this murky money and the roots of the Islamo-Leftist connection.
Of Iranian origin, Razavi is a senior reporter specialising in the Middle East. He works for Paris Match, Franc-Tireur, Politique Internationale, and Valeurs Actuelles. He has made video documentaries on the Middle East and is the author of several books. His latest, La face cachée des Mollahs (The dark side of the Mullahs) (Cerf, 2024), reveals the mafia-like and terrorist face of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AfD Expelled From Right-Wing Identity and Democracy Group in European Parliament
The right-wing Identity and Democracy (ID) parliamentary group in the European Parliament has expelled its Alternative for Germany (AfD) delegation just two weeks before the European elections.
A motion was filed for a vote among member parties on Thursday to banish the German party over claims it had brought the group into disrepute.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch PM Hopeful Thinks “Hatred of Jews” is Part of the Muslim Culture
According to BBB parliamentarian Mona Keijzer, “Jew hatred is almost part of the culture” in countries where Islam is the dominant religion. The BBB’s “Prime Minister candidate” said that on the talk show Sophie & Jeroen while discussing asylum seekers from Muslim countries. A group of ten lawyers and a historian with a Muslim background have pressed charges of group insult against her.
Keijzer was discussing the new PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB coalition’s “main lines agreement” and the stricter integration requirements they plan to impose, specifically, teaching immigrants about the Holocaust. According to Keijzer, many asylum seekers come from countries where Islam is the dominant faith. “We know that Jew hatred is almost part of the culture there,” she said.
[Comment: She seems a good PM candidate.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Ban on ‘From the River to the Sea’ Chant Raises Free Speech Questions
Parliamentarians in the Dutch lower house narrowly voted this week to criminalise the chant “from the river to the sea,” which calls for Israel to be wiped off the map. There are questions over how the motion, passed by just 74-73 votes, will be enacted. But more importantly, it strikes at the heart of the debate over the limits of free speech.
Members of Geert Wilders’ populist Party for Freedom said the ban was in response to “a disturbing increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands.” The motion adds that “from the river to the sea” comes “right off the Hamas charter and is therefore a call for violence against all Jews worldwide.”
This could all be interpreted as a reaction to the police interrogation of, and wider prosecution against Dutch conservative commentator Raisa Blommestijn, over her description of migrants filmed engaging in an attack as “primates.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Coalition and Meloni Alliance Haunt Progressives at EU Commission Debate
A rather superficial debate between liberal, left, and green candidates for the European Commission presidency briefly heated up on Thursday, as speakers locked horns over how to combat and neuter the so-called ‘far right.’ Indeed, the question of handling populism appropriately was the major point of divergence between the candidates in the 90-minute televised debate.
While Commission incumbent Ursula von der Leyen was the only candidate on stage with a realistic chance of taking the EU’s top job, all five speakers pitched their legislative vision, ranging from Austrian communist Walter Baier from the NATO-critical Left group to Macron loyalist Sandro Gozi, representing the liberals in Renew.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Estonia: Border Guards Report Russian Removal of Navigation Buoys
In what Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas calls a “border incident,” it was claimed that Russia has removed navigation buoys from close to the two countries’ shared border.
Estonian border guards said on Thursday that Russian operatives had removed almost half of a total of 50 navigation buoys, recently placed on the Estonian side of the Narva River. The objects are positioned on the border river to direct ships away from foreign waters.
This episode follows hastily altered reports of Russian proposals to redraw its maritime borders in the Baltic Sea. The plans, contained within a draft Defence Ministry document that was linked to briefly online, prompted concern among diplomats in the three Baltic countries, as well as Finland and Sweden—and likely further afield.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Climate Activists Break Into Amundi Offices to Protests TotalEnergies Investments
May 24 (Reuters) — Climate activists on Friday broke into the offices of French asset manager Amundi (AMUN.PA), opens new tab to denounce the group’s holding in oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), opens new tab, footage shared by campaign groups including Attac France showed.
Videos of the incident showed dozens of protesters, many of them masked, shouting slogans inside the hallway.
Amundi and Paris police had no immediate comment.
Greenpeace activists earlier on Friday climbed up a building near TotalEnergies’ Paris headquarters and unfurled a banner criticising the oil major’s climate change strategy, a Reuters journalist at the site said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘French Media Illegally Discriminates Against Political Right,’ Report Finds
French media broadcasters are illegally discriminating against those on the political Right, a report has found.
Populists in the country have expressed little surprise at the findings, with Reconquete MEP Nicolas Bay telling Brussels Signal that everyone was well aware that the “so-called ‘public service’ media in France is a mouthpiece for the political left”.
According to the Thomas More Institute report published on May 24, publicly funded television and radio channels in the country are overwhelmingly fielding left-wing guests and promoting left-wing ideas, despite having a legal obligation to be politically balanced in their coverage.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French PM Attal Goes Head-to-Head With National Rally Chief Bardella
In what has been seen as a showdown that set the stage for France’s political future, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and National Rally (RN) President Jason Bardella went head-to-head in an often fractious debate.
During the May 23 clash, Attal started by highlighting what he said was the RN’s wavering stance on the European Union.
“I’m not like you, changing my mind about everything and not taking responsibility for past statements. Saying ‘we want to get out of Europe’ and then ‘we want to stay in,’“ he said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Spy Agency Being Misused for Political Purposes
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) is being used for political purposes and is protecting the interests of the Berlin Government’s three coalition parties, the Social Democrats, the Greens, and the liberal FDP, according to a BfV official who spokeanonymously about his concerns to the Schwäbische Zeitung.
The man, referred to as Gregor S. in the article, said the agency is not competent enough to investigate serious enemies of the state, genuinely violent left-wing and right-wing terrorists or radical Islamists, and instead goes after people who should not be of interest to the BfV: people who don’t like the Greens, hang up posters or submit posts on social media that are critical of the state. “What used to be considered legally acceptable criticism can now be a reason for the BfV to target someone,” he explained. The agency is devoting a lot of time to investigate not only these targets but their whole environment, their employers, their friends, their lovers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Chamber of Commerce Sees ‘Alarming Signs of Gradual Deindustrialisation’
Germany is showing worrying levels of gradual deindustrialization, a new survey has found.
Research conducted by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) shows that companies in the country are highly pessimistic about the economic future, and are paring back operations as a result.
“The current situation of companies is poor, in industry even bad. Expectations do not show a strong upward movement,” DIHK Managing Director Martin Wansleben said at a Berlin event launching the paper.
“The hope of recent months that good foreign business or a rebound in domestic demand could act as a driver for domestic companies has not come to pass. On the contrary, a weak domestic economy and tangible structural challenges continue to keep the economy in its grip.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Warns Netanyahu it Will Execute Any ICC Arrest Warrants Against Him
Germany warned Wednesday it will arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters the country following allegations of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a spokesperson has confirmed.
Asked by reporters in Berlin if Germany would execute any ICC arrest warrants if issuedagainst Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said, “Of course. Yes, we abide by the law,” Politico reported.
If ICC judges grant the requested warrants, 124 countries across the world — including every member of the European Union — will be obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant on sight. It is the first time in the court’s history that a sitting Western-backed leader has been targeted by the international court in this manner.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Have Things in Common With Marine Le Pen — Meloni
Premier Giorgia Meloni said Friday that she has things in common with Marine Le Pen, the parliamentary party leader of France’s right-wing National Rally (RN) group.
“It is clear that there are points in common,” Meloni told the Trento Economy Festival (Festival dell’Economia).
“There are points of contact on combating illegal immigration, on the approach to the Green transition, on defence of the European identity”.
At the European level, Le Pen’s RN is part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group that Italy’s League party, one of the coalition partners in Meloni’s government, belongs to.
Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, on the other hand, is part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group and she is president of it.
The potential for agreements between the various European political groups is a hot topic ahead of next month’s EU elections.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Left vs. Right: French PM Attal Clashes With RN Candidate Bardella in TV Debate
A debate on French public television on Thursday, May 23rd pitted Jordan Bardella, head of the national conservative Rassemblement National list for the European elections, against Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. The confrontation, which had the flavour of a repeat of the clash between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron in the presidential elections of 2017 and 2022, was the subject of much comment, often circumspect. While neither man emerged the big winner from the confrontation, it did confirm the two men’s now inescapable positions on the French political scene.
The principle of the discussion, broadcast during prime time, was questionable: the floor was taken by two personalities who were not on the same level—a list leader and party leader, on the one hand, and the head of government, on the other. The second half of the evening left crumbs of speaking time to a selection of other candidates, on the Left, with La France Insoumise and the Greens, and on the Right, with Les Républicains and Reconquête.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NGO ‘Rescue-Boat’ Captain ‘Will Not Focus on Migration’ if Elected as MEP
Carola Rackete, a top candidate for the German hard-left Die Linke party in June’s European Parliament elections, no longer wants to be associated with migration.
Rackete, number two on Die Linke’s election list for the EP, said in Italy on May 23 that she was an ecologist and did not plan to work on migration issues in the Parliament.
That is despite her rise to prominence as a ship’s captain with Sea-Watch, an organisation bringing migrants from Africa to Europe.
“That’s not my political expertise,” she told German news outlet Der Spiegel.
That is an apparent U-turn, given she is renowned for fighting the Italian Government on behalf of boat migrants in the Mediterranean Sea and bringing them to Europe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Norway Closes Borders to Russians Fearing Acts of Sabotage
Norway will halt the entry of Russian citizens traveling for tourism and other “non-essential” purposes from May 29, regardless of the issuing country of their Schengen visa, the government in Oslo announced.
Exceptions may include Russian citizens traveling to visit close relatives or for work and study in Norway or the Schengen Area.
The change implies that the police can refuse entry to Russian citizens covered by the order. “They will be deported if they attempt to cross the border. This applies both to the Storskog border checkpoint and at Norway’s external border in general, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl announced.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Portugal: CHEGA Party Headquarters Hit With Bomb Threat
On Thursday, Portuguese police briefly detained a man at the headquarters of the national conservative political party Chega after he had entered the building and threatened to blow it up.
Reuters reports that the man was sent for a psychiatric evaluation after authorities found no explosive device with him, a police official told the news outlet.
Police were responding to a call from people inside the party’s offices that a man had sneaked into the Chega headquarters in Lisbon with an explosive device in his backpack.
“We intercepted the man, who is 59 … called in the explosives deactivation team and the dog team, who found no explosives and the individual was taken to a hospital. He was speaking incoherently,” the police spokesperson said.
In elections last March, the party rose to be the third-largest force in the Portuguese parliament after quadrupling its representation in the chamber.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
President Duda Rejects Tusk Government’s Attempt to Replace Poland’s Ambassador to NATO
On Thursday morning, the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, on which the governing left-liberal coalition has a majority, approved the government’s candidate Jacek Najder to become Poland’s ambassador to NATO in place of the incumbent Tomasz Szatkowski. Najder previously served as Poland’s ambassador to NATO from 2011 until 2016.
However, hours later President Andrzej Duda announced that he would not sign off on the reappointment of Najder because he had not been consulted regarding the decision nor agreed to it. He called it “astonishing” that an attempt was underway to replace the current ambassador, Tomasz Szatkowski, just before a July summit in Washington marking NATO’s 75th anniversary.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Quran-Burner Joins New Swedish Party for EU Elections
The new Swedish Folklistan (The People’s List) party, launched last month by MEP Sara Skyttedal, formerly of the Christian Democrats, has learned the hard way that when you open your doors to anyone, anyone can enter.
Folklistan, created explicitly for the EU elections, made their candidate list for the EU elections open and were less than thrilled when notorious Danish-Swedish Quran-burner Rasmus Paludan decided to put his name on it.
Paludan’s public demonstrations against Islam—burning the Quran in public in several countries—have been met with Muslim riots in Sweden and earned him a travel ban from the UK.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Revolving Doors’ Between EU Commission Staff and Corporations Prompts a New Probe
A professional move by one of the European Commission’s top antitrust officials to a New York-based legal firm has precipitated a formal investigation by the EU Ombudsman over potential conflicts of interest.
The European Commission was publicly warned by Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly about a “negative impact on public trust” as well as a potential spike in “Eurosceptic sentiment” after the EU’s antitrust director Henrik Morch opted for a job with the American multinational law firm Paul Weiss after a 33-year career working in EU institutions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rise of Far-Right in Netherlands a Warning for the Rest of Europe, Says EU Politician
What happened in the Netherlands with the rise of the radical right could happen throughout Europe, the Greens’ EU party leader warned during a major election debate in the European Palriament. She believes parties must now, two weeks before the European elections, clearly indicate whether they plan to collaborate with radical right or extreme right parties in Brussels.
According to German EU party leader Terry Reintke, the vague talk from various parties about such possible collaborations plays into the hands of the extreme right. It makes it seem as if the right-wing parties in Brussels will be able to participate just as easily as the PVV in the Netherlands, which is forming a Cabinet with VVD, NSC, and BBB.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Slovak Gunman Attacked Because of Views on Ukraine War, According to Confession
The shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico seems likely to be recognised as a terrorist attack after the gunman admitted he shot the head of government for political reasons.
Slovak prosecutors have published comments by the man who confessed to shooting Prime Minister Robert Fico last week for the first time, offering the first official insight into motivations behind the attack that rocked Europe. The confession opens the way for the Slovak authorities to reclassify the attack from mere attempted murder to a terrorist attack.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Stolen Francis Bacon Work of Art Worth €5 Million Recovered
Spanish police announced they have recovered a stolen painting by British artist Francis Bacon, worth around €5 million.
The 1989 oil, titled “Study for a Portrait of Jose Capelo,” was stolen in 2015 from Capelo’s Madrid apartment along with four other Bacon works and a safe containing jewels and rare coins.
The combined value of the stolen paintings was estimated at more than €25 million, making the theft one of the biggest art heists in Spanish history.
In February, police arrested two people accused of receiving stolen property, leading them to discover the painting at an address in Madrid.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Left party, which is part of the ruling coalition in Poland, is demanding that Prime Minister Donald Tusk report to parliament on the scale of state financing for Poland’s Catholic Church.
According to Left MP Anna Maria Zukowska, the problem is not only the financial commitments that arise from the Concordat treaty between Poland and the Vatican, or the existence of the State Church Fund, but the financing of many institutions with close ties to the Church. She demanded that the prime minister report to parliament on the full scale of funding.
The leader of the Left party, Wlodzimierz Czarzasty, pulled no punches. “The soft play with the clergy is coming to an end. We’re not against faith or those who practice it, but we want to fight the evils connected with the funding of the clergy,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Turbo Cancer Deaths Surge in Vaxxed Teens & Young Adults
A dramatic surge of turbo cancer deaths is being recorded around the world among teenagers and young adults who have been vaccinated with Covid mRNA shots.
An alarming new study uncovered the shocking spike in official government data.
The study shows that not only have cancer diagnoses skyrocketed since 2021, but the time frame between diagnosis and death in young people has been significantly reduced.
According to a new study, official government data shows that turbo cancer death rates have sparing in young people aged 15— to 44 years old over the past three years.
Since 2021, doctors around the world have been reporting surging cases of deadly turbo cancers.
People who have been vaccinated with Covid mRNA injections have been suffering from a high incidence of these fast-developing cancers.
As Slay News has reported, several top oncologists are reporting that cancers are so rapidly developing that their patients are dying within a week of being diagnosed.
The recent spike in rapidly developing cases of the disease has led to doctors and experts dubbing the phenomenon “turbo cancer.”
An analysis of U.K. government data shows an unprecedented increase in cancer deaths among 15— to 44-year-olds who were vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines, according to a detailed report by renowned data analyst Edward Dowd.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Hospitals Euthanized Patients to Boost ‘COVID Deaths,’ Whistleblowers Testify
Several whistleblowers have provided explosive testimony during an official inquiry, revealing that hospitals were euthanizing patients during the pandemic and blaming their deaths on Covid.
The patients were reportedly given a lethal drug combination before their deaths were listed under “COVID-19” in an apparent effort to boost the number of fatalities from the virus.
The bombshell testimonies were provided during the ongoing Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry.
The independent inquiry has now been ongoing for almost two months.
The panel is investigating failures in Scotland’s response to the pandemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Sunak Stubs Out ‘World’s Toughest Smoking Ban’
The sudden announcement of a July general election means that Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban bill—which he hoped would be a, or perhaps his only, ‘legacy’ policy—will be shelved.
It’s not that the prime minister has had a change of heart; just yesterday, on May 23rd, he was celebrating that the law, dubbed the “toughest” of its kind in the world, means the next generation will “grow up smoke-free.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Von Der Leyen Denounces Right During ‘Sham’ EU Debate
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has denounced Europe’s political Right during a contentious European Broadcasting Union debate described by protesters as a “sham”.
On March 23, von der Leyen marched into a near-empty European Parliament to debate the lead candidates of the EU’s centrist and left-wing groups, avoiding any engagement with the media.
Outside, a small but vocal group of protesters gathered around a large placard reading “Stop Ursula”.
Organiser Nicolas Lefèvre told Brussels Signal that what he termed the Eurovision-style debate was a “sham”, labelling it “undemocratic”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
W.H.O. Pushes to Seal Global Pandemic Treaty as Closed-Door Talks Conclude
The World Health Organization’s (W.H.O.) drive to seal a global pandemic treaty will conclude Friday after weeks of closed-door talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
The hard stop of next week’s annual gathering of the U.N. subsidiary’s 194 member states is drawing closer which is why a deal is wanted sooner rather than later by organizers.
The health bureaucrats steering the talks must report back to the World Health Assembly — the W.H.O.’s supreme decision-making body — regardless of whether or not they have a finalised text for the assembly to consider, AFP reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
International Court of Justice Orders Israel to ‘Immediately Halt’ Its ‘Military Offensive’ in Rafah
The top United Nations court ordered Israel to “immediately halt” its “military offensive” in Rafah in southern Gaza on Friday.
Israel must “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” said International Court of Justice President Nawaf Salam.
Hamas is currently holding about 125 hostages since its Oct. 7 attack on Israel which resulted in the death of approximately 1,200 people.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly 70% of Gaza Aid From US-Built Pier Stolen
Close to three-fourths of the humanitarian aid transported from a new $320 million floating pier built by the U.S. military off the Gaza coast was stolen on Saturday en route to a U.N. warehouse, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Eleven trucks “were cleaned out by Palestinians” on the journey to the World Food Programme warehouse in Deir El Balah in the central Strip, with only five truckloads making it to the destination.
“They’ve not seen trucks for a while,” a U.N. official told Reuters. “They just basically mounted on the trucks and helped themselves to some of the food parcels.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top UN Court Has Ordered Israel to Immediately Stop Its Military Operation in Rafah
The International Court of Justice does not have the power to enforce its own rulings, but it does add to the pressure that Israel feels internationally and domestically to end the war in Gaza.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Putin Wants Ukraine Ceasefire on Current Frontlines: Reports
Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognises the current battlefield lines, four Russian sources told Reuters, saying he is prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond.
Three of the sources, familiar with discussions in Putin’s entourage, said the veteran Russian leader had expressed frustration to a small group of advisers about what he views as Western-backed attempts to stymie negotiations and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to rule out talks.
“Putin can fight for as long as it takes, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire — to freeze the war,” said another of the four, a senior Russian source who has worked with Putin and has knowledge of top level conversations in the Kremlin.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
Putin Wants Ceasefire Which Freezes Current Lines in Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin is offering a ceasefire with Ukraine and its Western backers to end what has long been a full-fledged proxy war. But it’s unlikely to be agreed to by Kiev as he reportedly wants to freeze current positions.
“Putin can fight for as long as it takes, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire — to freeze the war,” a senior Russian source said to be close to the Russian leader told Reuters. If it happened, Putin would most certainly present this as ‘victory’ to his people and to the world.
Putin himself told a press conference Friday that peace talks with Ukraine should be renewed, but they “must reflect realities on the ground.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Enforces Desperate Conscription Laws as Russian Troops Close in on Kharkiv
Ukraine is now enforcing a new mobilization law which is being called ‘divisive’ among many Ukrainian citizens and some political leaders. The law requires men ages 18-60 to carry their military paperwork at all times to be presented to authorities on demand. It lowers the minimum draft age from 27 to 25 (Ukraine has a demographic shortage of men ages 18-25). And, all military age Ukrainian men abroad must come back to Ukraine to renew their passports, including refugees driven from their homes in the early days of the war.
Conscripts must update their address, contact information, and military records within 60 days through government institutions or a mobile application. This is in preparation for a national draft database containing information on every fighting age male in the country. The conscription measures are expected to greatly reduce Ukraine’s labor pool, forcing many businesses to shut down. Essential workers are not exempt from the draft.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine to Fire Generals and Send Them to Front Line
Ukraine plans to sack some of its army generals and send them to the front line in an effort to boost morale among soldiers.
Kyiv has been struggling against waves of Russian attacks as it loses ground in the eastern Donetsk region.
Soldiers have complained they are outmanned and outgunned and that the military’s upper ranks are bloated.
The army has not said how many generals would be reassigned but it said it would cut around two thirds of top staff.
“With the released personnel, it is planned to replenish units at the operational and tactical levels, as well as military combat units,” said Brig Gen Yevhen Ostryansky, head of Ukrainian military defence planning.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Georgia Accuses European Commission of Assassination ‘Threat’
The European Commission has denied issuing any form of “threat” to see Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze shot over the country’s anti-foreign interference law.
It came after Tbilisi accused EU Neighbourhood Commissioner Olivér Varhelyi of hinting that Kobakhidze could face possible assassination should he not abandon the legislation.
“During our conversation, the European Commissioner listed a number of measures that Western politicians might take if the veto on the transparency law is overcome,” the Georgian PM said.
“While listing these measures, he mentioned, ‘You’ve seen what happened to Fico and you should be very careful.’“
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Shot Dead in New Caledonia Despite Macron’s Visit
A 48-year-old man was fatally shot in New Caledonia just hours after French President Emmanuel Macron visited the island to restore “law and order”.
The public prosecutor in Nouméa, New Caledonia’s capital, reported that the man was shot by an officer who had been “physically attacked” by demonstrators.
“The circumstances [of the death] have yet to be determined, the officer allegedly used his service weapon and fired a shot to get out of the physical altercation”, the local magistrate said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Three Members of American Missionary Group Killed by Gangs in Haiti
Three members of an American-based mission organization were killed by gangs in Haiti on Thursday night, including the daughter of a Missouri state lawmaker, after the gang attacked their compound where the group was working.
The Biden administration ordered all Americans in Haiti to try to get out earlier this year, after violent gangs took over the streets. Gang violence has been an issue in the Caribbean nation for decades, but escalated after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Around 2,500 people were killed or injured in gang violence in the first quarter of 2024, according to NBC News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More than 10,000 small-boat migrants are thought to have arrived in Britain across the Channel so far this year.
Groups of migrants, including several children, were brought ashore in Dover yesterday. As of Wednesday, 9,882 had made the journey from France, according to provisional Home Office figures, up 35 per cent on the number recorded this time last year (7,297) and 6 per cent higher than the same point in 2022 (9,326).
Witnesses said a lifeboat arrived carrying 40 people, with another 40 on board a Border Force boat. A second vessel is believed to have been carrying at least 50 migrants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canada: Board Orders Deportation for Trucker in Horrific Humboldt Broncos Crash
The truck driver who caused the horrific bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team was ordered Friday to be deported to India.
An Immigration and Refugee Board hearing for Jaskirat Singh Sidhu announced its decision in a 15-minute virtual hearing.
“I can’t consider humanitarian and compassionate factors,” Trent Cook from the immigration division of the board, who oversaw the hearing, told Sidhu.
“My sole role today is to make a finding on whether the minister has established the facts that support their allegation that you’re inadmissible for serious criminality.
“I am satisfied that the minister’s report is well founded.
“I am required by law to issue you with a deportation order.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Police Investigate as ‘Foreigners Out’ EDM Song Spreads Among Young People
Young people are the most right-wing generation in Germany, and a eurodance rave classic with reworked lyrics calling for foreigners to be deported is emerging as an unlikely youth anthem, sending the country’s political police scrabbling to intervene.
German youth are increasingly right wing and the anti-mass migration AfD party is now the most popular among 14 to 29-year-olds, recent polling shows. While this may have an impact at the ballot box — Germany and its neighbours vote in the EU elections in two weeks — it is also emerging in culture.
German politicians and media have reacted with outrage several times in the past year as video clips of young people dancing and singing along to a song proclaiming “Deutschland den Deutschen, Ausländer Raus”, ‘Germany for the Germans, foreigners out’, keep emerging. The latest such instance which has again set fingers wagging comes from an apparently exclusive nightclub on the German holiday island of Sylt.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Blocks Florida Law Criminalizing Transport of Illegal Immigrants Into State
Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A federal judge has temporarily blocked part of a Florida law that criminalizes transporting illegal immigrants into the state.
The challenged law was signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a year ago, when southern border states were bracing for a flood of illegal immigrants following the scheduled expiration of Title 42, a public health order that allowed border enforcement agents to quickly expel those deemed at risk of bringing in COVID-19.
Touted by Mr. DeSantis and his supporters as the “strongest anti-illegal immigration legislation in the country,” the law contains a provision that makes it a third-degree felony for anyone to “knowingly and willfully” transport into Florida someone whom “the person knows or reasonably knew … has not been inspected by the Federal Government since his or her unlawful entry.”
In a preliminary injunction issued on May 22, [Venezuelan born] Judge Roy Altman of the Southern District of Florida said the provision in question “extends beyond the state’s authority to make arrests for violations of federal immigration law, and in doing so, intrudes into territory that’s preempted.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Moments after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, a migrant from Turkey expressed bewilderment over how easy it was to enter and warned ‘killers and psychopaths’ could easily cross into America too.
The astonishing interview from Fox News highlights how even migrants are afraid of the loose vetting processes at the border.
‘In fact, American people is right, completely true. Who comes into this country?’ the migrant told Fox News’ Bill Melugin.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Reform UK has declared the July 4th general election “the immigration election”, and has gone on the attack against the two legacy parties which have seen “More people… come to this country in the past 25 years than in all of history before that”.
Standing in front of a stylised time graph showing immigration to Britain as low and stable for all of British history from 1066 to 1997 before going into a massive vertical climb, Reform UK — formerly Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party — launched its general election campaign on Thursday. Moving into the vacuum left by Labour and the Conservatives, neither of which have much to say about soaring levels of mass migration, the Reform speakers made clear they were going to make the campaign about precisely that.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Thursday, the judge overseeing “Billboard Chris” Elston’s appeal of an order to remove a post on X that called a trans-identifying female activist Teddy Cook as a woman declared that Cook cannot be referred to as female in any way during the proceedings.
Elston vowed to continue doing so anyways, making it clear that he was prepared to risk facing criminal charges.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Keir Starmer’s Labour Shuns Its Own ‘Gender Critical’ MP
Rishi Sunak’s election campaign launch might have been humiliating, but Sir Keir Starmer’s revealed something far more worrying about the imminent prospect of a Labour government.
The event was held in Kent and featured a number of Labour bigwigs. But there was a notable exclusion: Rosie Duffield—the only elected Labour MP in the county. The reason for this, though Labour won’t admit it, is both simple and sinister.
The party’s leadership does not want to be associated with Duffield’s mainstream view that only women have a cervix and that transgender women are not women (i.e. they are men). In contemporary jargon, this makes her ‘gender critical,’ or even subject to the slur ‘Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist,’ or ‘TERF.’
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Knights of Columbus Sue Joe Biden, Claim First Amendment Violation
The Knights of Columbus have filed suit over what they say is a First Amendment violation, as the Biden administration’s National Park Service refuses to allow their tradition of a Catholic Mass on Memorial Day to honor fallen U.S. heroes.
On Memorial Day, for more than half a century, the Knights have had a Catholic Mass at Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Petersburg, Va. But enter “Catholic” Joe Biden, and suddenly the Knights are refused permission, with the claim of separating religious services from public grounds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: BBB Leader Wants to Scrap Sex Education “Madness”; Interest Group, Teachers Unnerved
BBB leader Caroline van der Plas wants to get rid of what she called, “all the craziness that children are told when they are five or six years old” in sexual education. In an exchange with D66 leader Rob Jetten, she made claims about the substance of existing sex education. “You know, how they have to do certain sexual acts at the bottom of the body of the other person, that isn’t normal, right? We aren’t going to tell children that, right?”
Sexual health expertise center Rutgers denied that children aged five and six are learning about sexual acts. A spokesperson said that the teaching materials are “age-appropriate.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senator’s Op-Ed on Protecting Women’s Sports Removed by USA Today Due to ‘Loaded Language’
A Republican senator’s opinion column about keeping biological males out of women’s sports was removed from USA Today’s network of newspapers because of his “loaded language.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) learned that a column he wrote about protecting women’s sports had been removed from several USA Today Network newspapers because of “inflammatory” language out of the paper’s editorial standards, Fox News reported Friday. Kennedy told the outlet that he was not aware that the column had been removed until he was informed of broken links to the article.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The trouble with ending the Ukraine Russian war is the American bottomless ATM stream of money going to the Ukraine gangster leader and his gangster friends could be shut off or limited. Maybe he would have to have some kind of election ,or maybe he could be hung in the town square in a violent take down by someone when the Russians stop shooting everyone. With the war running no account where the money or arms are going ,the good times of buying overseas palaces ,and over seas bank account would end with the war ending . The 10 percent for the” big guy ” family and friends could face further exposure . Not a good look in an election year of 2024 ,will Biden’s doctors say he is too senile to be involved ,but not senile enough to pull out of the presidential election? We do live in very interesting times ,will the flood of money laundering move to the Gaza ,Israel ,and other Middle East sites for the arms industry ,along with money to re-build the Gaza with no bid contracts with black rock ?That 400 million dollar flouting pier just made it easier for Hamas to steal the aid with a small easy target (that stands alone),also I am sure they will try harder to kidnaped aid workers or shot American service men guarding the pier. Boots on the ground do not count if they are on a floating pier docked in pirate land Gaza (one thousand troops at last count all American).
The President of the Russian Federation said he’s ready to halt the war and negotiate a peace between Russia and Ukraine because Zelensky is no longer the President of Ukraine according to the end of his constitutional mandate in accordance to Ukraine’s constitution. Then dictator Zelensky issued the statement that anyone who doubts Zelensky’s ‘legitimacy’ are enemies of Ukraine.
The genocide of Ukrainians will continue so that Blackrock can then buy up the EU vassal state of Ukraine, and Zelensky’s dictatorship will continue without any interference from the dwindling number of Ukrainian peoples. The the war will continue to the last Ukrainian and last paid out military contract to the Military Industrial Complex of the EU, UK, and US.
Using Commencement Remarks as a Political Speech is Peak Indecency
https://tinyurl.com/yzu49fv9