After the State Department ordered the closing of the Chinese consulate in Houston in order to protect American intellectual property from further theft, the Chinese government promised that there would be unprecedented retaliation. Houston firefighters responded to reports that documents were being burned in the courtyard of the Chinese consulate.
In other news, a “Canadian” man has been arrested in Calgary for alleged membership in the Islamic State, and will face terrorism charges.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, JS, Pepe, Reader from Chicago, 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.
EU Summit Result is Good News for Czech Economy: Analysts
EU leaders’ agreement on the recovery fund and the multi-annual EU budget is good news for the Czech economy, analysts are saying following the EU summit.
Although the promised money will not affect the development of the Czech economy this year, according to economists, it still equates to significant aid totaling 11 percent of the Czech GDP.
“The approval of the agreement and the EU budget for the next period is positive news for the domestic economy, as the total amount of money allocated to the Czech Republic will be higher than proposed in the original plan,” said ING Bank’s chief economist Jakub Seidler.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian Central Bank Cuts Base Rate Again to 0.6%
In line with its declared policy of supporting the government’s economic programs, the Central Bank of Hungary has cut its base rate for the second time within the space of a month to 0.6 percent.
“In the present extraordinary macroeconomic context the mandate of the Hungarian National Bank continues to be to obtain and maintain price stability and support the government’s economic policies,” the bank’s Monetary Council said in a statement. “In order to maintain price stability and support the revival of economic growth, the Monetary Council […] has reduced the base rate by 15 basis points to 0.6 percent.”
The previous rate cut of another 15 basis points was made on June 23, after the bank has having had kept it unchanged for four years.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Money Talks: U.S. Town Prints Own Currency to Boost Coronavirus Relief
TENINO, United States, July 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Tucked away under lock and key in a former railroad depot turned small-town museum in the U.S. state of Washington, a wooden printing press cranked back to life to mint currency after nearly 90 dormant years.
The end product: $25 wooden bills bearing the town’s name — Tenino — with the words “COVID Relief” superimposed on the image of a bat and the Latin phrase “Habemus autem sub potestate” (We have it under control) printed in cursive.
With the coronavirus pandemic plunging the United States into a recession, decimating small businesses and causing job losses across the country, some local governments are looking for innovative ways to help residents weather the storm.
For Tenino, the answer was the revival of the local currency that had bolstered the town’s economy in 1931 in the wake of the Great Depression.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Left Party Leader Wants EU to Withhold Coronavirus Bailout From Hungary
Left Party leader Jonas Sjöstedt slammed the Swedish government for supporting the European Union (EU) coronavirus bailout package, passed without the option to deny money to Hungary and other nations he claims are not protecting democracy.
“There is a very poor democratic development, especially in Hungary, but also Poland. We want the opportunity to withdraw support from the EU if democracy is not protected.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Another ‘Mostly Peaceful’ Protest: 49 Chicago Police Officers Injured
Chicago has devolved into something that resembles the opening scene of the Sylvester Stallone movie Demolition Man where Los Angeles is crime-ridden and on fire.
The lack of care for the law, or law enforcement, is at an all-time high in the real world and on Friday night 49 Chicago police officers where injured in a scrap with protesters, The Daily Mail reported.
The Chicago Police Department released the video of the incident this week as the city’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, continues to insist that she does not want help from the feds and President Donald Trump.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa Terrorists Try to Set Fire to Federal Courthouse in Portland (Videos)
Antifa terrorists tried to set fire to the federal building in Portland, Oregon in the hour after midnight local time. Federal law enforcement officers inside the building came out and extinguished the fire. The feds used tear gas and flashbang grenades to push the insurgents back.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s Campaign Promises, Addressing Issues From Climate to Elder Care, Could Exceed $10 Trillion
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign has proposed more than $8 trillion in new spending on a variety of programs — an amount that could approach or exceed $10 trillionbased on early high-end estimates.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Body Found Inside Minneapolis Pawn Shop Burned by BLM Rioters
Pawn shop was one of over 500 Twin City businesses destroyed, looted during riots.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
California Restaurant Bans Face Masks
“No social conditioning. No oxygen deprivation mask. No latex dirty germ spreader.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A charred body was found in a Minneapolis pawnshop torched during the “peaceful” George Floyd riots two months after the building burned down.
Max it Pawn is a few blocks from the Third Precinct police station targeted by rioters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China Threatens to Retaliate Against U.S. Closure of Chinese Consulate
China is threatening retaliation against the United States following the State Department’s closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, this week.
Calling it an “unprecedented escalation,” China demanded that the U.S. “revoke the wrong decision” or face “necessary countermeasures.”
On Tuesday, the consulate had been ordered to shut down immediately. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the directive came “in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information,” but did not expand further.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Conservative Student Leaving Syracuse University Due to Harassment and Threats
Adrianna San Marco is a conservative student journalist who has been attending Syracuse University. Back in June, she was fired by the school’s student newspaper for writing a piece that suggested institutional racism is a myth.
Since then, she has been targeted with threats of violence, even death threats, from fellow students. Her pleas to campus administrators have gone largely ignored, so she has decided not to return in the fall.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coronavirus Infections Could be Up to 13 Times Higher Than Originally Reported: CDC
Coronavirus infections in the United States are up to 13 times higher than originally reported, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new report.
The CDC said that asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus unknowingly spread the virus throughout the communities and that “it is likely that greater than 10 times more” infections occurred than were reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
COVID-19 Insanity Breaks Out at White House Press Conference
White House press corps growing increasingly unhinged.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dear Black Lives Matter Supporters, Chicago’s Latest Riot is on You
Blame those supporters, not just BLM rioters themselves, for the violence. Standing up for racial equality under the BLM banner may have earlier been an excusable error, but not anymore.
What happened in Chicago’s Grant Park on Friday is the best illustration yet, as we will explain.
What are BLM supporters thinking? Maybe some have missed how thoroughly the evidence has been compiled that BLM is violent, Marxist, antisemitic, anti-family and just plain nuts with demands like entirely abolishing the police, prisons and the entire Illinois Department of Corrections.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Doctors Warn COVID Vaccine Dangerous & Illegal to Mandate — Watch Live!
Share this bombshell transmission to thwart Big Tech censors!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dr. Warns New COVID-19 Vaccine is Untested and Will Alter Your DNA
Big Pharma wants to patent human beings.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Driver Jennifer Watson Charged in Protester Hit & Run Near State Capitol
DENVER (CBS4) — The Denver District Attorney’s Office filed charges against a woman seen on video hitting a man with her car. The crash happened during a Justice for George Floyd protest near the State Capitol in May.
Jennifer Watson was charged with assault and reckless driving. Her lawyer says the video did not show the whole story.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Far-Left Oakland Mayor’s House Shot With Fireworks and Vandalized by Mob of ‘30-40’ Antifa Militants
The home of far-left Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was shot with fireworks and vandalized with “defund the police” graffiti on Monday night.
Local station ABC 7 reports that “Witnesses say 30 to 40 people dressed in black and wearing masks shot projectiles and set off fireworks around 2 a.m.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Officers in Portland May Have Been Permanently Blinded by Lasers, Officials Say
At least three federal officers in Portland may not recover their vision after earlier this week demonstrators, who have shown up in crowds of over 1,000 for more than 50 consecutive nights, shined lasers in their eyes and threw fireworks at a federal courthouse, officials said.
During Monday night’s confrontation, one person also threatened to cut off the water supply to federal officers inside the building.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former GOP Governor, Presidential Candidate John Kasich to Speak at Democratic National Convention
Former Ohio Republican Governor and presidential candidate John Kasich will be speaking on behalf of Joe Biden at the upcoming Democratic National Convention next month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
George Soros, John Paulson, and other billionaire investors won’t have to disclose the stocks they own at the end of every quarter if a new regulatory proposal gets the green light.
Other famous fund managers including David Tepper, Paul Tudor Jones, and David Einhorn would also be relieved of the requirement if the Securities and Exchange Commission hikes the disclosure threshold from $100 million to $3.5 billion.
Soros Fund Management owned just under $2 billion in equities at the end of last quarter, SEC filings show. Paulson & Co reported about $2.6 billion, Tepper’s Appaloosa Management boasted close to $3.3 billion, Tudor Investment Corporation held about $1.1 billion, and Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital owned about $700 million.
Under the new rules, none of those firms would have to disclose their US equity portfolios unless their value passes the $3.5 billion mark.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Journalist and conservative icon Michelle Malkin has revealed that the Denver Police were under a retreat order when the Back the Blue rally she was speaking at was attacked by Antifa.
Sunday’s rally was attacked by violent leftists leaving several people injured, as police did almost nothing to prevent violence or protect the crowd.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Houston Fire, Police Responding to Reports of Documents Being Burned at Chinese Consulate General
Officials from the Houston Fire Department and Houston Police Department are responding to reports that documents are being set on fire in the courtyard at the Chinese Consulate-General in Houston.
“Houston police say they began receiving the reports that documents were being burned just after 8 p.m. at 3417 Montrose Boulevard where the Consulate General of China is located,” Click 2 Houston reported. “A small amount of smoke could be seen and smelled from outside. Dozens of Houston first responders are at the scene.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘I Can’t Believe We Survived’: Uber Driver Viciously Attacked by BLM Mob
‘They broke in the driver window, and that’s where I knew we were in big trouble,’ he says.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Is St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner Framing the McCloskeys?
Monday night, Mark McCloskey appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show and hinted that “revelations” about his case would soon come out. He and his wife, Patricia, face felony charges for using firearms — without firing a shot — to defend their home from protesters in St. Louis in late June. Missouri has a broad Castle Doctrine, but Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has ignored that in announcing Class D felony charges against them.
Earlier on Monday, I took a look at the case against them and was surprised to learn that both of their guns were likely not capable of being fired at the time of the incident. Mrs. McCloskey’s handgun was described as a “prop” they had used in a trial (they’re both attorneys). Mr. McCloskey’s rifle was reportedly not loaded during the confrontation and there was no ammunition found in their home.
This is relevant because the guns have to be “readily capable of lethal use” according to Missouri law.
If neither gun was readily capable of lethal use, there is no case to prosecute them.
Now, our sister site RedState reports that the revelations Mr. McCloskey hinted at have come out.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Justice Department Charges 2 Chinese Hackers With Trying to Steal U.S. Coronavirus Research
Two Chinese hackers, 34-year-old Li Xiaoyu and 31-year-old Dong Jiazhi, have been charged by the Justice Department with attempting to steal coronavirus research from both government and business sources.
The two men allegedly hacked into the computer systems of multiple private companies and public organizations as part of their effort to gather information. Along with the United States, the pair also targeted high-tech industries in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, and the UK.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kanye West Now Says He’s “Trying to Divorce” Wife Kim, Implies She Cheated on Him With Fellow Rapper
Superstar rapper, producer, and fashion mogul Kanye West said in a quickly deleted tweet Tuesday that he has “been trying to get divorced” from his famous wife, Kim Kardashian West.
With a set of quotation marks, Kanye implied in the tweet that his wife cheated on him with fellow rapper Meek Mill, saying, “I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the Warldolf [sic] for ‘prison reform.’“
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Who Allegedly Threw Brick at NYPD Officer Freed After Posting Bail
The man who allegedly threw a brick at an NYPD cop during a late-May George Floyd protest has been freed after posting bail, sources told The Post.
Christopher Cabrera, 25, made his $5,000 bail Tuesday after being arrested Monday in connection to the attack in Manhattan, a few blocks from Union Square, on May 30.
Cabrera, of the Bronx, allegedly threw the brick at a 35-year-old officer in front of 80 University Place just before 10:30 p.m. May 30, clocking the officer in the helmet, according to the NYPD.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Earlier today President Donald Trump announced he was immediately sending federal agents to Chicago to help drive down violent crime.
President Trump: The DOJ will “immediately surge federal law enforcement to the city of Chicago. The FBI, ATF, DEA, US Marshals Service and Homeland Security will together be sending hundreds of skilled law enforcement officers to Chicago to help drive down violent crime.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
It sounds like almost a not-so-subtle dig at Microsoft, that the US House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee asked this former top tech dog to offer its perspective — as a former antitrust violator! — into the current investigation into Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon.
But like many things the “new, pivoted” Microsoft has been up to under CEO Satya Nadella, this is not really about any born-again tech altruism (and neither is its cozying up to open source, btw.) Instead, Microsoft Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith spoke before the subcommittee to — ironically for an investigation that’s all about protecting competition — attempt to throw a competitor under the bus from a privileged position of one not being investigated (this time.)
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Not the Bee: Armed 10-Year-Old Kids Are Committing Carjackings in Chicago, Police Warn
In the latest bit of evidence that 2020 is still yet to reach peak 2020, Chicago police are now warning citizens that an armed group of children as young as 10 years oldare carrying out violent carjackings in the city’s South Side.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Occupy City Hall Protesters Were ‘S****ing and Pissing’ In Subway Grates
The “Occupy City Hall” protesters turned the city into a literal toilet, using subway grates as makeshift latrines during their month-long encampment in Lower Manhattan, an MTA supervisor revealed Wednesday as workers cleaned the foul mess.
“All the people who were here were going to the bathroom in the vents,” the transit boss said.
“They were s****ing and pissing in the vents. They were using this as a facility, as a bathroom. It’s unbelievable what’s in there.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
People Who Never Took Test Being Told They’re COVID-Positive
How accurate are coronavirus numbers?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Philadelphia’s Top Prosecutor is Prepared to Arrest Federal Agents
After numerous reports and lawsuits in Portland regarding un-badged and un-uniformed federal officers arresting, beating, and detaining people in unmarked vehicles, the Trump administration’s response is that they’re going to do it even more, and in more cities. Saying that his federal agents are doing a “fantastic job,” Trump has suggested that he will also deploy agents in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Milwaukee to do the same.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Photo Appears to Show Black Lives Matter Supporters Holding Down and Kneeling on Neck of White Baby
UPDATE: The Clark County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio has launched an investigation over the photo.
UPDATE 2: The grandmother of the child from the father’s side, who was not involved, says that the child is safe and with her son.
A photograph of a man kneeling on the neck of a white baby while another person holds the diapered child’s arms is stirring up a massive amount of rage on social media.
The shocking and disturbing photograph, which was captioned by the abusers as “Blm now mf” is beginning to make the rounds after being uncovered by Vincent James of Red Elephants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rising Diversity is Joe Biden’s Worry, Too
by Patrick J. Buchanan
Is her racial diversity America’s greatest strength?
So we are told. Yet, even before America becomes a majority-minority nation, 25 years from now, recent changes in the composition of the country are going to impact both parties in 2020.
According to Brookings Institution demographer William Frey, between 2010 and 2020, while America’s population grew by 20 million, our white population fell for the first time since the 1790 census.
White Americans fell as a share of the population in all 50 states, in 358 of 364 metropolitan areas, in 3,012 of 3,141 counties. During that same decade, our Black population grew by 3 million, our Asian population by 4 million and our Hispanic population by 10 million.
What’s the significance of those numbers? In presidential elections, Hispanics and Asians vote 70% Democratic and African Americans vote 90%.
White folks, who made up 69% of the U.S. population in 2000 when George W. Bush was elected, have fallen today to 60%.
For children under 16, the white share has fallen to less than half.
Minority kids are now the majority in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi and Maryland.
Whites are also the oldest Americans, with a median age of 44. For Asian Americans, it is 37, for Black Americans, it is 35, and for Latinos, it is 30.
Bottom line: The pool of Democratic voters is growing inexorably while the largest pool of potential GOP voters is aging, stagnating and shrinking…
| — Hat tip: JS | [Return to headlines] |
Starbucks Barista Arrested for Spitting in Police Officers’ Beverages
In New Jersey, a Starbucks barista has been arrested after he bragged about spitting in coffees prepared for police officers.
Kevin Trejo, 21, worked at a Starbucks location in Park Ridge, New Jersey. After he reportedly bragged about spitting in police officers’ beverages, police questioned him. He admitted he had contaminated the beverages. A local television news station reported it was not clear how long Trejo had been spitting in officers’ drinks. Numerous officers will be tested for coronavirus following the news of Trejo’s practice of tampering with officers’ drinks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tax Exempt Organizations Funnel Millions to BLM Marxists
Major corporations such as Apple, Disney, Nike and hundreds of others may be pouring untold and unaccounted millions into ActBlue under the name of Black Lives Matter, funds that in fact can go to fund the election of a Democrat President Biden. BLM hates Trump and wants him out of office; their riots are spreading for that very reason…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
To Whom is This Generation Looking? There is Only One Who Can Pull You Out of the Mire
Recently, I came across some videos from the not too far past. One video showed a mentally ill woman walking into a restaurant crying for snow, a name for chickens that the people were eating, and then another video showed a woman speaking during an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Townhall…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, gun purchases have nearly doubled during the first six months of 2020 when compared to the same period last year, while ammo sales have increased 139%.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Advises Americans to Wear Face Masks When Social Distancing is Not Possible
President Trump asked Americans on Tuesday to wear face masks when they cannot practice social distancing in order to help curb the spread of coronavirus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Dispatches Federal Law Enforcement to Combat Crime Waves in U.S. Cities
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced Operation Legend, a project to send federal law enforcement to U.S. cities to combat a terrifying surge in violent crime. Trump framed this project as his response to the radical movement to defund and abolish the police. While he announced that he will dispatch federal agents to various cities, he did not provide a full list, only mentioning two in particular.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Signs $1.95 Billion Deal With Pfizer to Purchase 100 Million Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine
The United States federal government has agreed to pay $1.95 billion for 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine that Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech aim to have ready later this year.
Pfizer is one of five companies receiving funding from the government to aid them in developing a vaccine against the coronavirus pandemic. The government’s push for a vaccine is officially called Operation Warp Speed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: In Latest Gaffe, Biden References “Voter Registration Physicians”
While appearing on MSNBC’s The Reidout, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden once again stumbled over his words, saying his campaign would have lawyers going to “voter registration physicians” on Election Day.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa and Black Lives Matter protestors arrived in Seattle and vandalized an Amazon store by smashing its windows. Police officers were attacked by rioters as they defended their police precinct.
A Seattle police officer reported, “A peaceful demonstration was held for a couple of hours. About three hours later, a secondary group of demonstrators showed up and they were carrying baseball bats.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
When the Bullets of Freedom Ring, America Will be Saved
What we do know is this. America is reaching a boiling point in its long life. It is not the first, but seems to be the worst. The tension is very high. The bonds that held us together are coming unglued. Congress could fix it, but they won’t. The news media could quit fanning the racial flames, but they won’t. Trump can only try, but without a unified Congress, he is impotent…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Alleged ISIS Member From Calgary Charged With Terrorism: RCMP
A Calgary man has been charged with terrorism offences for allegedly travelling to Syria in 2013 and joining the so-called Islamic State, the RCMP said on Wednesday.
The charges allege that Hussein Sobhe Borhot participated in a kidnapping on behalf of ISIS.
The arrest of the 34-year-old followed what police described as an “extensive and complex” national security investigation that spanned seven years.
He was taken into custody in Calgary on Tuesday and faces four terrorism-related charges including participation in the activity of a terrorist group and commission of an offence for a terrorist group.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No Cause Yet for Bus Crash That Killed Three Near Glacier in Jasper National Park
RCMP say no cause has been found yet for a tourist bus rollover near a glacier in Jasper National Park that killed three people and injured 24, although a rock slide has been ruled out.
Mounties on Monday remained at the Columbia Icefield between Banff and Jasper with a collision reconstructionist, occupational health and safety personnel, Parks Canada, and removal crews.
“Efforts are currently under way to remove the Ice Explorer vehicle,” RCMP said in a news release. “However, it may take several days.
“The removal of the vehicle is a large undertaking due to the challenges involved with the area where it came to rest. The RCMP must also protect the physical integrity of the vehicle pending its examination as part of this investigation.”
The red-and-white, big-wheeled buses regularly take tourists up a rough rocky road onto the Athabasca Glacier. On Saturday, the off-road vehicle carrying 26 passengers, plus the driver, slid about 50 metres down a steep embankment and came to a stop on its roof near the glacier.
Police said a collision reconstructionist has found no evidence that a rock slide caused the crash.
RCMP said they have notified the families of the three people killed, who have only been identified as a 24-year-old woman from Canoe Narrows, Sask.; a 28-year-old woman from Edmonton; and a 58-year-old man from India.
The 24 survivors were taken to hospital after being triaged out over several hours. Four were still in critical but stable condition as of late Sunday, police said. One was in serious but stable condition…
| — Hat tip: Pepe | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-China Protesters Attempt to Shut Down China Virus Book Launch: Sheila and Keean Join Ezra
The July 21 edition of The Ezra Levant Show was a special occasion, filmed on location in Alberta at the sold out book launch for China Virus.
And since the event was held in Alberta, it made perfect sense for a couple of special guests to accompany Ezra: Sheila Gunn Reid and Keean Bexte!
Speaking with Ezra before the event started, Sheila shed some light on the threats that were directed towards the event.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Could a New Independence Party Reshape Scottish Politics?
A series of SNP and pro-independence campaigners have suggested setting up a new party ahead of the Holyrood elections in 2021. Why are they doing this, and are they more likely to split the nationalist vote or secure a mandate for a new referendum?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Locals Make Deal With Drug Dealers to Let Them Operate in Exchange for Quiet
French locals in the no-go Paris suburbs have managed to come to an agreement with local drug dealers to allow them to operate in the area if the dealers keep the streets quiet at night.
The residents of the La cité Charles-Schmidt apartment complex in Saint-Ouen, located in the no-go suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis, came to an agreement after the area had seen years of drug trafficking and now the drug dealers themselves enforce a noise curfew.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Puts Armed Forces on Alert as Turkish Offshore Resource Exploration Raises Tensions
Greece put its armed forces on alert on Tuesday after Turkey announced it would be engaging in a seismic survey in disputed waters and launched 15 Turkish naval vessels.
Turkey announced on Tuesday that the seismic exploration vessel Oruc Reis will conduct the offshore survey.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Senator Launches New Party to Exit EU
Italian senator Gianluigi Paragone will launch a new party later this week called “Italexit”, after first meeting the UK’s Nigel Farage, who helped steer Britain out of the European Union. “We can no longer be blackmailed by countries that offend the great prestige of Italy,” said Paragone, who once belonged to the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement. Polls in May showed most Italians do not trust the EU.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 47 Nigerian Mafia Arrests
Drug and sex trafficking in central Italy, Sicily
(ANSA) — ROME, 21 LUG — Italian police on Tuesday arrested 47 people linked to the Nigerian Mafia in Italy.
Those arrested have been charged with mafia association, human trafficking, drug trafficking and distribution, and exploiting prostitution.
The arrests were made in Sicily and in central Italy including Campania and Lazio.
Police said that in Campania, the Nigerian Mafia was now “on the same level” as the historic Camorra mafia in the region around Naples.
In a by-now standard practice, women and girls were trafficked from Nigeria into sex work on Italian roads by threatening them with voodoo rites.
Nigerian prostitutes are a common sight on roads leading out of Italian cities, or on streets in the suburbs of Italian towns.
The Nigerian Mafia has been growing in Italy for several decades.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Kaczynski: EU Summit Result a Triumph for Poland
Ruling Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski hailed the outcome of the European Union summit a great success for Poland, which proved the country was becoming increasingly important within the EU.
In an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP), Kaczynski said that “the result of the EU summit is a huge success for Poland, we got the maximum we could achieve”.
He added that “the success of these negotiations shows that any talk of our isolation in the EU is a fairytale”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leftist Hungarian Economist Praise Government’s Handling of Coronavirus Pandemic
The economic policy of the Hungarian government received backing from an unexpected source. Laszló Csaba is a prominent liberal economist, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and professor of the Central European University established by George Soros, and he said he largely approved of the measures in an interview with financial news portal novekedes.hu.
“I agree with the Finance Ministry’s position that actions against the crisis should rather be funded from regrouping resources rather than additional spending,” Csaba said. “In summary, my view is that the government is pursuing a policy of [economic] stimulus.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Close Associate of Donald Tusk Arrested
Slawomir Nowak, the transport and construction minister in the Civic Platform (PO) and Polish People’s Party (PSL) coalition administration, led by former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has been arrested.
Nowak was arrested together with Dariusz Z, a former commander of the crack commando unit “GROM” and Jacek P., a businessman from Gdansk,
According to the public prosecutors, the arrest of Nowak is the result of an international investigation conducted by Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors and the Polish and Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies, CBA and NABU, which investigate cross border crime.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish PM Morawiecki: We Stopped Misers and Kept Europe United
Poland’s PM Mateusz Morawiecki described the EU summit as a “marathon of negotiations” but one in which Poland helped unite Europe and ensure that countries like Italy and Spain could recover from the coronavirus crisis.
Morawiecki may have been absent from Warsaw from Thursday evening until Tuesday morning, but he said he felt that the time spent at the EU summit had been worthwhile.
As a result of the settlement reached at the summit, Poland will receive up to €139 billion in grants and €34 billion in loans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prosecutors: Former Polish Liberal Minister Took Bribes Worth Over €400,000
Former transport minister and key ally of former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Slawomir Nowak, took 1.3 million zloty (€400,000) worth in bribes from Ukrainian companies, according to prosecutors.
On Tuesday, Nowak was charged with directing a criminal operation and corruption.
The former politician and later head of Ukraine’s state road corporation is suspected of soliciting and taking bribes in return for granting contracts for the construction and repair of roads in Ukraine. He also accused of laundering money from these operations.
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Report: Anti-Christian Attacks in Europe Rose 285 Percent Since 2008
ROME — The number of officially recorded anti-Christian incidents in Europe has risen by 285 percent between 2008 and 2019, according to Ellen Fantini, director of the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDACE).
Speaking with the Catholic News Agency (CNA), Fantini said that the trend of increasing attacks is particularly noteworthy in France, such as the recent arson attack on the Nantes Cathedral, but is evident elsewhere as well.
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Report: UK Close to Abandoning Brexit-EU Deal, Will Likely Leave Bloc Fully in December
The United Kingdom may properly depart the European Union on December 31st, as voted for by the British people way back in 2016, as negotiations to sign a deal that would see the nation keep links to Brussels in the future falters, a British newspaper has claimed.
While Britain and the EU are presently in talks to achieve an agreement on a future relationship between the two parties, progress appears to have stalled as Brussels remains wedded to an ideal that would keep Britain tied to the block — and under its control — in several areas. Likewise, the British team is keeping up the pressure on achiving a much loser relationship where London and Brussels remain close friends, but British interests are not controlled by Europe.
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Salvini Grateful for PM Orban Helping Italy at EU Summit
The leader of Italy’s conservative League party and former Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on social media that during the heated EU summit over the weekend his political ally and friend, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, sent him a text message in which he assured him that Hungary is supporting Italy’s position.
“Orban stands by Italy, the friends of [Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe] Conte and the PD [Democratic Party] do not”, Salvini said in a tweet.
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Sweden Sees Chlamydia Cases Decline During Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak
The number of people testing positive for the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia has decreased during the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, according to figures released by the Swedish Public Health Agency.
Chlamydia cases decreased by around 11 per cent between May and June 2020, compared to the same period last year, while the first four months of 2020 saw the same level as 2019.
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UK Calls for “Online Harms” Regulator to Police “Misinformation”
British authorities were just recently caught acting with what seemed like utter disregard towards their legal obligation to perform “due diligence” of sorts, regarding how private data may be affected (as in, abused) when fed into the Covid-19 Test and Trace program.
Moreover, the relevant regulator, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) — that is supposed to oversee and guarantee that this process is seen through — came up with a bizarre statement about not necessarily being the competent body to do that, instead saying it was the government’s “critical friend providing guidance.”
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UK: Labour Party Pays ‘Substantial’ Damages to Anti-Semitism Whistleblowers
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s opposition Labour Party has agreed to pay substantial damages to seven whistleblowers who sued the party for defamation over an anti-Semitism dispute.
The seven former employees appeared on a BBC investigative program last year looking into whether Labour was anti-Semitic. They criticized the party´s handling of anti-Semitism complaints, and sued the party when it issued a statement describing the group as having “personal and political axes to grind.”
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UK: Top Tory Calls for ‘Alliance of the Free World’ To Challenge China
Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the Conservative Party, has called for an urgent “alliance of the free world” to stand up to China’s authoritarian regime.
The Brexiteer and chairman of the Sino-sceptic Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China said that the West must unite in its condemnation of China, calling the communist nation “a far greater threat” than Russia.
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We Won the Battle But the War is Not Over, Warns Hungarian MEP Deutsch
Hungary and Poland may have won the battle at the recent EU summit on the issue of rule of law criteria being tied to EU funds, but the war is far from over, Hungarian MEP Tamas Deutsch, caucus leader of the governing Hungarian Fidesz party in the European Parliament, told conservative daily Magyar Nemzet in an interview.
“The current compromise is the biggest battle we have won so far in the fight against the left-liberal forces, but the war is not over,” Deutsch said. “They will soon launch renewed attacks with multiplied forces. The approved text for the rule of law is not linked to protecting the financial interests of the Union.”
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Could a Trump-Macron Initiative Bring Peace to Libya?
by Matt Snape
On Monday, US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed France’s role in the Libyan conflict. Trump also held a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyep Erdogan last week to discuss the same matter. As Al-Monitor argues, these phone calls are significant because US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien expressed sympathy for France over an incident in which the French Government accused Ankara of harassing French vessels as they sought to prevent a Tanzania-flagged ship allegedly smuggling weapons to Libya.
Although the US President has delegated Libyan matters to lower-level State Department officials, the US has been intervening in the Libyan war more frequently recently. In June, a US delegation pushed militias affiliated with both the Government of National Accord (GNA) and General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) to disband.
Macron Has Made Matters Worse
Although NATO is investigating the French-Turkish naval clash, France has issued demands that it wants its NATO allies to fulfill before rejoining the Mediterranean naval operation.
[…]
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Announces Draft Law That Will Place Sweeping Restrictions on Social Media Companies
The Turkish Government has announced a draft law that will place sweeping restrictions on the internet and force social media companies to take down content that has been deemed to be illegal within 48 hours.
Under the draft law, social network providers will be required to appoint a legal representative in Turkey, share data with Turkish authorities, and store user data in Turkey.
Companies that don’t comply with this draft law will have their bandwidth cut by up to 95%, essentially rendering them inaccessible.
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A paper on how the Koran anticipated the discovery of the Higgs Boson — aka the “God particle” — has been hit with an expression of concern.
The article, “God particles in the perspective of The AlQuran Surah Yunus: 61 and modern science,” appeared in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series, which in 2017 published submissions to the 2016 International Conference on Science and Applied Science (Engineering and Educational Science), held in Indonesia. It was authored by Sri Jumini, of the Physics Department Program of Sains AlQuran University in Java.
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A 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was abducted and forced into a so-called marriage to a Muslim man has become pregnant, and is now forced to live in a single room in her captor’s home, according to her family’s attorney.
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Pakistan Starts Banning Chinese Apps, Gives TikTok a Final Warning
Pakistan has followed in the footsteps of India and started to ban Chinese apps, but for widely different reasons.
In a press release, Pakistan’s Telecommunications Authority (PTA) announced that the social video-streaming app Bigo has been banned while social media app TikTok has been a given a final warning.
Unlike India’s recent ban of 59 Chinese apps, which described the apps as a threat to national security and sovereignty, Pakistan’s crackdown on these Chinese apps is based on complaints about “immoral, obscene, and vulgar content” in the apps.
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China Moves to Ban Secessionist Protests in Hong Kong
Beijing’s Communist Get together desires a brand new nationwide safety regulation focusing on Hong Kong that can ban secessionist protests and what it calls subversive exercise and international interference in town, a brand new report mentioned Thursday.
The brand new regulation submitted to the Nationwide Individuals’s Congress, a rubber stamp for the social gathering, would forbid all purportedly seditious actions geared toward toppling the central authorities alongside exterior interference in Hong Kong’s affairs, the South China Morning Publish reported, citing mainland sources.
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China’s oppression of Tibetans has drastically increased over the years. In yet another incident, a court in China has sentenced two Tibetans to prison, after they composed, sang and circulated a song praising Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. They have been charged for alleged involvement in “state subversion” and “leaking state secrets”.
Two Tibetan musicians, Khando Tsetan and Tsego were sentenced to seven years and three years in prison respectively by a Chinese court in north-eastern Tibet in July this year. They were arrested in early July in the village of Gonshu Hongor in Zeku County. Along with the two, an identified girl from the same region was also arrested for sharing the song on social media, sources said.
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The government of Japan has decided to give subsidies worth 57.4 billion yen or roughly $536 million to companies ready to shift production to Japan. It will enable them to invest in factories in Japan and Southeast Asia. Japan is one of the largest trading partners of China. In a bid to reduce manufacturing dependency on China, Japan has decided to encourage firms to invest in factories outside China. The step is similar to what Taiwan did in 2019 to bring back investment from China.
As per the reports, 57 companies that include facemask-maker Iris Ohyama Inc. or Sharp Corp will get benefits from this plan. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan made the announcement on 18th July about the subsidies. The government, in another announcement, said that they would also assist additional 30 firms in investing in Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and other southeast Asian countries.
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More Than 50 Muslim Fulani Herdsmen Kill 11 Christians in Nigeria
More than 50 Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked and killed 11 Christians in Kaduna state, Nigeria, on Monday, according to the vice chairman of the local chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria.
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Ancient Stone Tools Suggest First People Arrived in America Earlier Than Thought
Pieces of limestone from a cave in Mexico may be the oldest human tools ever found in the Americas, and suggest people first entered the continent up to 33,000 years ago — much earlier than previously thought.
The findings, published Wednesday in two papers in the journal Nature, which include the discovery of the stone tools, challenge the idea that people first entered North America on a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska and an ice-free corridor to the interior of the continent.
Precise archaeological dating of early human sites throughout North America, including the cave in Mexico, suggests instead that they may have entered along the Pacific coast, according to the research.
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73% of ‘Underaged’ Asylum Seekers in Belgium Are Actually Adults: Study
Three out of four self-labeled underage asylum seekers examined in Belgium are actually adults, according to the data requested by the Flemish MP Tom Van Grieken from Minister of Justice Koen Geens.
Van Grieken believes that there is no place for such fraudsters in the country.
“Asylum seekers guilty of age fraud should be denied the right to asylum,” said Van Grieken, pointing out that not punishing such a fraud only encourages others to take their chances with the same deception, according to Belgian newspaper portal Sceptr.
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Germany: Frankfurt Reaches a ‘New Level of Violence’ As Migrants Riot, Hurl Stones at Police
A weekend dance techno party in Frankfurt, Germany quickly turned into riots after men with a “mainly migration background” attacked police who tried to disperse a fight in which one man was injured, according to Frankfurt Chief of Police Gerhard Bereswil.
The crowd of people watching the fight responded by pelting police with stones and bottles. The police eventually detained 39 people, most of whom were of foreign origin.
“What I can already say based on the overall list of arrested: They are mainly men with a migration background,” said Bereswil.
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Kuwait’s Looming Expat Bill Could Force Huge Numbers to Leave
A Kuwaiti draft law seeking to drastically cut foreign workers’ numbers has them on edge. As the economy falters amid the coronavirus pandemic, expatriates who call the Gulf country home are in the firing line.
After moving from India to work in Kuwait 15 years ago, Ajith Kumar and his wife and children have come to call Kuwait something of a second home.
But a recent proposal to drastically cut the number of migrant workers from 70% to 30% of the country’s population — which stands at 4.4 million people — has left him and many of his expatriate friends in limbo and worried.
“If there’s no other option, we will have to go back,” Kumar told DW.
…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Over 3,000 Illegal Migrants Have Reached the UK in Small Boats This Year
Over 150 more boat migrants were brought ashore at Dover yesterday, bringing the total number of migrants illegally crossing the English channel this year to more than 3,000, a new record.
On Tuesday, 159 illegal migrants, including small children, aboard 13 small vessels were intercepted while they were attempting to cross the English Channel.
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Trump Signs Order Excluding Illegals From Census
ACLU vows to take Trump admin to court.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Ellen Pao Calls for More Facebook Censorship, Says it’s the “Right Thing to Do”
Ellen Pao keeps trying to make Ellen Pao happen. But, to paraphrase her own words — the world “doesn’t seem to think she’s important.”
This former Reddit CEO was forced to quit after a backlash caused by her (early) attempts to muzzle and censor free and unruly-by-nature Reddit communities. And although her “legacy” in this sense has since been gaining more and more momentum on that fairly unique social platform — few credit or still remember Pao as the pioneer of the current woeful policies.
Pao, who has since co-founded a diversity consulting non-profit called “Project Include,” (which is exactly what it sounds like it is) also in the meanwhile lost a gender discrimination lawsuit against former employers Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
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Majority of Americans Don’t Believe They Need God to be Good: Pew
A majority of U.S. citizens believe that God is not necessary in order to live a moral life or hold good values, according to a recently published survey.
The Pew Research Center surveyed 38,426 people in 34 countries between late June and early October 2019 to measure the connection between personal beliefs about God and morality.
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Privacy Groups Call for an End to “Immunity Passport” Proposals
There is virtually no work of art in the past century dealing with a dystopian future — including Orwell’s “1984” and Ridley’s “Blade Runner” — to name but a few personal favorites — that has not been peppered with references to aggressive and permeating mass surveillance as a hallmark of a society’s — and a even a species’ — descent into hell.
Couple that with the fact that for anyone who’s had the unfortunate advantage of living in a society at war, and observing how authorities act and react — there’s one thing that stands out. They will all — in real world and in fiction — try to smuggle in an awful lot of new rules that would never stand a chance of being accepted under normal circumstances. But when people feel at their most vulnerable, their overlords are at their most unscrupulous, racing to abuse that position while they can.
That brings us to the coronavirus pandemic and its truly unforeseeable consequences that are playing out like a dystopian plot point.
Not only are we told it will be a long time still, if ever, before we may hug other people and shake hands with them, work, eat, and party with them — that is, be human. On top of that, there are deeper insidious changes in the offing, judging by this piece in Privacy International.
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Black Flies Matter…
“When the Bullets of Freedom Ring, America Will be Saved”
Honestly I’m surprised this hasn’t happened yet. The doesn’t seem to be any other solution anyway.
“America is reaching a boiling point in its long life.”
That’s a really funny statement from a European perspective. Either way though, America better go back to it’s roots and fast!
How about the good old immigration control?!
“Under the draft law, social network providers will be required to appoint a legal representative in Turkey, share data with Turkish authorities, and store user data in Turkey.”
Does this involve all users or just those in Turkey?
Because if it involves all users, there’s going to be so much backlash most companies would simply stay away from Turkey than loose users all around the World.
Well it can’t be claimed that Turkey gave no clues. Especially in The Netherlands, Germany and Austria. No wait….
“Ancient Stone Tools Suggest First People Arrived in America Earlier Than Thought”
American Indians are the biggest obstacle in proper research. As soon as DNA testing of the oldest remains pointed towards Europe, they stopped supporting archeological research and deny further skeleton studies. Of course, since they build their whole image around “native people peacefully living together until the white man came”, it’s no wonder they don’t want any facts proving them wrong.
Bottom line is: whether first humans in America came from Europe, Asia or Africa, the important thing is to figure that original place out!
I always knews that Indians were not Native Americans because they came from Asia, into Siberia and crosse the Bering Street. I am sick of the lie. They were savage tribes.
“A majority of U.S. citizens believe that God is not necessary in order to live a moral life or hold good values” – contrary to the facts of everyday life… Romans 1:18-32
Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship
https://cryptome.org/2020/05/Executive-Order-on-Preventing-Online-Censorship.htm
“Only the dead have seen the end of war” Plato.
The CCP promised unprecedented retaliation? They declared to the people of China they were at war against the USA back in early 2019. One of the CCP’s media just confessed the purpose of their virus was to “test” Trump’s resilience to it. They’ve been doing the same thing in the South China Sea. The only “unprecedented” thing they haven’t done yet are military operations directed into North America and several people have said this is eventually what they’ll try. They’ve already activated their political Quisling’s in the guise of certain Governors and Mayors of major cities as well as their paid paramilitary insurgent forces in the guise of ANTIFA and the BLM.
I lived in New Mexico for eight years and remember that The National Labs in Los Alamos caught several Chinese stealing secret information. They were, of course, arrested and deported back to China. We cannot trust these people. They were evil torturers in war and they are evil today ,
What’s a greedy Communist to do? Corporations just dumped everyone and moved into bed with “them”. Any fully committed or wide open to corruption Communists just goes for insanity like that. No questions asked. The Chinese improved their armed forces and single payer medical. Eisenhower’s “Beware of the military industrial complex” is off again. Maybe.