Taliban activists in Jalalabad opened fire on demonstrators who pulled down a Taliban banner. Some accounts say that one person was killed, while others report three deaths.
In other news, Greece is preparing both its land and sea borders for a new wave of refugees from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AA, Dean, DV, JW, LP, 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.
Hungary Posts Highest-Ever Q2 GDP Growth
The Hungarian GDP grew by an all-time record of 17.9 percent in the second quarter of the year, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga announced on Monday. Domestic expansion has substantially exceeded the average growth of regional economies and the EU.
According to seasonally and calendar-adjusted indicators, in the second quarter, Hungary’s gross domestic product grew by 17.9 percent year-over-year and by 17.7 percent year-over-year, respectively. This means that growth has exceeded analysts’ expectations, who will certainly adjust the GDP data for the full year upwards.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
150 People Protest Wellstar’s Decision to Mandate Vaccines for Workers
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — About 150 people held an anti-vaccine mandate protest outside Wellstar Corporate offices in Marietta.
The “Stop the Mandate” protest began at 11 a.m. on Sawyer Road. It was held by some Wellstar medical workers who say they’re worried about losing their jobs if they refuse to get a vaccine.
Starting Oct. 1, all Wellstar medical workers will need be vaccinated or they will no longer be able to be employed.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
2 Million Records From US “Terror” And “No-Fly List” Exposed Online
On the heels of the news that the Department of Homeland Security is considering outsourcing surveillance of US citizens’ social media after the January 6th riot, a new report has revealed some of the consequences of building databases on citizens: that data can leak.
A secret terrorist watchlist containing 1.9 million records, including “no-fly” status, was exposed online. It is possible, but not stated, that bad actors came across the list, as it was passwordless and searchable on a couple of search engines.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
3 Stabbed on NYC Subway Platform in Early Morning Attack
Circumstances leading up to stabbing unclear
Three men were stabbed in a Brooklyn subway station early Wednesday, cops said.
The victims, all in their 30s, were stabbed on the N, D and R platform of the 36th Street station, at Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park, around 5:20 a.m., authorities said.
They were taken to NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn.
Two of them suffered minor injuries, according to the FDNY. The condition of the third victim was not immediately clear.
The circumstances leading up to the stabbing were also unclear Wednesday morning.
— Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Air Force Academy Requires Training Linked to Critical Race Theory and Black Lives Matter
The Air Force Academy requires its incoming cadets to watch a diversity and inclusion video supportive of attending a Black Lives Matter chapter meeting.
Critics argue this proves military academies have implemented critical race theory as part of their curriculum.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
America’s Far-Right Extremists Are Drawing Inspiration From the Taliban’s Victory in Afghanistan
Experts warn that the failed 20-year war will likely be used by domestic extremists to recruit and organize.
Much of the world watched in horror as the Taliban cemented its takeover of Afghanistan this week. But in darker corners of the internet, far-right extremists, including Donald Trump supporters, white nationalists, and neo-Nazi terror groups, which often push Islamophobic messages, celebrated the fact that an underequipped insurgent group could defeat a great power — and one commanded by a Democratic president.
Now experts are warning that the scenes of the past week and the failed US-led 20-year war in the country will likely be used by such extremists as recruitment tools to push misinformation, grow their ranks, and fuel organizing.
“The political backlash from the US troop withdrawal has been leveraged by White nationalists to support their claim of the illegitimacy and ineptitude of the Biden administration as well as calls to reinstate Donald Trump as president,” Sara Kamali, a scholar and author of Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists Are Waging War against the United States, told BuzzFeed News in written comments.
One such white nationalist is Nick Fuentes, a 23-year-old vlogger and antisemite who cheered on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and has an ally in Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona. Seemingly praising the Taliban as “a conservative, religious force,” Fuentes told his 42,000 subscribers on Telegram on Monday, “The defeat of the US government in Afghanistan is unequivocally a positive development.”
Islamophobia has been weaponized by white nationalists like Fuentes for recruitment and propaganda, making his support for the Taliban’s militant Islamist worldview all the more intriguing. But Kamali said it’s notable “because he is reifying the White nationalist narrative of victimhood by supporting that of militant Islamists, specifically as mutual targets of American government aggression.”
“This shared narrative of victimhood, in turn, sanctions the war many White nationalists view themselves as fighting against the US government, people of color, and immigrants to be holy, righteous, and necessary,” she added…
— Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
The man behind a months-long campaign to bring violence to journalist Andy Ngo at his home is a 38-year-old Portland Antifa member named Jonathan Dylan Chase, The Post Millennial can report. Chase works as a mentor for autistic youth and has been featured in a TED Talk.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Attorney General Drops the Hammer on Critical Race Theory
A state attorney general has issued a warning that critical race theory — that ideology that essentially concludes whites are oppressors and blacks are victims — violates federal law and his own state constitution when used to impose different results or requirements on individuals.
“Any effort to take account of race in a way that differently accords benefits or opportunities or creates a hostile environment in an educational institution is almost certainly unlawful under the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI,” wrote Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge in a letter to a state lawmaker.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Battle of Appomattox: Understanding General Lee’s Surrender
The Battle of Appomattox Courthouse is considered by many historians the end of the Civil War and the start of post-Civil War America. The events of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General and future President Ulysses S. Grant at a small town courthouse in Central Virginia put into effect much of what was to follow.
The surrender at Appomattox Courthouse was about reconciliation, healing, and restoring the Union. While the Radical Republicans had their mercifully brief time in the sun rubbing defeated Dixie’s nose in it, largely in response to the Southern “Black Codes,” they represented the bleeding edge of Northern radicalism that wanted to punish the South, not reintegrate it into the Union as an equal partner.
The sentiment of actual Civil War veterans is far removed from the attitude of the far left in America today. Modern day “woke-Americans” clamor for the removal of Confederate statues in the South, the lion’s share of which were erected while Civil War veterans were still alive. There was little objection to these statues at the time because it was considered an important part of the national reconciliation to allow the defeated South to honor its wartime dead and because there is a longstanding tradition of memorializing defeated foes in honor cultures.
— Hat tip: AA | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Remorse: Trump Would Beat Biden if Election Was Held Today: Poll
A new poll put out by Rasmussen Reports shows that voters currently would pick Trump over Biden if an election were imminent.
Perhaps more interestingly, the people polled were more than 50 percent Democrat, and even so, Trump was a full six points ahead of Biden in the poll, coming in at 43 percent to Biden’s 37 percent.
The remaining 14 percent of people said they would vote for another candidate, although none of those surveyed named anybody specifically.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Biden Threatens Action Against Governors Who Refuse to Force Masks on School Children
During a speech given by President Joe Biden on Wednesday regarding COVID-19 response and vaccination programs, Biden slammed states that have banned the requirement of masks in school, announcing that government action will be taken against these states and their governors.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Courts Can’t Decide if Embedding Photo and Video Tweets Could Constitute Copyright Infringement
In 2007, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that embedding posts with copyrighted images from social media sites on other websites does not constitute a copyright violation.
The ruling, known for establishing the so-called “server test,” states that unless content is stored on the server of a site sued for copyright infringement, the accusation does not stand thanks to the nature of the embed technology.
But now this rule is getting increasingly challenged in federal courts, with those in New York more prone than ever to allow copyright cases involving embedded content to proceed, Bloomberg Law writes.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Crowd Protests Med Center Health Vaccine Mandate for Employees
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) — Over 100 protesters gathered outside Med Center Health Wednesday morning to protest the company’s vaccine mandate for employees.
Community members and health care workers from across southcentral Kentucky could be seen outside the campus holding signs, some of which read, “my body my choice”, and “medical freedom.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
First in-Person ISBE Meeting Since March 2020 Faces Protestors
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — Parents, some with children, took to the street outside of an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 18. It was the first in-person meeting for ISBE since March of 2020.
Inside the building, ISBE members discussed and took public comment by dozens of people filled the room and waited for their chance to speak against the states school mask mandate.
Parents, teachers, superintendents, kids, and even a state senator and representative all showed out up today to the state board of education meeting and virtually all of them against the mask mandate in schools.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds Protest Against Mask Mandate in Genesee County Schools
FLINT, MI — Fenton parents Alaina Bouwman and Katie Hawley are prepared to pull their children out of school this fall.
That’s how strongly they feel that children should not be required to wear masks in schools.
Hundreds of Genesee County residents lined Saginaw Street in downtown Flint Wednesday afternoon to protest a mandatory mask mandate that the county health department instituted last week for students in K-6.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Instagram Blocks Critical Comments of Biden Through Its “Disrespectful” Content Filter
Instagram introduced a selection of new tools this year, intended at assisting users in protecting their accounts against “harassment.”
However, the tool appears to be working to protect the Biden administration from some unwanted criticism. In response to President Biden’s handling of the Afghan evacuation, Instagram invoked a comment-censoring effort to protect him from “disrespectful” words.
Author and filmmaker Mike Cernovich was first to notice the censorship.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leaked: Bank of America Teaches America is ‘White Supremacist’, Promotes Abolition of Police
Newly leaked documents reveal that the Bank of America’s executives are making employees go through lessons that tell them that the USA is a racist country and that they must prioritize racial privilege in their world views.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Louisiana State School Board Meeting Collapses in Chaos of Anti-Mask Parent Protests
A Louisiana state school board meeting collapsed in chaos Wednesday when a raucus crowd and a controversial evangelical minister took over a meeting in a state building to protest Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ COVID-19 mask mandate in schools.
More than 200 people, most of them vehement anti-maskers, were packed into the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting room in the Claiborne Bulding near the state Capitol in Baton Rouge.
All were asked to wear masks or move to an adjacent room when the meeting began, but there was little compliance and no enforcement.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mars Area School Board Bans Teaching Critical Race Theory, Passes ‘Patriotism Amendment’
The Mars Area school board unanimously approved an amendment Tuesday night that would prohibit teaching critical race theory in classrooms, making it one of the first districts in the region to make such a change.
Board members did so by approving a “patriotism amendment” to the district’s mission statement.
Tuesday night’s revision will require all of the district’s buildings and classrooms to display the American flag. It will forbid teaching concepts that cause people to “feel guilt or anguish to persons solely because of their race, sex, or religion” and affirms that the district will not “indoctrinate students in a single social, or political, ideology or theory.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
North Carolina Billboard Skewers Biden for Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal
A billboard in Wilmington, North Carolina, skewered President Biden for the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that saw the Taliban take over the country and stranded thousands of Americans behind terrorist lines.
The electronic roadside display rotated between two pictures of the president.
One picture depicts Biden eating an ice cream cone — in reference to the media’s fawningover the president and hard-hitting reports on his ice cream flavor of choice — juxtaposed in front of a picture of a military helicopter departing the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NYC Slashing: Man Brutally Attacked by Hatchet-Wielding Maniac at Bank ATM
The suspect remains at large, police say
A man was brutally attacked by a hatchet-wielding maniac at a Chase Bank ATM in Lower Manhattan Sunday evening.
The slashing occurred around 5:20 p.m. inside a 42 Broadway Chase Bank vestibule on Broadway near Beaver Street and just steps away from the famous bronze Charging Bull statue.
Video footage of the incident, obtained by The New York Post, shows a man at an ATM when the attacker walks up behind him and strikes his leg with a hatchet.
The two men scuffle for a bit as the victim appears to plead for mercy. The attacker strikes the man several more times, causing blood to gush from his head and splatter across his white shirt.
The attacker then smashes a row of ATMs, causing the screens to shatter and spread glass across the carpet. He drops his hatchet before fleeing the scene…
— Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Sen. Tuberville Slams ‘Squad’ For Not Hearing ‘One Word’ on Protecting Women in Afghanistan
Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tubervile slammed members of the left-wing “Squad” for being “closed-mouthed” about protecting women in Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country.
“I have not heard one word from all of these women in ‘The Squad’ in Congress saying anything about protecting the women of Afghanistan. You know, they’re closed-mouthed right now. It doesn’t fill their narrative. People ought to be sick of this. They really should be. But we’ll work through this,” Tuberville said Tuesday during a radio interview on “The Jeff Poor Show.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senators Quiz Amazon Over Palm Scanning Payment Technology
Amazon’s payment system that’s been in use since 2020 and relies on recognition of biometric data is now under scrutiny by a group of US senators, who are citing privacy concerns, but also those related to fair competition.
Three senators from both parties last week sent a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy asking for a report to be compiled that will shed light on how the palm print recognition scheme, Amazon One, works — specifically regarding the way the retail and tech behemoth collects, retains, and monetizes customer data.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
SIUH/Northwell Employees Continue to Protest Medical Mandates
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Protests against medical mandates continued this week as Staten Island University Hospital/Northwell Health employees gathered outside of the South Campus location on Wednesday.
More than 100 people of all ages, including local community members, gathered across the street from the hospital to voice their opposition COVID vaccine mandates and “fight for freedom,” which many chanted.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Small Group of Healthcare Employees Protests Vaccine Mandate on Memphis Medical District
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) — A group of about 30 people protested in the Medical District in Memphis Wednesday morning.
A majority of the group identified themselves as healthcare employees in Memphis. They were protesting against vaccine mandates instituted by Baptist Memorial Healthcare, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, and Regional One Hospital.
“Part of freedom is allowing everybody the right to choose their own destiny,” said Dan Eubanks, Mississippi state representative from District 25.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Says People Have No Right to Spread “Misinformation”
US authorities seem to be doubling down on their policy of enlisting the help of Big Tech and traditional media in suppressing what they see as medical misinformation being spread by users of social networks and accounts run by these privately-owned corporate giants.
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told CNN that media outlets and journalists should play an instrumental role in stopping people from speaking about their choices regarding COVID — although he acknowledged that they still have the right to those choices.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Jonathan Koeppel, the Spanish teacher from Louisiana who went viral after exposing to the public an online teaching tool that pushed “critical race theory,” says he will take legal action against the school board following his termination. He says the school board took issue with his “unprofessional” use of social media.
Koeppel claims that he was fired on August 11 after two meetings with the school’s principal and the school board’s assistant superintendent.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Lehi High School chemistry teacher was placed on administrative leave on Tuesday after a student’s recording of their teacher’s political rant went viral on social media.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Post Millennial’s editor-at-large Andy Ngo joined Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on Tuesday night to discuss how Antifa violently enforces Democrat policies on America’s streets.
“To one another and to the public they present this façade that they are revolutionary anarchist communists but often you’ll see that they are just violent enforcers of the liberal establishment,” Ngo said, author of Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wounded Chicago Cop Reportedly Paralyzed, Faces ‘Potentially Lifelong Disability’
The paralyzed partner of slain Chicago cop Ella French faces a “potentially lifelong disability,” according to a fundraiser that posted the first image of the critically injured officer in his hospital bed.
French, 29, was fatally shot and her partner, Carlos Yanez, severely wounded after they pulled a car over on the city’s South Side on Saturday. Emonte Morgan, 21, and his 22-year-old brother Eric, both convicted felons, have been charged in the brazen attack.
Yanez was shot in the eye, with a bullet lodged in his brain, according to CBS Chicago.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Canada Heads Into Election Season, Online Free Speech is on the Ballot
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau officially announced an election last Sunday, meaning opposing parties have only five weeks to try and prevent the Liberal Party from forming a majority government, seemingly the only way to prevent the proposed online censorship bills from passing.
According to TrueNorth, the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) confirmed that a Conservative government would not advance Trudeau’s Liberal government’s censorship bills C-10 and C-36. Both bills focus on more social media censorship and punishing Canadians for exercising their freedom of speech.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canadians Pay More for Homes, Gas, And Vehicles: StatCan
Canada’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.7 percent year over year in July, up from a 3.1 percent gain in June. Excluding gasoline, the CPI increased 2.8 percent year over year.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leftist Claiming to Have Torn Down Historic Statues Taunts Police, Dares Them to Arrest Him
A Canadian far-leftist has claimed his own participation in tearing down a statue of Canada’s first Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald over the weekend in Hamilton and dared police to try and arrest him.
Peruvian-born leftist activist Miguel Avila-Velarde, who claims to be a member of Antifa, admitted to having participated in taking down the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald on Saturday, writing publicly on Facebook, “We did it and here I am ers. arrest me for what Mischief and Vandalism?”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Proof of Vaccination or Negative Test to be Required at Live Nation Canada Concerts
To be able to attend a concert hosted by Live Nation Canada you will soon have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to gain entry.
Speaking with The Canadian Press, a representative for the live event promoter said that the company will enforce those rules at “as many shows as possible” in Canada.
Live Nation Canada declined further questioning about the plan or a timeline on when the changes would take place.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Macron’s Helth Pass Mandate Sparks New Yellow Vests-Style Protest Movement
For 43 percent of French people, “France is becoming a dictatorship,” according to an Ifop poll published by the Journal du Dimanche the day after the fifth consecutive Saturday of demonstrations against vaccine segregation throughout France. The survey also shows that 53 percent of French people think that the health pass constitutes an infringement of freedoms. Furthermore, 34 percent of respondents sympathize with or support protests against the extensive use of Covid passports now in force in France.
For the fifth Saturday in a row, in the middle of August, demonstrations against the segregation of French people according to their status as vaccinated or unvaccinated saw hundreds of thousands of people gather in France’s major cities. The protests involved 214,845 people marching in 217 processions on Saturday, Aug. 14, according to figures given by a French police force known for its great capacity to adapt the numbers of demonstrators to the wishes of the executive power.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lockdown Forever: Scotland’s Leftist Govt Want to Make Emergency Coronavirus Laws ‘Permanent’
The leftist governing party of the devolved Scottish parliament is calling for its emergency coronavirus powers to be made “permanent”, giving them the ability to shut schools, enforce mask-wearing, and impose lockdowns without time limit.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) — which, despite being in favour of superstate EU membership, exists to campaign for the North of Britain to break away from the United Kingdom — published on Tuesday an announcement for a 12-week public consultation on removing the expiry date of the leftist government’s ability to enforce wide-ranging lockdown measures, also apparently broadening them beyond the scope of dealing with the Chinese coronavirus.
[Comment: Let Scotland secede.]
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Government to Abolish Supreme Court Disciplinary Chamber in Its Current Form
The Polish government has informed the European Commission (EC) that it will continue carrying out judicial reform in Poland, but will remove the Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Chamber in its current form.
In the middle of July, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the disciplinary system for judges in Poland is against EU law. The deadline for the Polish government to respond to the European Commission concerning the Disciplinary Chamber passed on Aug.16. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated that a response was sent to the Euroepan Commission at the end of that day.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A left-wing academic who was fired after her organisation posted racial slurs against a black conservative is suing her university on the grounds that “black radicalism” and Critical Race Theory (CRT) should be protected beliefs under the UK Equality Act.
Aysha Khanom, who was sacked from her advisory role with Leeds Beckett University (LBU) after the Twitter account for her organisation described conservative political commentator Calvin Robinson as a “house negro” and a “coconut”, is launching a landmark case claiming that her firing was discriminatory.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Woman Arrested as Black Lives Matter Charity Fundraiser ‘Goes Missing’
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of stealing funds raised by a Bristol, UK Black Lives Matter group after radicals toppled the statue of Sir Edward Colston last year.
Following the act of vandalism, which received international attention, the Bristol-based Black Lives Matter group ‘BrisBLM’ fundraising page went viral raising some £32,334, with one donor giving £20,000.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Three Dead After Anti-Taliban Protests in Jalalabad — Witnesses
(Reuters) —Three people were killed and more than a dozen injured after Taliban militants opened fire during protests against the group in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, two witnesses told Reuters.
A Taliban source said one person had been killed in the city, some 150 km (90 miles) to the east of Kabul.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan Collapse: US Has Processed Almost 5,000 for Evacuation From Kabul
The U.S. military has evacuated nearly 5,000 people from Kabul in the last several days, including about 2,000 in the last 24 hours, the State Department said on Wednesday as the U.S. continues to try and remove American citizens and Afghan allies while the Taliban secures its grip on the country.
“In the last 24 hours U.S. military flights evacuated approximately 2000 more people,” Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told reporters. “Over the last several days we have processed more than 4,840 people for evacuation.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Biden administration moved in June to dismantle a system designed to protect American citizens trapped abroad — just months before the Taliban took over Afghanistan, stranding thousands of Americans in the Central Asian country.
Fox News has obtained the June 11 memo sent around the State Department which gave the green light on the “discontinuation of the establishment, and the termination of, the Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau (CCR).”
The sensitive but unclassified memo was signed by Deputy Secretary of State Brian McKeon, just a couple of months before the Biden administration’s botched troop withdrawal that saw Afghanistan fall under Taliban control.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The United Kingdom continues its public push to persuade the Islamist warlords of the Taliban to follow up their de facto defeat of the West in Afghanistan by pivoting to becoming a moderate organisation protecting human rights and pursuing inclusive policies.
Top British political figures have been pushing home — since the expensively cultivated Afghan government evaporated over the weekend — the notion that if the Taliban conforms to Western values then it could be recognised as a legitimate world government, with the benefits that entail. Prime Minister Boris Johnson followed the defence and foreign secretaries in his new remarks, where he revealed the kinds of behaviour he expected from the Taliban in return for recognition.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Catholic League Condemns MSNBC’s ‘Obscene’ Comparison of Christians to Taliban
Catholic League president Bill Donohue has slammed MSNBC for comparing conservative Christians to the Taliban Islamic terror group, calling the comparison “obscene.”
Senior pundits at MSNBC have compared Christians to the Taliban twice in the last week, Dr. Donohue noted in an essay Wednesday, just as the radical Islamist forces are overwhelming the nation of Afghanistan.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Withdrawing from Afghanistan is cowardice that will cause further terrorist attacks, according to Czech President Milos Zeman. He added that the Taliban will set up a terrorist center in Afghanistan and resume attacks around the world.
Zeman accused NATO and the United States of an abject failure that will affect security on a global scale.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Images Show Barbaric Afghanistan Reality After Taliban Seized Control
Distressing images show the barbaric reality in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the country, with women and children covered in blood and militants patrolling streets with rocket launchers — all despite the Taliban’s promise of a more peaceful regime.
Shocking scenes captured across Afghanistan on Tuesday — the day the Taliban’s longtime spokesman promised peace and an “inclusive, Islamic government” — showed militant mobs instead firing high-powered weapons in the air and randomly beating passersby.
Video footage shared on social media also shows groups of people being corralled by armed groups, some carrying what appear to be rocket launchers while others patrol on rooftops.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Insanity: UNICEF is Taking the Taliban at Face Value on Promise to Educate Women and Girls
UNICEF appears to be taking the Taliban at face value after the extremist group declared that it will support education for women and girls, with the head of the UN organisation saying that he has “not a single issue with the Taliban” after they promised to get schools up and running in Afghanistan.
Reuters reports that the UN is ‘quite optimistic’ about the Taliban taking control.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Klaus: Let’s Admit That Afghanistan is Also a Defeat of Czech Foreign Policy
The Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan is not surprising, former Czech President Vaclav Klaus believes. In a new statement from his institute sent to the Echo24 daily, he said that the West now suffers the consequences of exporting and enforcing its culture in countries that were not suitable for it.
“The defeat of the West, which we are watching in Afghanistan today, is also a defeat of Czech foreign policy, and we should be able to admit it,” says the ex-president.
According to Klaus, international organizations and world powers have underestimated the situation in Afghanistan.
“It is proof of the hypocrisy of those who profited profusely from the two-decades-long war and were interested in prolonging it, regardless of the results,” states the Vaclav Klaus Institute.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In response to news footage of CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward’s coverage of the events unfolding in Afghanistan, in which she wore a hijab and abaya, Black News Tonight host Marc Lamont Hill stated his belief that the hijab is a “political tool” used to “demonize Islam.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Questions Over Why Twitter Gives Taliban a Platform While Banning American Dissidents
Questions continue to swirl over why some social media platforms like Twitter are giving the Taliban, a terrorist organization under U.S. law, a public platform having permanently banned American dissidents and the President of the United States himself.
After Facebook and YouTube moved to ban any accounts associated with the Taliban following their takeover of Afghanistan, Twitter faced scrutiny as to why it hadn’t followed suit.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rep. Gallagher Warns ‘We Could See Bodies Being Dragged Through the Streets’ In Afghanistan
Wisconsin GOP Congressman Mike Gallagher joined “America’s Newsroom” Wednesday and blasted President Biden for his handling of the crisis in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
TRUMP RIPS BIDEN’S AFGHAN ACTIONS: ‘OUR COUNTRY HAS NEVER BEEN SO HUMILIATED’; ‘BLOWS VIETNAM AWAY’
REP. MIKE GALLAGHER: We do not leave our people behind. We have to get our people out, as well as our Afghan allies, out of that country. We have approximately 15,000 that right now are trapped behind enemy lines, dangerously close to becoming prisoners of war. I think there is a tendency, because they are now giving press conferences, for people to think that the Taliban is this monolithic governmental entity. Which. of course, it is not. It has competing factions.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban Kill Woman for Not Wearing Burqa on Same Day They Vow to Honor Women’s Rights
Taliban fighters shot and killed a woman for not wearing a burqa in Afghanistan on Tuesday — the same day the group pledged to usher in a new inclusive era in the country that honors “women’s rights.”
A photo emerged of a woman in Takhar province lying in a pool of blood, with loved ones crouched around her, after she was killed by insurgents for being in public without a head covering, according to Fox News.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban Militants Violently Disperse Rare Afghan Protest
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban militants attacked protesters Wednesday in Afghanistan who dared to take down their banner and replace it with the country’s flag, killing at least one person and fueling fears about how the insurgents would govern this fractious nation.
While the Taliban have insisted they will respect human rights, unlike during their previously draconian rule, the attack in Jalalabad came as many Afghans were hiding at home or trying to flee the country, fearful of abuses by the loosely controlled militant organization. Many people have expressed dread that the two-decade Western experiment to remake Afghanistan will not survive the resurgent Taliban, who took control of the country in a blitz that took just days.
Taliban leaders talked Wednesday with senior Afghan officials about a future government. In a potential complication to any effort to stabilize the country, the head of the country’s central bank warned that American sanctions over the Taliban’s designation as a terrorist organization threatened Afghanistan’s economy, which already is dangerously low on hard foreign currency…
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Thailand’s Anti-Government Protests Escalating
Anti-government protests are escalating in Thailand, with many people believed to have been injured in clashes with police in the three days through Tuesday.
Growing public discontent over the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has led to calls by protestors for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to resign.
Amid the spread of the Delta variant, the country has continued to report more than 20,000 new cases and around 200 deaths every day. Protesters blame the government for the increase and for the delay in the country’s receipt of COVID-19 vaccines.
On Sunday, demonstrators in cars and on motorbikes clashed with police as they moved toward government facilities. A police building and vehicles were set on fire.
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Unbelievable: Taliban Troll Biden on Twitter by Posing With ICE Cream
The Taliban sent Joe Biden a message Tuesday by posing for a photograph, which later ended up on Twitter, showing fighters holding ice cream cones.
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Video: Trump Warns Taliban Will Use Trapped Americans as “Hostages”
Speaking with Hannity Tuesday night, President Trump warned that the Americans who are trapped in Afghanistan thanks to the total lack of contingency by the Biden administration will be used as hostages by the Taliban.
“We’re being set up. They have all those people and I can guarantee you they consider them to be hostages,” Trump warned.
He continued, “And let’s see what happens over the coming weeks. But this is not a story that ended today or yesterday. This is a story that is going to go on for a long time. And it could be a very, very bad ending.
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Cambodia: 6 Company Executives Detained After Almost 400 People Illegally Gathered
6 Unicity executives have been remanded in custody for their part in an illegal gathering on the night of August 15, 2021 that saw almost 400 people arrested — and 2 tested positive for COVID
Takeo Provincial Court made the decision after hearing evidence related to the illegal gathering at Borey Raksmey, located in Roka commune, Daun Keo city, Takeo province
The crowd had gathered in defiance of the Royal Government’s ban on gatherings of more than 15 people in order to attend a Multi Level Marketing (MLM) sales meeting for nutritional products distributed by the Unicity company.
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Communist China Adds Video Promoting Critical Race Theory to Propaganda Lineup
A propaganda outlet controlled by the Chinese Communist Party aired a video promoting critical race theory to American children.
In the video produced and disseminated by the China Global Television Network, a network owned by a state media company that answers to the official CCP Propaganda Department, two English-speaking narrators explain that “black people have gotten fewer opportunities than other people” and “racism is passed down from generation to generation.”
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Australian Police Chastise Man Who Went Outside to Get Some “Fresh Air”
Footage from a news conference shows a police chief in Australia chastising a man because when authorities paid him a visit, he wasn’t at home and had gone out for some “fresh air.”
Yes, really.
The officer said that the incident had been detected as a result of the military and New South Wales police undertaking home checks on people who are supposed to be self-isolating under the country’s draconian lockdown regime.
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COVID-19: Three People Charged After Auckland Anti-Lockdown Protest
Three people have been charged and are set to appear in court after an anti-lockdown protest in Auckland.
New Zealand entered a nationwide level 4 lockdown at 11.59pm on Tuesday after a man in Devonport, Auckland, tested positive for Covid-19. There are now a total of 10 cases in the community, all carrying the Delta variant.
On Wednesday, despite the country being in alert level 4 restrictions, about 100 people protested outside TVNZ.
Two men, aged 49 and 36, are due to appear in the Auckland District Court on Thursday, a police spokesperson confirmed.
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Queensland CEO Greg Hallam Sues Former Lawmaker Over Jabba the Hutt Memes
A high ranking member of the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) is suing a former MP in this Australian state and an anti-corruption campaigner for posting memes on Facebook.
The chief executive of the LGAQ, Greg Hallam, alleges that former state MP Rob Pyne and campaigner Lyn O’Connor defamed his character and caused harm to his mental and physical health when they shared memes on the social media giant’s groups, including one that shows Star Wars universe’s top gangster, Jabba the Hutt, sporting a t-shirt with “LGAQ” printed across it.
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100,000 Migrants on Their Way Along the Balkans Route
Hungary needs to prepare for another wave of illegal migration, which could be similar in magnitude to the one experienced during the 2015 migration crisis that overtook Europe, Fidesz deputy caucus leader Janos Halasz said in an interview.
“In recent days, we have seen frightening images of people fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan — seeing the developments in the Central Asian country, all experts agree that another influx of migrants may soon flow into Europe,” Halasz said.
He pointed out that even without the wave expected to hit Europe from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, migration to Europe has increased this year, with the number of migrants multiple times greater than compared to last year.
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Conservative Govt Invites 20,000 Afghans to UK in Coming Years
The British government has committed to accepting 20,000 Afghan refugees, on top of the plan to resettle interpreters, but the Home Office said that officials could end up bringing in “many more”.
Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed on Wednesday that the government would introduce a separate refugee policy — the Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme — that would see 5,000 Afghans arrive in a year, with at least another 15,000 in the following years. It is believed to be modelled on the similar programme for Syrians the Conservative government operated since 2014, which has seen to date 20,319 arrive.
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Diplomat: “Not Even Tanks” Can Stop Large Wave of Afghan Refugees Heading to Europe
Despite Europe heavily fortifying its borders since the 2015 crisis, a top diplomat warns that “not even tanks” can stop a potentially large wave of Afghan refugees heading to the continent.
Even before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, up to 30,000 people were fleeing the country every single week.
Humanitarian development worker Sybille Schnehage told German broadcaster WDR on Sunday, “We can assume that up to three million Afghans will make their way to Europe in the foreseeable future.”
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EU Condemns Belarus for ‘Direct Attack’ Using Migrants
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday condemned what it called Belarus’s “aggressive behavior” in organizing illegal border crossings with migrants into Latvia, Lithuania and Poland with the aim of destabilizing the 27-nation bloc.
So far this year, more than 4,100 asylum-seekers, most of them from Iraq, have illegally crossed from Belarus into Lithuania. That’s 50 times more than during all of 2020. They’re being sheltered in temporary camps across the Baltic EU member.
Poland said Wednesday it had deployed nearly 1,000 troops to its border with Belarus to help border guards cope with a surge of migrants — again mostly from Iraq — who were trying to enter the country.
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EU Will Help Afghanistan’s Neighbors With Refugees, Says Borrell
The European Union will help Afghanistan’s neighbors cope with the negative effects expected due to the intensified flow of refugees and migrants. The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated this on Tuesday after a special meeting of EU foreign ministers.
“The EU calls on the Taliban to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law in all circumstances. The EU will also support Afghanistan’s neighbors in coping with negative spillovers, which are to be expected from an increasing flow of refugees and migrants,” said Borrell.
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Greece Prepares Its Sea and Land Borders Ahead of Afghanistan Migration Crisis
Greece is on high alert following the collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban with the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis calling an urgent meeting on Wednesday with the Government Council for Foreign Affairs (KYSEA).
Dominating the agenda of the meeting were the developments in Afghanistan and planning for border protection ahead of a potential migration crisis that could be exploited by human traffickers and political players in the region.
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Italy Saw Nearly 50k Migrant Arrivals This Year, Up 128%
Italy’s Interior Ministry has revealed that from August 1st, 2020, to July 31st of this year, 49,280 arrived illegally in the country.
The report said that the 49,280 figure of arrivals coming to Italy was 128 per cent more than the previous period, which saw 21,616 illegals arrive between August 2019 to the start of August 2020.
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‘Poland Defended Itself Against the 2015 Migration Wave and Will Defend Itself Now,’ Says Deputy PM
Given the current situation in Afghanistan, Poland is ready to offer aid but on its own terms, and that aid will not include accepting a large amount of migrants, according to Deputy PM and minister of culture and national heritage Piotr Glinski.
He spoke in context of the recent situation in Afghanistan due to the withdrawal of the American military, which resulted in a Taliban takeover of the country.
“It is not our role to criticize the president of the United States. The situation in very serious and every sensible person could have expected the Taliban to quickly take over Afghanistan after American soldiers left,” he said.
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Polish Army Deployed to Belarus Border Amid Migrant Surge
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland deployed hundreds of troops at its border with Belarus to support border guards, the Polish defense minister said on Wednesday, amid a surge of migrants seeking to enter the country.
Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said that more than 900 Polish troops are involved in the operation. It’s believed most of the migrants trying to cross are from Iraq.
Late Tuesday, a Polish deputy interior minister tweeted that the border with Belarus is sealed and that the soldiers have already been there for a week.
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The pro-migrant German Green Party, which has long advocated for more refugees and immigrants for Germany, is now calling for Germany and other Western countries to take in potentially hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees.
The Green Party’s candidate for German chancellor, Annalena Baerbock, is pushing Europe, the United States, and Canada accept a set amount of refugees from Afghanistan, SAT 1 TV reported on this on Sunday.
According to her, Germany cannot wait for the 27 EU member states to agree. She emphasized the need to work with European countries willing to receive refugees, and “in particular with the Americans and Canadians to agree on clear rules on quotas (for Afghan refugees).”
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New Twitter Feature Lets Users Report “Misinformation”
Twitter has stated that it will begin testing a new reporting function for users to flag tweets containing suspected “misinformation” around COVID-19.
According to The Verge, users will be able to report misinformation using the same procedure they use to report “harassment” or other content using the new tool. This new feature is rolling out now but, so far, only for users in the US, Australia, and South Korea.
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The World Economic Forum’s Totally Not Creepy New Idea
Davos globalists are worried that ubiquitous face masks are preventing the plebs from being identified via facial recognition technology.
But don’t worry, they have a solution, and it’s not creepy at all!
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greece is preparing for New Waves of Afghani refugees Greece is doing that not because it is under pressure from its own population as democracy requires , actually the pressure comes from traitors the Eu traitors who pressure greece Italy Spain and other European countries to take unlimited millions millions of Muslims.
Civil wars in Europe are coming EU was established to avoid the wars .. chronic wars today it is the dirty catalyst that paves the road to unlimited, infinite civil wars. Ready to erupt everywhere. Signs are everywhere.
For the third time Europe is suffering, but this time permanently, it will be Islamic/ African continent..
No it will not…..
Wrong! You just ain’t seen the average European mad yet, but you soon will.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/08/17/priti-patel-calls-europe-help-take-afghan-refugees/amp/
The British Conservative party everyone
Some accounts say that one person was killed, while others report three deaths.
As many as three?. Surely not?
What does CNN say?
Well it looks like sex education experience culture identity – you name it – doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. Just look at the west. Ready and prepared for collapse. If Sharia and Islam is now aok all the way then just to survive it’s going to take something seriously deranged. After Afghanistan it’s not too difficult to imagine – anything. Well I guess it’s not a girls world after all.
We are ready,the army and the national guards even the reservists in an area from the river Nestos,Grecobulgarian front, to the tiny island of Kastelorizo south east aegean facing Turkey.
The Bulgarians have come to an agreement with Turkey and although the flow through the Evros river stopped due to the fence,they were entering through Bulgaria.
So we seal as much as we can the Bulgarian ftont.
When we find them we send them back to Bulgaria.
We the people are ready to throw them at the bottom of the Aegean but our politicians are traitors.This is a very big problem.
I smell nasty events happening here.
We do not feel fear,we wish to change route,out of that kind of EE and return to drachma.
Ouf future must not and will not be Islamisation.