Florida Governor Ron DeSantis flew fifty illegal migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, causing a severe crisis. The island’s homelessness director said that there is no way to accommodate the arrivals, because there is a lack of affordable housing. Meanwhile, the governor of Massachusetts sent in 125 members of the National Guard, who flew the immigrants to temporary housing on a military base on Cape Cod.
In other news, representatives of European heavy industry warned the European Commission that the current energy crisis could result in the permanent de-industrialization of the EU if urgent action is not taken.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Caroline Glick, Dean, DV, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, 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.
1.3 Million Jobs Were Result of Double-Counting This Year, Heritage Economist Says
Authored by Andrew Moran via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
The monthly U.S. jobs reports have topped market estimates many times this year, including the July and August non-farm payrolls reports, which showed 528,000 and 315,000 new jobs, respectively, higher than what many economists and analysts had initially projected.
White House officials have taken victory laps on the data, noting that these numbers are proof the economy is strong and that President Joe Biden’s policies are supporting post-pandemic growth.
But economists had questions about discrepancies between Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data and the various labor-related numbers revealed throughout the month. Plus, why has the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening campaign failed to diminish labor demand?
Several experts may have determined what is causing better-than-expected labor numbers. The answer may have to do with double-counting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bank Robbers Become Heroes Amid Lebanon’s Financial Crisis
Lebanon citizens have been forced to become armed bank robbers to withdraw their own money from their bank accounts, while fellow citizens look on and applaud.
The dire situation comes to light in a viral video where a woman claims she had to “rob her bank” at gunpoint to withdraw her own money. She was forced to become a bank robber to pay for her sister’s cancer treatment, but she later told the media the gun was a toy.
According to a report from Al Jazeera, “In August, an armed man also held employees and customers hostage at a Beirut bank after he was told he could not withdraw $200,000 from his account for his sick father’s treatment.”
“The man was cheered on by a crowd outside the bank.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
King Charles (pictured) expressed serious ‘concerns’ over how people will manage during the upcoming ‘difficult winter’ due to the cost-of-living crisis, said the Welsh First Minister.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Alex Jones once again claimed that the judge from his Sandy Hook trial who ordered him to pay $45million in damages is a George Soros operative because she has ‘purple and blue hair.’
During a rant on Steven Crowder’s YouTube show, Jones made a rambling argument that Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ‘admits’ she is a tool of the liberal megadonor on Facebook.
Although Crowder told Jones he mostly agreed with him, he did push back on his claim that Gamble admitted being a Soros operative on her Facebook page. Crowder warned Jones that would be an accusation the media will ‘take out of context.’
Jones continued to argue that Gamble has ‘purple, blue hair and has all these Soros-funded PACs on the site. And she gets money out of the packs that are funded by Soros.’
He accused the city of Austin, where the ruling was made, of being a ‘Soros bastion’ but Crowder again clarified that Gamble did not literally call herself a Soros operative.
However, Jones did eventually calm down enough to agree that Gamble ‘did not say ‘I am a Soros operative.’ You’re correct.’
Crowder responded by joking, ‘You don’t know if Soros paid for her blue hair dye. We cannot confirm nor deny, but we’ll assume so.’
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Calls Grow Among Prominent Figures to Create a New ‘Church Committee’ To Probe FBI Abuses
A half century ago, Americans held grave concerns that J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies had abused civil rights, improperly targeted enemies and illegally gathered evidence, so Congress set out on a great cleansing mission. It formed a special committee chaired by Idaho Sen. Frank Church that laid bare the wrongdoing, overhauled the bureau and created new guardrails to protect civil liberties.
A growing number of influential figures in Washington are arguing it’s time for another Church Committee after a tumultuous six years in which the FBI admitted it misled the FISA court while spying on Donald Trump’s campaign, had executives who lied, doctored evidence or usurped prosecutors’ authority, and employed agents who dropped the ball on a sexual abuse scandal involving Olympians and overcollected evidence in a raid of a former president’s home.
The revelation this week that the bureau secretly paid a Russian businessman as a confidential informant against Trump even though he was suspected of lying and having ties to the Kremlin’s intelligence agencies only accelerated support for a sweeping, independent probe of the FBI now under the control of Director Christopher Wray.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An Indiana man who was robbed at gunpoint while visiting family in Chicago used his military background to fight back and thwart any further attack, but police were unable to catch the fleeing suspects after officers were told to discontinue their pursuit, according to reports and interviews with Fox News Digital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ Partially Appeals Trump Raid Ruling, Seeks to Keep Investigating Disputed Classified Memos
The Biden Justice Department asked a federal appeals court Friday to put on hold part of a judge’s order appointing a special master to review documents the FBI seized from.Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump Invited to Washington Cathedral Service for Queen
Former U.S. President Donald Trump will be invited to a special memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II attended by the Queen’s Colour Squadron in America’s Washington National Cathedral.
President Trump has not been invited to the Queen’s state funeral in Westminster Abbey and nor have Barack Obama, George Bush, Bill Clinton, or Jimmy Carter, such is the demand among the sitting political leaders, but the living former presidents will all be invited to an invitation-only service at the “spiritual home” of Anglicanism in America organised in partnership with the British Embassy, reports The Times of London.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Facebook Blocks Holocaust Movie Beautiful Blue Eyes
Facebook has banned ads for Holocaust film Beautiful Blue Eyes. The film’s distributor MovieFarm, told the film’s director Joshua Newton that Facebook had banned the film’s ads for violating its policy against content that, “includes direct or indirect assertions or implications about a person’s race.”
The movie, which is Roy Scheider’s final performance, is said to be based on Newton’s father’s experiences as a holocaust survivor, as reported by Rolling Stone.
It centers on an NYPD officer who has been haunted by the murder of his family during World War II. He believes he has found the Nazi who killed his family and asks his son to help him in his quest for vengeance.
The film’s title references the eye color of a kid who was killed by Nazis. It is not clear why Facebook deemed the movie racist.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Fauci Knows’ He Funded Gain-of-Function Research, ‘Misled Congress, ‘ Former CDC Director Says
The former Center for Disease Control and Prevention director who was cast as a conspiracy theorist for saying the evidence supported the lab-leak explanation for COVID-19 — allegedly provoking death threats — claims that the real “conspiracy is Collins, Fauci, and the established scientific community.”
Robert Redfield told former Senate Finance Committee investigator Paul Thacker that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci “knew” he funded gain-of-function research that makes viruses more dangerous, and “misled Congress” when he denied it,” but “[n]othing’s going to happen as long as the Biden administration is here.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fifth Circuit Rejects First Amendment Challenge to Texas Social Media Common Carrier Law
Just released, Netchoice v. Paxton; I’m traveling and likely won’t have time to digest the 113 pages of opinions for a while, but here’s the opening from Judge Andrew Oldham’s opinion, which is a majority on most points:
A Texas statute named House Bill 20 generally prohibits large social media platforms from censoring speech based on the viewpoint of its speaker. The platforms urge us to hold that the statute is facially unconstitutional and hence cannot be applied to anyone at any time and under any circumstances.
In urging such sweeping relief, the platforms offer a rather odd inversion of the First Amendment. That Amendment, of course, protects every person’s right to “the freedom of speech.” But the platforms argue that buried somewhere in the person’s enumerated right to free speech lies a corporation’s unenumerated right to muzzle speech.
The implications of the platforms’ argument are staggering. On the platforms’ view, email providers, mobile phone companies, and banks could cancel the accounts of anyone who sends an email, makes a phone call, or spends money in support of a disfavored political party, candidate, or business. What’s worse, the platforms argue that a business can acquire a dominant market position by holding itself out as open to everyone—as Twitter did in championing itself as “the free speech wing of the free speech party.” Then, having cemented itself as the monopolist of “the modern public square,” Packingham v. North Carolina (2017), Twitter unapologetically argues that it could turn around and ban all pro-LGBT speech for no other reason than its employees want to pick on members of that community, Oral Arg. at 22:39—22:52.
Today we reject the idea that corporations have a freewheeling First Amendment right to censor what people say. Because the district court held otherwise, we reverse its injunction and remand for further proceedings.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A 31-year-old woman has been arrested for attempted first-degree murder after deputies found two people who were stabbed Friday morning.
Christina Adams, 31, was arrested shortly after the stabbing in Marion County after one of the victims called 911 to report the incident, deputies said.
When deputies responded to the 911 call around 8:03 a.m., one of the victims said Adams was the person who stabbed her and another person. Adams allegedly fled the scene, but was located by deputies near where the stabbing happened, deputies said.
Adams initially denied any involvement, but she later told detectives that she was “angry over being asked to leave the home that she shared with the victims.”
Adams then told detectives that she grabbed a large knife and then attacked both victims, stabbing them multiple times, deputies said.
She thought both victims were dead, she attempted to destroy evidence, and then left the scene, deputies said.
After the attack, Adams told detectives that she changed her clothes and went shopping. Deputies said they located Adams, who was driving back toward the location of the stabbing.
Adams was arrested on two counts of attempted first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. She is being held in the Marion County jail without bond.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Marco Rubio Introduces Bill to Criminalize Protesters Who Block Interstates
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has introduced legislation that would make it illegal for protesters to block interstate highways.
Deemed the Safe Passage on Interstates Act, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) has sponsored the bill alongside Rubio. In a press release shared exclusively with Breitbart News, Marco Rubio said the legislation would aim to protect “commuters, first responders, and other travelers on our nation’s roadways.” Though some states have adopted their own laws to protect against such protests, no federal law exists.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Marine Corps Rescinds Penalties for Service Members Seeking COVID Vax Religious Accommodations
The U.S. Marine Corps is rolling back strict punishments for service members seeking religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine, including ending involuntary terminations and delays of promotions for some of those refusing the shot.
According to a new “interim guidance,” signed Sept. 14 and posted quietly online, the message “amends actions” directed toward unvaccinated Marines whose religious accommodation requests were denied and who appealed the decision.
The memo states that the amended guidance comes after a U.S. Federal District Court in Florida issued a preliminary injunction on Aug. 18 prohibiting the Marines from taking “certain actions” against those seeking religious exemptions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mike Pompeo Tells Chicago Crowd He’s Prepping for 2024 Run
Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a crowd in Illinois this week that he is preparing to run for president during the 2024 elections.
“We’ve got a team in Iowa, a team in New Hampshire and South Carolina. And that’s not random. We are doing the things one would do to get ready,” Pompeo told 1,100 people during a Chicago event on Tuesday, according to a Politico reporter.
[Comment: He won’t go far.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Newsom Signs Sweeping California Climate Initiative Into Law
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of new climate initiatives into law on Friday, touting them as aggressive moves to address pollution and accelerate a clean energy transition in the Golden State.
During a signing ceremony in Solano County, Newsom said the climate initiatives represent an investment in the state’s future.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FOX Business host Kennedy warned on “Outnumbered” Friday that the violent protests that shut down Tomi Lahren’s speaking engagement at the University of New Mexico are a “bad vision” of the future. Lahren said the protesters “turned violent” and the lives of students who had come to her Turning Point USA event “were in danger.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senators Use Hearing to Criticize Big Tech for Not Censoring Enough “Disinformation”
The Senate Homeland Security Committee questioned executives from social media companies about allowing “disinformation” to go viral.
Former executives from these companies appeared during the hearings and accused their former employers of allowing misinformation to spread because it has more user engagement.
Committee chair Senator Gary Peters (a Democrat from Michigan) told Twitter, Meta, YouTube, and TikTok that by pushing “the most engaging posts to more users, they end up amplifying extremist, dangerous, and radicalizing content. This includes QAnon, Stop the Steal, and other conspiracy theories, as well as white supremacist and anti-Semitic rhetoric.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Says End of Durham Probe Will ‘Reveal Corruption at a Level Never Seen Before’
Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion probe is nearing its conclusion and only Merrick Garland will have the authority to release the findings to the public or not.
According to Yahoo News, the report provides the opportunity to present evidence that the Justice Department began its investigation into Trump in 2016 under dubious circumstances or with unscrupulous methods. Trump wrote of the report and said, “The public is waiting ‘with bated breath’“ for the Durham Report, “which should reveal corruption at a level never seen before in our country.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UCLA Database Reveals Well-Funded Push for Critical Race Theory, Argues Cornell Law Professor
The difference between two databases, both designed to track critical race theory, reveals the institutional and financial support strength behind CRT in schools and corporate America, argued William Jacobson, a Cornell Law School professor and founder of CriticalRace.org
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law in August launched its “CRT Forward Tracking Project,” a database that will allow users to “track attacks on critical race theory” at the “local, state and federal levels.”
Launched over a year ago, CriticalRace.org houses a database that tracks critical race theory in higher education, private schools and medical schools.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Hospital Runs Myocarditis in Kids Awareness Commercial as if it’s a Common Illness
The New York-Presbyterian Hospital is running a commercial in an effort to raise awareness of myocarditis in children, seemingly suggesting that inflammation of the heart in children is a common condition.
The video, titled “Pediatric Patient Story — Suri” tells the story of a child who “had a bad stomach ache that turned out to be myocarditis, a serious inflammation of the heart.”
The video caption states that “Our multidisciplinary pediatric critical care team worked to regulate her heartbeat — and got her back to feeling like herself.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Virginia Judge Dismisses Youth Climate Change Lawsuit
A Virginia judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of 13 young people who claim that the state’s permitting of fossil fuel projects is exacerbating climate change and violating their constitutional rights.
The lawsuit filed by Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon-based nonprofit public interest law firm, asked the court to declare portions of the Virginia Gas and Oil Act unconstitutional. It also seeks to find the state’s reliance on and promotion of fossil fuels violates the rights of the plaintiffs, who range in age from 10 to 19.
But Richmond Circuit Court Judge Clarence Jenkins Jr. granted the state’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, finding that the complaint is barred by sovereign immunity.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Will, Kankakee Counties File Lawsuit Over SAFE-T Act
WILL COUNTY, Ill. — Two lawsuits were filed by Will and Kankakee county officials Friday over the SAFE-T Act.
Officials in the counties claim the bill, signed by Gov. Pritzker, is unconstitutional.
The nearly 800-page bill eliminates cash bail in Illinois and that is set to begin on Jan. 1, 2023.
As election season roars, the bill has been described by conservatives as a “Purge law.” It’s become a central issue in GOP candidate for governor Darren Bailey’s campaign — framing cash bail elimination as a law that will make it difficult to detain accused offenders and allow criminals to run rampant.
Gov. Pritzker said the law implements necessary criminal justice reforms.
On Friday morning, Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe filed a lawsuit naming two defendants — Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Gov. JB Pritzker.
The lawsuit says the SAFE-T “violates the single subject rule” which mandates that a piece of legislation contain only one topic. It also alleges the “statute is unconstitutionally vague” and that the general assembly violates the “separation of powers principle” by effectively changing the state constitution without a referendum or constitutional convention.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Dead, Man Critically Wounded After N. Harris Co. Shooting, Constable’s Office Says
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A heavy police presence is underway in north Harris County where a man and a woman were shot multiple times, deputies said on Friday.
The investigation is in the 200 block of Airtex Drive near Brundage, the office of Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman tweeted.
[…]
“A male and female victim have multiple gunshot wounds,” Herman’s office tweeted. “The victims are being transported to a local hospital in critical condition.”
Authorities later said the woman died.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed that its deputies were heading to the scene, adding that it doesn’t appear the victims were shooting at each other and that a third person may be involved.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Biological Male Who Murdered Woman, Raped Her Corpse to be Housed in Canadian Women’s Prison
A 68-year-old biological male that identifies as a woman who is serving a life sentence for murdering a woman and then raping her corpse has been approved for transfer to a women’s prison in Ontario, Canada, according to Heather Mason.
Mason is a former federal prisoner and advocate for women in prison, and a founding member of the Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) group.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
RCMP Research Shows Only 35% of Canadians Trust National Leadership
The RCMP’s research shows that only 35% of Canadians trust the leadership of RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki.
Another 51% of Canadians said the Mounties are an honest police force, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. And 61% of Canadians surveyed say the RCMP seldom exceeds its authority, while 22% say the RCMP sometimes oversteps its boundaries.
The RCMP in-house research also found that tracking suggests trust in the RCMP’s national leaders has eroded somewhat over the past year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Energy Crisis Could Lead to ‘Permanent Deindustrialisation’ of Europe
Heavy industry experts have warned the EU that it faces the danger of “permanent deindustrialisation” should it not act to save the sector.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
German Town Votes to Permit Topless Swimming in Local Pools
BERLIN (AP) — A town in central Germany has voted in favor of letting all swimmers bathe topless at its four municipal pools.German news agency dpa reported…
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Must Become ‘The Best Equipped Armed Force in Europe’, Scholz Says
Germany is ready to become a leader on European security and must become the “best equipped armed force” in Europe, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday.
“As the most populous nation with the greatest economic power and a country in the centre of the continent, our army must become the cornerstone of conventional defence in Europe, the best-equipped force,” Scholz said in a speech before the top personnel of the Bundeswehr.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has been a turning point for German defence policy, with the country creating a special fund of €100 billion to upgrade its armed forces.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘It’s a Boring Joke,’ Viktor Orban Says After MEPs Declare Hungary an Electoral Autocracy
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday he found it “funny” that the European Parliament had passed a report calling his country an “electoral autocracy.”
“I find it funny,” Orban said during a visit to Belgrade, Serbia’s capital.
“The only reason we don’t laugh at it is because we’re bored of it. It’s a boring joke. It’s the third or fourth time they’ve passed a resolution condemning Hungary in the European Parliament. At first, we thought it was significant. But now we see it as a joke.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More Than 50 Just Stop Oil Protesters in UK Sent to Jail on One Day
More than 50 protesters who are demanding urgent action to address the climate crisis were sent to jail on one day this week after refusing to comply with court proceedings.
The campaigners, who were appearing before judges at two separate hearings in London and Birmingham, had broken an injunction to take part in a blockade of the Kingsbury oil terminal near Tamworth in Staffordshire on Wednesday.
But when they appeared at the Queen Elizabeth court in Birmingham and the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Thursday, they refused to comply, standing on chairs, turning their backs to the judge and reading out prepared statements about the scale of the crisis.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Cops Threaten to Hand in Guns After Officer Who Shot Black Man Suspended
Armed police in Sadiq Khan’s London have threatened to hand in their firearms after a colleague who shot a black suspect was suspended following a pressure campaign.
Chris Kaba, a so-called drill rapper previously imprisoned for firearms offences, is said to have been killed by a single gunshot during a car chase with police.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police questioned a man swimming in the Thames with a GoPro camera strapped to his head, over fears he ‘may have been on a mission to disrupt the Queen’s funeral’.
Met Police officers fished the activist out of the river after he was caught paddling on a float close to the Houses of Parliament.
The hapless man in his 20s was spotted in a no-go area in the early hours as police began preparing for the biggest security operation the country has ever seen ahead of Her Majesty’s state funeral on Monday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Extinction Rebellion protesters who brought London to a standstill and blocked London Fire Brigade HQ cannot use the Human Rights Act to avoid prosecution a judge ruled today.
Emma Cooper, 31, Jamie Russell, 48, and Luke Mallett, 25, were part of a 300-strong march that blocked Vauxhall Bridge on April 10 this year, Westminster Magistrates Court heard today.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Khan’s London: Two Police Officers Hospitalised After Being Stabbed in City Centre
Two police officers have been hospitalised after being “seriously injured” in a stabbing attack in central London in the early hours of Friday morning.
As the British capital is preparing for what is expected to be the largest security operation in the history of the nation as world leaders descend upon London to pay their respect to Queen Elizabeth II, two officers have been laid low after suffering stab injuries during an incident at 6 a.m. in Leicester Square.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Protecting Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is set to cost more than $7.5 million — the most expensive single-day operation in UK history, a former royal security officer predicted.
The British Mi5 and Mi6 intelligence agencies and London’s Metropolitan Police will collaborate with the Secret Service and intelligence bureaus from around the globe to protect an unprecedented number of world leaders expected for Monday’s funeral.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Serving Met Police Officer Charged With Having Sex With Schoolgirl
PC Hussain Chehab has been charged with allegedly having sexual activity with an underage girl and twelve other crimes against children.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Trial Date Set for Extinction Rebellion Members Over Bank Damage
Two women could stand trial next year accused of criminal damage after a window and a door of a bank in Norwich were smashed.
Extinction Rebellion members Amanda Fox, 51, and Jennifer Parkhouse, 70, have been charged with criminal damage to Barclays Bank at St James’ Court, off Whitefriars, Norwich at about 7.10am on April 13 last year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: For Israel to be Safe it Must Bury the Oslo Delusion
The Deputy Commander of the IDF’s Nahal Reconnaissance Unit, Maj. Bar Falah, was killed Tuesday night when two Palestinian terrorists, one an officer in the U.S.-funded and trained Palestinian Authority security services, opened fire on Falah and his soldiers. Falah’s soldiers returned fire and killed the two men. Falah’s tragic death must precipitate a national reckoning with hard but obvious realities.
Major Falah and his soldiers were positioned by the Jalameh checkpoint in northern Samaria, close to the city of Jenin, which has been the hub of Palestinian terrorism, directed by Iran through its proxy Islamic Jihad for much of the past year. Jalameh is located adjacent to the checkpoint, which regulates traffic from northern Samaria crossing the 1949 armistice line.
Earlier that day, Palestinian terrorists had opened fire on IDF engineers carrying out work on the separation barrier, which blocks Palestinian terrorists from infiltrating Israeli population centers. That shooting was part of a steep rise in Palestinian terror attacks over the past several months. On Monday, Itamar Cohen, an Israeli shepherd, was attacked by a lynch mob of Palestinians and critically injured by a scythe near the Maon Farm in the South Hebron Hills.
Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar said this week that terror attacks have risen 30% over the past year. According to Channel 14, inn the past month alone, Palestinians carried out 70 shooting attacks and hundreds of firebomb and rock assaults against Israelis in Judea and Samaria. Terror has also risen in Jerusalem and throughout the rest of the country.
In other words, when Falah and his soldiers identified two suspicious men crouching near their position, they had every reason to assume that they were terrorists planning to attack them. And they did. But the IDF’s high command reportedly rejected their assessment…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
JERUSALEM — The Islamic Republic of Iran’s morality police are embroiled in a shocking case of brutality for the alleged murder of a 22-year-old woman arrested for failing to comply with the theocratic state’s radical law requiring women to cover their hair.
The case of Masha Amini, who died Friday in Tehran, sparked widespread outrage among Iranian-Americans who are urging President Biden to deny a visa to Iran President Ebrahim Raisi to prevent him attending the United Nations General Assembly, where he will address the world body next week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Calls on Next Swedish Government to Take Counter-Terrorism Steps Needed for NATO Membership
ANKARA, Sept 14 (Reuters) — The new Swedish government should now address security concerns that Turkey has raised in return for lifting its veto on Sweden…
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Majority of Slovaks Support a Russian Military Victory Over Ukraine
More than half of Slovaks would welcome a Russian military victory over Ukraine, according to a new poll published on Wednesday (14 September).
The representative survey, entitled “How are you doing, Slovakia?”, was conducted by the MNFORCE and Seesame agencies and the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
Respondents were asked to answer the survey using a 10-point scale, where 1 means a clear victory for Russia and 10 for Ukraine. About a fifth of respondents said they wanted a clear Russian victory, and more than half said they were inclined towards a Russian victory. The overwhelming majority of voters in former Prime Minister Robert Fico’s social democratic party SMER are on the Russian side.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Complains Lack of Invite to Queen’s Funeral is ‘Blasphemous’ And ‘Immoral’
Russia has complained that the failure to invite its representatives to the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is “blasphemous” and “profoundly immoral”.
“We view this British attempt to use a national tragedy that has touched the hearts of millions of people around the world for geopolitical purposes to settle scores with our country during the days of mourning as profoundly immoral,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova complained in comments quoted by Sky News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lyudmila Boyko (pictured) headed the election commission in Berdyansk in the occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, and had been preparing to implement the Kremlin’s plans for a poll.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Zelensky’s Home City Flooded After Russian Strikes Burst Dam: Reports
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rih has been flooded, reportedly after Russian strikes against hydraulic structures burst a major dam.
Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s military administration, told residents of the city that “Russia has committed another terrorist act” in a Telegram message quoted by Ukrainian state media.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
India: Hindu Doctor in Ghaziabad Receives Jihadi Threats of Beheading From NJ, US
‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ Jibe Continues, When A Hindu Doctor From Ghaziabad Ringed With Jihadi Threats From A Foreign Country.
Upendra Bharti | HENB | Ghaziabad (UP — India) | Sep 15, 2022:: A Hindu doctor in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pardesh) has received threats of beheading (sar tan se juda- cut the head from body) through a WhatsApp call.
Dr Arvind Vats is associated with many Hindu organisations, about those he keeps making statements. A few days ago at night, he received a call over WhatsApp which he did not answer.
Talking to ANI, Dr Arvind said, “I got a Whatsapp call on September 1, with a display picture of a masked
man. I took the call then and got another call the next day. The caller threatened to behead me since I am a staunch Hindu believer”.
SSP Ghaziabad Muniraj G told ANI, “Yesterday (Sept 12, 2022) a doctor came and complained that he had received a threatening call on WhatsApp. FIR has been registered. We’ve given the number to the cyber cell for tracking. He (the doctor) has not asked for security yet”.
The police are probing the matter further.
The doctor lives under Sihani Gate police station area has received a threat to sever his head from America’s (New Jersey) number, as revealed. The accused, who called the doctor, threatened him to face the consequences like Kanhaiya Lal and Dr. Umesh for supporting Hindu organizations by calling him on WhatsApp.
The death threat came for Dr Arvind Vats’ continued to support Hindutva outfits. “Gustakh e rasool ki ek hi saza. Sar tan se juda, sar tan se juda,” the caller said, adding, “Your Modi, Yogi Adityanath will not be able to save you. We will send you where Dr. Umesh Kolhe, Kanhaiya Kumar was sent. My people are watching your every movement,” the caller said.
Police entered into a strict probe as such threat calls were materialized ultimately in many cases.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
AI Image Generator in China Blocks “Sensitive” Terms Like “Tiananmen Square, “ “British Government”
ERNIE-ViLG, a text-to-image AI developed by Chinese tech firm Baidu, blocks Tiananmen Square and other politically sensitive names. Tiananmen Square is likely being blocked because of the Tiananmen Massacre, which is heavily censored in China.
A demo of the image-making Ai was released in August on Hugging Face, and users quickly noticed that some words, which are sensitive in political contexts, were labeled as “sensitive” and blocked.
Users got the warning: “Sensitive words found. Please enter again.”
Since September, the warning has been reworded to: “The content entered doesn’t meet relevant rules. Please try again after adjusting it.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Japanese Law Removes Privacy for Some Online Artists That Use a Pseudonym
Starting October 2023, Japan will implement a new invoice filing system that requires people to use their real names for invoices to be considered “verified,” according to Shueisha Online. The names will be accessible by anyone on a national database.
The new invoice system has raised privacy concerns among virtual YouTubers, manga Artists, and others in online pseudonym-heavy occupations who may prefer to keep their real names private.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis: Not Fair to Call China ‘Undemocratic’
ROME — Pope Francis has rejected the label “undemocratic” to describe China’s communist regime, insisting that the issue is too complex to allow for such characterizations.
“I cannot get on board with calling China undemocratic; I won’t do that because it’s such a complex country,” the pontiff told journalists during his return trip from Kazakhstan to Rome Thursday. “Sure, there are things that seem undemocratic to us, that is true.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Astonishing footage has put a spotlight on the potential dangers of electric vehicles amid fears they could become ‘a lawyer’s picnic’.
An electric car parked on a street in Manly, on Sydney’s northern beaches, was spotted being charged by a lengthy trail of power cord.
The cable loops over the front fence, which snakes from the road up a driveway and into a nearby home.
The owner even kindly installed a hazard cover over the section of the cord running across the public footpath so locals don’t trip over the cord while walking past.
A close-up photo shows the car surrounded by electrical cables.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Awarded ‘Keys to Mexico City’
Julian Assange’s brother hopes an award given to the WikiLeaks founder by Mexico is an important step in the campaign to free him.
Gabriel Shipton accepted the so-called ‘keys to Mexico City’ on behalf of his brother amid increasing efforts to persuade authorities in the UK, US and Australia to release Assange from prison.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AOC Demands Abbott Step Down After DC Receives More Buses Full of Illegal Aliens
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to say Texas Governor Greg Abbot should step down after he successfully bussed another 100 illegal immigrants from Texas to Washington, DC.
AOC wrote, “I remember how folks stepped up to help Texans when you left them cold and hungry during the freeze. We will welcome these families too. They have so much to offer. You do seem to be struggling at your job, though. Maybe you should consider if this is the right work for you.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Before he got lost again, Joe Biden announced during remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute gala that his administration “has a process in place” to deal with the massive influx of undocumented migrants to the U.S.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Admin Considers ‘Litigation’ Against States Sending Illegal Aliens to Blue States
On Wednesday, Florida governor Ron DeSantis joined a growing number of state leaders who have been moving illegal immigrants to “sanctuary destinations” across the country, sending two planes full of illegal migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, a state that has supported the Biden administration’s open-border policies.
In response to the moves made by DeSantis, as well as Arizona governor Doug Ducey and his Texan counterpart Greg Abbott, the Biden administration is reportedly considering taking legal action.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DeSantis Raps Newsom Call for DOJ Probe on Migrant Moves, Says Hair Gel ‘Interfering With His Brain’
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis responded Friday to California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for the Justice Department to investigate DeSantis relocating migrants, saying Newsom’s “hair gel is interfering with his brain.”
On Thursday, Newsom called on the department to investigate DeSantis a day earlier having flown migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and similar efforts by fellow GOP governors in recent weeks and months.
“Clearly, transporting families, including children, across state lines under false pretenses is morally reprehensible, but it may also be illegal,” Newsom said in a letter to the agency.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Makeshift Migrant Camp Sees Spree of Shootings as Rival Smugglers Battle
Several people were injured as a result of gun violence at a makeshift migrant camp in northern France this week, as some blame rivalries between migrant-smuggling gangs for the shootings.
The three people were injured during shootings that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday at a makeshift migrant camp located under a bridge in the town of Loon-Plage, near Dunkirk.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: People-Smugglers Suspected of Helping Islamic State Militants Enter Europe
German anti-terror police in northern Hesse have carried out a series of arrests against a gang accused of smuggling Syrians and also helping radical Islamic State terrorists enter Europe.
The elite anti-terrorist unit GSG 9 executed six arrest warrants on Tuesday, noting that three of the suspects were armed at the time of their arrest and all six are believed to be part of a people-smuggling gang that has helped at least 147 migrants enter Germany illegally — although investigators say the actual number of migrants may be far higher, with some possibly linked to the Islamic State terror organisation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Massachusetts governor’s office announced Friday that dozens of illegal immigrants who were transported to Martha’s Vineyard will be taken to a military base in Cape Cod, while some members of the National Guard will be activated.
As Jack Phillips reports via The Epoch Times, the move comes as video footage and photos show the illegal aliens — of mostly Venezuelan descent — being transported on several buses from the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Martha’s Vineyard, a Massachusetts island that is popular among the rich and powerful Democrats.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The number of migrants reaching the UK by crossing the English Channel is soaring after 617 people were intercepted on Thursday alone — including 38 who were found in the sea after their tiny dinghy sank during the journey.
In the nine months of 2022 so far, 29,716 migrants are known to have attempted the 21-mile crossing in 757 separate incidents.
That figure is already more than the 28,526 who arrived on UK shores in 2021. In 2020 there were just 8,410.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis: Immigration Raises the ‘Intellectual Value’ Of the West
ROME — Pope Francis urged Westerners to be more open to immigration Thursday, insisting that it is a necessary antidote to the West’s “demographic winter.”
In forgetting how to welcome migrants, the West lost much, because it “needs people,” the pontiff told reporters during his return flight from Kazakhstan to Rome. Especially considering the “demographic winter,” which is so evident in Spain and Italy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York City officials are going to fly out migrants to Florida after claiming many of them did not want to come to the Big Apple.
The Commissioner of Immigration Affairs for the city says that a lot of the migrants being bussed from Texas by Gov Greg Abbott are coming from Venezuela.
Manuel Castro claims that the majority of illegal immigrants that have arrived to New York want to go to Florida because of their large community of Venezuelans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish TV: Martha’s Vineyard Residents Say They ‘Don’t Want Migrants’
A Spanish TV reporter for Telemundo said that Martha’s Vineyard residents privately admitted to not wanting migrants on the island.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Dozens of modest properties and homes are available for rent on AirBnb on Martha’s Vineyard, DailyMail.com can reveal, despite the island’s main homelessness expert claiming there was no affordable housing in which to place migrants.
Private rooms and small guest stays are on offer for $180 a night, which could have been used as a stop gap for the migrants to be housed.
Lisa Belcastro, homelessness director of the island, yesterday claimed that the affluent area has a ‘housing crisis’.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian High School Teacher Transitions to Woman With Utterly Massive Bust
A male Ontario high school shop teacher has transitioned into a woman who now sports what is presumably the most enormous bust in Canada.
As reported by the feminist outlet Reduxx, pictures of the Oakville Trafalger High School shop teacher surfaced on social media. Popular Twitter user Libs of TikTok also shared a video of the teacher taken from a student.
[Comment: Oh my God.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of Doctors Declare Medical Crisis From Vaccine
Hundreds of doctors from across 34 countries have declared a medical crisis due to what they allege is excess disease and deaths related to the COVID vaccine.
“We, the medical doctors and scientists from all over the world, declare that there is an international medical crisis due to the diseases and deaths co-related to the administration of products known as “COVID-19 vaccines,” their statement begins.
“We are currently witnessing an excess in mortality in those countries where the majority of the population has received the so called “COVID-19 vaccines”. To date, this excess mortality has neither been sufficiently investigated nor studied by national and international health institutions.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Serbian Interior Ministry Upholds Ban on Europride March Despite New Route Proposal
Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs upheld its earlier decision to bar the EuroPride march from taking place on Saturday despite attempts by organisers to find a solution by proposing an alternate route through the capital Belgrade.
“Due to a number of lies, schemes and attempts to humiliate the Republic of Serbia, its legal system and its institutions, I’d like to inform the citizens of Serbia that no one, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs especially, succumbed to the pressures of the great powers of the West,” Internal Affairs Minister Aleksandar Vulin said on Friday.
“As previously stated, the ban on the march organised by EuroPride 2022 remains in effect,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Soros-Backed Arizona DA Candidate Partners With Abortion Clinics That Sold Fetal Organs
A George Soros-backed candidate for district attorney in Arizona partnered with abortion providers who may have skirted federal law to sell fetal organs for profit and joked about late-term abortions.
Julie Gunnigle, the Democratic candidate for Maricopa County attorney, held a campaign event in 2020 with Camelback Family Planning, an abortion clinic that harvested and sold “maternal blood” and fetal “liver and thymus” organs from 2010 to 2015. A 1993 federal law prohibits the sale of fetal organs for profit.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Study Shows Feminist Men Twice as Likely to Suffer From Erectile Dysfunction
A new study published by the Journal of Sex Research finds that men who identify as feminists are twice as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
How much does the position of homelessness director pay on Martha’s vineyard? Sounds like good job if the pay is good. Is US citizenship or a green card required? I think he was fearing some outsourced competition.
no affordable housing in Martha’s Vineyard? Who would have guessed.
That very space should be available on Cape Cod? In both places, the liberal dogooders may enjoy the presence of cultural enrichement other than an opening night at a fine art gallery or a saturday trophy tournement at their country club.
The homelessness director of Martha’s Vineyard no longer has any homelessness to direct. Tough job.
This Martha definitely is a semi-fascist racist. Shame on her!
In Central Asia, another mess. Tajiks vs Kirghiz. Previously, all these problems were resolved by Russia. I looked through the thematic telegram channels. The Kirghiz are Turks, they are helped by Turkey. Tajiks are a people related to the Persians, they seem to be assisted by the Iranians. Afghanistan (also related to the Tajiks) and drug trafficking are pressing in from the south.
Feminist men can’t get it up? Good.