A Russian fighter jet intercepted a U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea, striking the drone’s propeller and causing it to crash. The U.S. government criticized the Russian action as reckless and unprofessional.
In other news, the convicted Islamic terrorist Sayfullo Saipov has avoided the death penalty for murdering eight people in New York City in 2017. The jury charged with deciding the death penalty issue was deadlocked, which means that Mr. Saipov will avoid the needle and spend his life in prison.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Diana West, DV, LP, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, 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.
“Try Not to Cringe as You Watch This”: Woke Signature Bank Videos Go Viral After Fed Shut Down
After New York state regulators shut down Signature Bank Sunday, a series of woke videos produced by the company has gone viral, with critics noting it’s no wonder the bank went under if this was what they were concentrating on.
Grit Capital founder Genevieve Roch-Decter shared the videos, asking “Is it surprising that Signature Bank failed?”
“Their executive team spent millions of dollars to produce music videos & TV shows about themselves,” she continued, adding “Try not to cringe as you watch this.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Argentina Inflation Shoots Past 100% for First Time Since 1991
BUENOS AIRES, March 14 (Reuters) — Argentina’s annual inflation rate shot past 100% in February, the country’s statistics agency said on Tuesday, the first time it has reached triple digits since 1991 when the country was coming out of hyperinflation.
The monthly rise on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) clocked in at 6.6% in the second month of the year, above analyst forecasts ahead of the release. Annual inflation registered at 102.5%, with year-to-date inflation at 13.1%. (Reporting by Hernan Nessi and Walter Bianchi; Writing by Carolina Pulice)
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Failed to Publicly Disclose His SVB Ties While Lobbying for a Bailout
California Gov. Gavin Newsom lobbied the White House and the Department of the Treasury about the pending bailout of Silicon Valley Bank, even as three of his private wineries had apparently been among the bank’s clients, according to a Tuesday report by Ken Klippenstein of the Intercept.
According to Klippenstein’s reporting, Newsom’s personal relationship with SVB went beyond the wineries. One anonymous former employee who handled Newsom’s finances told Klippenstein that Newsom “maintained personal accounts at SVB for years.”
It is unclear whether those personal accounts were still active at the time of the bank’s collapse last week. If they were, Newsom could have stood to benefit directly from the Biden administration’s rescue package, which will reimburse SVB account holders even if their balances surpass the $250,000 limit insured by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Australian households will face steep electricity price hikes in the coming months with rises up to 30 per cent being announced for NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia .
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Inflation May be Easing, But it’s Still Hitting Home
At a macro level, the news on the inflation front is encouraging.
As expected, the inflation rate in February ran 6% from a year before. That’s a smidge better than the 6.4% rate we saw in January.
But for many households, things aren’t getting much easier. The cost for housing, for example, was up by 8.1% from a year ago.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Banks Transferred $1 Billion Out of SVB Before Collapse
According to a report by the Times of Israel, the country’s two largest banks were able to transfer $1 billion out of Silicon Valley Bank to accounts in Israel before it was seized by the feds.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th largest bank in the United States at the time of its failure late last week, collapsed after a run on deposits and was placed into the receivership of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
The bank’s collapse represented the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history, with the FDIC being forced to guarantee 100 per cent of both insured and uninsured customer deposits.
While the collapse of SVB took many by surprise, financial authorities in Israel were apparently ahead of the curve.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Moody’s Cuts Outlook for U.S. Banking System to Negative
Moody’s Investors Service cut its outlook for the U.S. banking system to negative from stable and placed six U.S. banks on review for potential credit rating downgrades.
“We have changed to negative from stable our outlook on the US banking system to reflect the rapid deterioration in the operating environment following deposit runs at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Bank, and Signature Bank (SNY) and the failures of SVB and SNY,” Moody’s said in a report released Monday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Warnings have emerged of a wider banking collapse on the backs of the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank, with a financial expert who predicted the 2008 financial crisis warning that Credit Suisse may be the next to fall after the Swiss bank’s shares fell to an all-time low on Tuesday.
Switzerland’s second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, saw its shares fall by five per cent in early trading on Tuesday to a record low for the company after confirming some $8 billion (£6.6 billion) in losses in 2022 and admitting that there was “material weakness” in its accounting system for financial reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Bank Crisis Has Democrats Scrambling Behind the Scenes to Find a Scapegoat
Democratic representatives are scrambling in the wake of the potentially contagious Silicon Valley Bank implosion, looking for a way to divert attention away from them should the crisis expand.
One avenue for scapegoating the event that has been suggested among Dems and the media is to blame a 2018 law that eased Dodd-Frank capital requirements for midsize and small banks. Republicans led the effort to pass the law, which President Donald Trump signed, but 33 House Democrats and 17 Senate Democrats also voted for it.
No mention, of course, of the cancerous exposure SVB had to numerous woke investments through venture capital, including money losing ESG related projects, climate change-based companies and World Economic Forum stakeholder capitalism projects.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had largely avoided staking out a specific policy position on the war in Ukraine until Monday, when he said it should not be a top-level interest for the US — breaking with many in his party and aligning more closely with former President Donald Trump.
“While the US has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness with our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural and military power of the Chinese Communist Party — becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis said in a statement provided to “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AZ Supreme Court Will Consider Ordering Hobbs and DOC to Execute Aaron Gunches
The Arizona Supreme Court will consider a petition to order Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Department of Corrections director to carry out the execution of death row prisoner Aaron Gunches, despite the governor’s previous statement that she would not carry out the execution until a review of Arizona’s death penalty process is complete.
Gunches was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of Ted Price, a former longtime boyfriend of Gunches’ girlfriend. Gunches kidnapped and shot Price multiple times in a desert area off the Beeline Highway.
Gunches initially asked for his death sentence to be carried out as soon as possible, to deliver justice to the victim’s family. But he changed his mind and filed a subsequent motion asking the court to withdraw his request, citing concerns about the state’s ability to execute people safely and effectively.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Announces Executive Order to Expand Gun Background Checks, Calls on Lawmakers to Go Farther
President Biden on Tuesday announced a new executive order aimed at combating gun violence in the U.S.
The president discussed these efforts during an afternoon speech in Monterey Park, California, the city where a gunman stormed a dance hall in January, killing 11 people and injuring others after a Lunar New Year celebration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Black Lives Matter Movement Received Nearly $83 Billion From Corporations
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and related causes received an astonishing $82.9 billion from corporations, a new funding database from the Claremont Institute has found.
The Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life explained the necessity of their report in an article published in Newsweek, where the Center asserted that the 2020 BLM movement was about more than just “rioting and destruction.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Brave’s VPN and Firewall Arrive on Desktop
Privacy-focused browser Brave announced that its VPN and Firewall service is now available on desktops, meaning it is now available on PCs and Macs. Initially, the service was only available on iOS and Android devices.
By default, the Brave browser blocks trackers and ads, providing a private browsing experience free from cross-website tracking. The Brave Firewall and VPN service adds to that privacy by blocking trackers outside of the browser. The VPN blocks apps and websites from accessing location and IP address information while the firewall blocks trackers and “other online nuisances.”
The Brave VPN subscription, which cost $9.99 monthly or $99.99 annually, is now cross-platform and can be used on five devices simultaneously.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Antifa Smash Windows, Clash With Police at UC Davis Charlie Kirk Event
Riot police took down Antifa surrounding a UC Davis Charlie Kirk event sponsored by TPUSA on Tuesday evening. Antifa members were spotted smashing windows and doors on campus and vandalizing the campus. The militants also blocked students and members of the public from entering the university to attend the event.
TPM and TPUSA’s Savanah Hernandez was on the scene and captured the chaotic footage.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A bill backed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that would restructure higher education and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs from college curriculum advanced in the state House.
Sponsored by state Rep. Alex Andrade, the bill, known as HB 999, was approved along a 12-5 party line vote by the House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Subcommittee Monday.
It now advances for discussion before the state Senate later this week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Disney Asks Judge to Unmask Online Leakers
In January, someone on the Marvel Studios Spoilers subreddit, which is dedicated to discussions about upcoming Marvel films and series, posted a 63-page Google Doc transcript of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s dialogue. The dialogue was posted one month before the film was officially released.
Disney’s Marvel Studios contacted Google and Reddit to get the content removed, but now they want to know the person or people behind the leak, which was posted by the subreddits moderators’ account MSSmods.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fact-Checking Whitney Webb, Part Two: Onto Lewis Rosenstiel
by Diana West
A few weeks ago, I published Part One of “Fact-Checking Whitney Webb,” an occasional series I began at Webb’s behest. Fact-check my endnotes, the author of One Nation Under Blackmail has said, her interviewers’ mouths agape with her clinical tales of sodomy and gommorah. Everything I’m saying/writing has a source.
Really? OK. A more pertinent question is whether these sources are credible. I began this investigation examining the sources for Webb’s X-rated claims that J. Edgar Hoover wore women’s clothing during homosexual orgies at a midtown Manhattan landmark, and was snapped in photos during homosexual encounters which (1) “intelligence” and “organized crime” used to blackmail him, and (2), in turn, impelled him to blackmail others.
In Part One, I demonstrated that Webb’s sources for these claims are non-credible.
Webb’s reply to these initial findings, I regret to say, fell into the ad hominem category — although I realize that applying a Latin phrase to a cartoon-strip thought-bubble on Twitter is something of a stretch. Tweeting to her quarter-mill followers, Webb called me a “Neocon historian” when I am neither; said I “smeared” her book when I exposed what was untrustworthy about her key sources; and then argued that I had ignored a video-rebuttal she made before I unearthed most of the evidence marshaled in Part One. Finally, and quite significantly, she failed to link to Part One to allow readers to judge the matter for themselves.
One more thing: Webb suggested to her Tweeps that my Part One on Hoover was suspect because it did not also discuss other persons in the Hoover orbit. “Telling that she won’t touch the evidence on Lew Rosenstiel and Roy Cohn,” she tweeted.
“Won’t touch”? Onto the evidence on Lewis Rosenstiel…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
FTC Faces Ethics Complaint After Alleged Retaliation Against Twitter Over Censorship Revelations
America First Legal (AFL) has filed federal ethics and Inspector General complaints and launched a probe into the Federal Trade Commission’s retaliation against Twitter owner Elon Musk and Twitter for exposing the Biden administration and federal agencies for pressuring Twitter to censor content.
Last week, the House’s Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a report detailing how the FTC has been harassing Musk and Twitter over the past few months.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Terrorist Avoids Death Penalty After Murdering 8 People With Truck on NYC Bike Path in 2017
On Monday, Sayfullo Saipov, the ISIS-affiliated man who was convicted of murdering eight people and wounding an additional eleven after he drove a truck down a New York City bike path, was sentenced to life in prison after a federal jury could not come to a unanimous verdict for the death penalty.
According to Fox News, Assistant US Attorney Amanda Houle had said to the jury that Saipov was a “proud terrorist” and “He chose to come to this country and fight for an enemy. And it is his choices that call for the most significant punishment that the law provides: the sentence of death.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Madison Square Garden Sues New York After Agency Investigates Its Use of Facial Recognition
Madison Square Garden (MSG) Entertainment, the company that manages the Beacon Theater and Radio City Music Hall, has filed a lawsuit against New York’s State Liquor Authority (SLA) after the agency threatened to revoke the company’s liquor license because the company uses facial recognition to prevent individuals it deems to be corporate enemies from accessing its venues.
For example, in December, security prevented a woman, who works for a law firm involved in litigation against MSG Entertainment, from accompanying her daughter’s Girl Scout group to a Rockettes show after she was flagged by the venue’s facial recognition software.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York Plots Digital Driver’s Licenses This Year
The state of New York plans to roll out mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) by the end of the year.
During a budget hearing, the New York Department of Motor Vehicles commissioner Mark Schroeder announced that his agency was working on mDLs and plans to roll them out by the end of the year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The brothers paid by Empire actor Jussie Smollett to carry out a staged attack on him have broken their silence in a bombshell interview — set to air days after the Empire star sought to clear his name by appealing a guilty verdict arrived in 2021.
Smollett paid Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo $3,500 to stage the January 2019 attack on the streets of Chicago as an apparent hate crime, in a shameless bid to coax sympathy from the public.
The plot came to light after the brothers, a pair of aspiring actors from Nigeria, confessed the mugging was a hoax after nearly two days in a Chicago lockup.
Now speaking for the first time, they slammed Smollett as a ‘crazy fraudster’ who paid them for the ambush so he could be heralded as a ‘poster boy for activism.’
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nolte: Oscar is Officially Dead — Third-Lowest Ratings in History
With a pathetic 18.7 million viewers, it’s official: the Academy Awards are doornail dead.
It’s over.
There’s no coming back from this.
Two of the biggest movies in history were in this year’s Oscar hunt — Avatar: Way of the Water and Top Gun: Maverick. Still, fewer than 20 million tuned in.
Sure, you’re going to read a bunch of bootlicking headlines in the entertainment media about how this is a 12 percent increase over last year. Yeah, well, last year’s ratings were the second-lowest in history.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ohio Attorney General Announces Lawsuit Against Norfolk Southern Over East Palestine Derailment
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Tuesday that his office filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern over the East Palestine train derailment.
Yost made the announcement during a Tuesday afternoon press conference, which comes after the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine. A train with 50 rail cars, 10 of which were carrying vinyl chloride, derailed in East Palestine. The derailment caused hazardous chemicals to spill onto the ground and sent a plume of smoke into the air.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Paralyzed California Man Shot Dead in Care Facility in ‘Targeted Shooting,’ Officials Say
Paris Moffett paralyzed from earlier shooting; was son of alleged San Francisco gang leader
A partially paralyzed man who lived in a California care facility was fatally shot in his room over the weekend in the middle of the night.
Paris Moffett, 23, was killed in his room at Lake Merritt Healthcare Center in Oakland around 1 a.m. Saturday, FOX San Francisco reported. Two men snuck into the facility through an unlocked back door and went into Moffett’s room that he shared with at least one other person.
He died at the scene.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Portland Bus Driver Held Hostage, Stabbed Amid Soaring Crime
Two people are in custody after a Portland bus driver was stabbed and the end of her route on Monday night.
According to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, at approximately 11pm on March 13, officers responded to a TriMet bus near NE 27th Avenue and NE Saratoga Street.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ride-Sharing Apps Score Court Win in California, Can Treat Drivers as Contractors
The First District Court of Appeals in California determined on Monday that ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft may treat drivers as contractors instead of full-time employees.
At the heart of the matter was Proposition 22, a California initiative that exempted Uber, Lyft, and other ride-sharing or delivery-app companies from counting drivers as full time employees and therefore meant they did not need to provide health insurance, the Washington Post reported.
A lower court in 2021 found the measure unenforceable, arguing that the voter initiative had infringed on the powers of the California legislature to set workplace standards, according to Fox Business.
Tony West, Uber’s legal chief, celebrated the Monday ruling, calling it a “victory for app-based workers.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
San Francisco Board Receptive to Ambitious Reparations Plan
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Payments of $5 million to every eligible Black adult, the elimination of personal debt and tax burdens, guaranteed annual incomes of at least $97,000 for 250 years and homes in San Francisco for just $1 a family.
These were some of the more than 100 recommendations made by a city-appointed reparations committee tasked with the thorny question of how to atone for centuries of slavery and systemic racism. And the San Francisco Board of Supervisors hearing the report for the first time Tuesday voiced enthusiastic support for the ideas listed, with some saying money should not stop the city from doing the right thing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Suspect Rams Portland Police Cruiser While Fleeing in Stolen Truck
A suspect is in custody after allegedly ramming a police car with a stolen pickup truck in Southeast Portland early Wednesday morning and injuring two officers inside the vehicle in the process.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, if the suspect had not crashed into the police cruiser, he would have “driven into the side of a nearby house, where a child was sleeping.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The CDC Funded Groups Tackling Vaccine “Misinformation”
Since 2021, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in grants focused on promoting flu and COVID-19 vaccines and tackling what it calls vaccine “misinformation” in minority communities all across the country.
To receive the funding, the grantees have to commit to helping the CDC in enforcing “federal orders related to quarantine and isolation.” They also have to commit to collecting community-level data on behalf of the CDC, Defender reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump’s COVID-19 Response Coordinator Saw Lockdowns as ‘Science Experiment’, DeSantis Says
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis indicated in his new book that former President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 response coordinator viewed lockdowns in response to the pandemic as a “science experiment.”
DeSantis recently released “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival” ahead of an expected campaign to challenge Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.
The Florida governor has contrasted himself with Trump in terms of his coronavirus response. In an excerpt from the book that the Daily Caller highlighted, DeSantis recalls a conversation with White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx in which she admitted the lockdowns were not a proven method of containing the virus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Tells Iowa He is the Only Presidential Candidate Who Can ‘Prevent World War III’
During a campaign event in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday, former President Donald Trump said he is the “only” 2024 presidential candidate who can “prevent World War III,” and he promised to do it.
Trump stated, “With this administration, we could end up in World War III, because they don’t speak right. They act tough when they should act nice, they act nice when they should act tough. Honestly, they don’t know what the hell they’re doing. We’re going to end up in a world war over this stuff.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Under the Dome Updates: NC’s Anti-Critical Race Theory Bill Advances in Divided Vote
It’s going to be a busy day in Raleigh, with several important bills moving forward in the legislature, an announcement from Gov. Roy Cooper, and a critical redistricting case being reheard at the Supreme Court.
The big thing to watch on Tuesday will be arguments in Harper v. Hall, the partisan gerrymandering case that was decided by the Supreme Court’s outgoing Democratic majority in December, and is going to be reheard this afternoon, after the newly elected GOP majority said it would consider whether the case had been decided incorrectly.
Tuesday’s arguments could result in a dramatically different ruling about partisan gerrymandering and whether it is unconstitutional, and could have major ramifications for the next round of redistricting later this year and going forward.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Trump Vows to “Totally Obliterate the Deep State” In “The Final Battle”
Speaking to a huge crowd in Iowa Monday night, President Trump promised to “totally obliterate the deep state,” and described his push for a second term as “the final battle.”
“What’s happening is very simple, our enemies are desperate to stop us because they know we are the only ones who can stop them,” Trump declared.
“I will fire the unelected bureaucrats who have weaponised our justice system,” Trump continued, adding “IO will direct the Justice Department to go after Marxist prosecutors offices to make them pay for their illegal race based enforcement of the law.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Alberta Minister Says Ottawa Must “Immediately” Act on Bail Reform
Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says the federal government must pass promised amendments “immediately” to make it harder for serious and repeat offenders to get bail.
After meeting with provincial and territorial counterparts earlier this month, Justice Minister David Lammetti said Ottawa would move forward quickly on “targeted reforms” to the Criminal Code that would update Canada’s bail system.
Shandro said the federal government must make the changes “immediately,” saying the law on bail is fundamentally unsound and must be reformed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Tories Saw Mysterious Decrease in Vote in Areas Flagged for Chinese Interference
During the 2021 Canadian federal election, Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) candidates saw an unexpected decrease in votes concentrated in areas some have claimed are impacted to Chinese Communist Party election interference.
The three ridings (electoral districts) that have been flagged over possible Chinese Communis Party (CCP) interference, Markham-Unionville, Steveston Richmond East, and Richmond Centre, all saw a mysterious large decrease in votes for CPC candidates compared to the prior election in 2019.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poilievre Details Plan for Lawsuit Against Big Pharma Over Opioid Epidemic
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre announced that if elected, a Poilievre government would launch a $44 billion lawsuit against Big Pharma companies for allegedly causing the opioid epidemic.
Poilievre spoke with reporters on Tuesday, saying his lawsuit would target companies such as Purdue Pharma — seeking reparations for several damages, including impacts to border security, impacts on the criminal justice system and reductions in tax revenue.
“The opioid epidemic has ravaged our communities,” a release from his office stated. “Today I am announcing that a Poilievre government will go further in seeking justice for our people.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police Say Amqui, Que., Crash Was Deliberate, Victims Chosen at Random
The driver of a pickup truck that slammed into a group of pedestrians in Amqui, Que., on Monday afternoon did so intentionally but chose his victims at random, the police said.
Provincial police have identified Steeve Gagnon, 38, an Amqui resident, as the driver.
Gagnon turned himself in, was arrested and has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death. He is expected to appear in court later today.
Gérald Charest, 65, and Jean Lafrenière, 73, were killed and nine others were injured in the incident.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Suspected Bots Parrot China’s Propaganda on Canada Election Interference
A large volume of Twitter accounts tweeting about Beijing’s interference in Canada’s elections appear to exhibit bot-like behaviour.
True North analyzed and translated 1,128 unique tweets on Chinese-language social media referencing the terms “China (and) Canada” or “Trudeau” which dated back to March 3, 2023.
Of the 688 accounts identified to be regularly engaging on the topic of election interference, 19.1% or 132 accounts showed classic indicators of being bots. Both the Twitter API and the Google API were employed for the purposes of this research.
The accounts in question sought to delegitimize media and intelligence reports which indicate that China has campaigned to interfere in Canada’s recent elections. Efforts included parroting Chinese state propaganda, directly attacking the credibility of the claims or downplaying their significance.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trudeau Minister Admits Goal is Regime Change in Russia
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly has admitted that the Canadian government’s goal is not just to see Russia leave Ukraine but to topple the government of Russian president Vladimir Putin itself.
Foreign Minister Joly, a senior member of the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, made her remarks as Canada has enacted new sanctions against the import of Russian aluminium and steel, outright mentioning the proposal of regime change.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Despite Protests, French Govt Continues to Push Retirement Bill, Senate Vote This Week
PARIS (AP) — An unpopular bill that would raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 got a push forward with the French Senate’s adoption of the measure despite labor strikes, street protests and tons of uncollected garbage piling higher by the day.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tweeted late Saturday after the 195-112 vote that she looked forward to the bill’s definitive passage to “assure the future of our retirement” system.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Garbage Piles Up in Paris as Strikes Resist Macron’s Pension Reforms
PARIS (AP) — The City of Light is losing its luster with tons of garbage piling up on Paris sidewalks as sanitation workers strike for a ninth day Tuesday. The creeping squalor is the most visible sign of widespread anger over a bill to raise the French retirement age by two years.
The malodorous perfume of rotting food has begun escaping from some rubbish bags and overflowing bins. Neither the Left Bank palace housing the Senate nor, across town, a street steps from the Elysee Palace, where waste from the presidential residence is apparently being stocked, was spared by the strike.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A German man was given a suspended sentence after he stabbed his friend 11 times for mocking the size of his manhood in a row in the sauna.
A court in Paderborn, Germany, heard last week how the unnamed 29-year-old accused stabbed his 37-year-old friend on April 3 last year.
The accused and his brother-in-law, 39, met in the house of the victim. The trio drank alcohol together and decided to go to the host’s sauna at 5am.
The court told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag: ‘All involved were already significantly drunk. One of the men supposedly poured beer over the sauna stones.’
The not-so-common sauna infusion caused a fight between the host and his guest, which ended with a ‘heated fight about the length of their penises’.
The third man separated the fighting pair and left with his brother-in-law around 7.15am for a house in the neighbourhood.
The 29-year-old, unable to calm his fury about the fight, returned two hours later and, after a ‘mutual confrontation’, the accused produced a knife and stabbed the victim 11 times.
He suffered serious injuries to his lungs and left arm and was taken to hospital.
The assailant was arrested and his blood alcohol levels were taken, which, two hours after the stabbing, were still 2.9.
The judge said these blood alcohol levels brought him ‘close to criminal incapacity’.
The 29-year-old was charged with causing ‘dangerous bodily harm’ and was given a suspended two-year sentence after admitting guilt and paying 10,000€ in damages to the victim.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Becoming an ‘Eco-Dictatorship’ Under Green Minister, Professor Warns
Germany is rapidly descending into “eco-dictatorship” under the country’s Green minister for economics, an expert has claimed.
Prof. Manuel Frondel, a member of the RWI Essen (Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, Essen) think-tank, has lashed out at Robert Habeck, Germany’s economics and climate change minister, saying that the country is devolving into an “eco-dictatorship” under his watch.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The official German government data shows that more than 330,000 people in Germany have reported damage from Covid-19 vaccines, and many of them, including young people, suffered serious side effects. Now, controversial Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), known for his aggressive promotion of mass vaccination and draconian lockdown policies, acknowledges the occurrence of serious side effects even after denying they existed at all in the summer of 2021.
“That’s right: 1 in 10,000. That is the frequency of serious side effects,” Lauterbach said in an interview with public service broadcaster ZDF’s “Today Journal” on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Far-Left Anarchists Attack Political Building, Demand Release of Terrorist Prisoner
Far-left anarchists attacked an office of the leftwing Italian Democratic Party (PD) over the weekend, demanding the release of convicted anarchist terrorist Alfredo Cospito.
A group of far-left extremist supporters of Alfredo Cospito attacked a PD headquarters in Rome, attacking the Circolo PD Italia-Lanciani, setting off an explosive device that smashed a window of the building.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Latvia is Shipping Cars Seized From Drunk Drivers to Ukraine
The Latvian government last month approved a plan to donate cars seized from drunk drivers to Ukraine, in what it says is a creative scheme (or else we could say publicity-seeking scheme) to help the war effort there.
The first collection of cars have been shipped, as last week BBC confirmed that “Eight seized vehicles left a car pound in the capital, Riga, on Wednesday and are due to cross the border soon.”
The cars will reportedly go to the Ukrainian military as well as hospitals. Vehicles in Latvia had previously been impounded at high rates due to the country having among the worst drunk driving problems in Europe, based on the size of the population.
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Nolte: Greta Thunberg Deletes Tweet Predicting Irreversible Disaster By… 2023
Greta “Damien” Thunberg was forced to delete a tweet predicting the world could no longer be saved in 2023.
So why did she delete this tweet?
Because we’re already a quarter of the way through 2023, and if the world can no longer be saved, if it’s too late to reverse climate change (which is a hoax), Greta and her fascist agenda are no longer relevant. After all, if it’s too late to save the world, we might as well party on, right?
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Poles Think Poland’s Conservatives Likely to Win Upcoming National Election
Polling increasingly shows that Poland’s voters think the ruling conservatives will win upcoming national elections, which is often a better indicator of what will happen in an election than asking voters who they will vote for.
A poll conducted by United Surveys for daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna and commercial radio RMF FM shows that 52 percent of all voters believe that the ruling conservatives, Law and Justice (PiS), will win the election and form a government. Only 27 percent believe that the main opposition liberal PO will win, and 31 percent believe that a coalition of opposition parties will form a government.
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Switzerland Destroys Its Own Weapons Rather Than Hand Them Over to Ukraine
Despite growing international pressure to send weapons to Ukraine, Switzerland is instead destroying decommissioned air-defense systems rather than hand them over to Kyiv. The alpine country argues that sending the weapons would violate its historical policy of neutrality, which has helped the country avoid war for centuries.
In addition to refusing to send weapons, Switzerland has now banned other countries from handing over Swiss-made weapons in the conflict.
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UK: ‘Bodes Very Badly for the Future’ Says Farage as BBC Crumbles in Lineker Impartiality Row
A row over the impartiality of Britain’s state broadcaster’s highest-paid personality has ended in the corporation backing down and apologising for trying to enforce its own obligations to be politically neutral, a development which “bodes very badly for the future”, Nigel Farage says.
Despite viewing figures soaring for this weekend’s pundit-free edition of British football programme Match of the Day after ex-player turned pundit Gary Lineker was suspended for using his platform to criticise the government, the state broadcaster the BBC has re-instated the broadcaster and issued an apology.
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UK: Schools Must Teach Children About Dangers Posed by the Likes of Andrew Tate, UK Police Say
Schools in Britain should teach young boys about the dangers posed by the likes of Andrew Tate, a police official has said.
Maggie Blyth, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for violence against women and girls, has said that policing bodies in the UK would like to see schools start teaching children about the claimed dangers of online “misogyny”, as well of influencers such as Andrew Tate.
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With Germany Blocking Hungary’s Nuclear Energy Ambitions, Orban Turns to Macron
Hungary is looking to circumvent Germany’s efforts to block its expansion of the Paks nuclear energy plant and is currently turning to France, a country seen as more friendly toward Hungary’s nuclear energy ambitions.
French President Emmanuel Macron received Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Élysée Palace in Paris yesterday, where one of the top issues on the agenda was nuclear energy cooperation.
For Hungary, the talks focused on the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary, as the control system that will be responsible for keeping the plant operational is being built by a Franco-German consortium, according to Hungarian news outlet Magyar Nemzet.
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Putin Rejects Theory About Ukrainian Role in Pipeline Blasts
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday dismissed allegations that Ukrainians could be behind the blasts that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year, and insisted the U.S. was to blame.
Putin spoke after The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media published stories last week citing unidentified U.S. and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement.
Germany’s Die Zeit newspaper and German public broadcasters ARD and SWR reported that investigators believed five men and a woman used a yacht hired by a Ukrainian-owned company in Poland to carry out the attack. German federal prosecutors confirmed that a boat was searched in January but have not confirmed the reported findings.
Putin rejected the notion as “sheer nonsense.”
“Such an explosion, so powerful and at such depth, could only be conducted by experts backed by the entire potential of a state that has relevant technologies,” he said in televised remarks.
The Russian leader insisted that he was convinced the U.S. was behind the explosion, saying it had an interest to halt supplies of cheap Russian natural gas to Germany and to provide it with more expensive liquefied natural gas.
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US Drone Crashes After Encounter With Russian Jet
A Russian fighter jet has collided with a US drone, causing the unmanned US aircraft to crash into the Black Sea, the American military says.
The incident highlights the increasing risk of direct confrontation between Russia and the US over the Ukraine war.
The US says the drone was on a routine mission in international airspace when two Russian jets tried to intercept it.
Russia said the drone crashed after a “sharp manoeuvre”, and denied that the two aircraft made direct contact.
The Russian defence ministry also said the MQ-9 Reaper drone was flying with its transponders turned off. Transponders are communications devices that allow the aircraft to be tracked.
Reaper drones are surveillance aircraft with a 20m (66ft) wingspan.
The incident happened at about 07:03 Central European Time (06:03 GMT) on Tuesday, according to the US military.
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US Says Military Drone Crashes in Black Sea After Russian Intercept
NEAR KREMINNA, Ukraine, March 14 (Reuters) — A Russian Su-27 fighter jet struck the propeller of a U.S. military Reaper surveillance drone on Tuesday, causing it to crash into the Black Sea in an incident condemned as “reckless’ by the U.S. military.
White House spokesman John Kirby said that although there have been other such intercepts, this one was noteworthy because it was “unsafe and unprofessional”. U.S. President Joe Biden had been briefed about the incident, Kirby added.
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On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished from air-traffic-control radar screens, never to be seen again — spawning the most incredible aviation mystery of the 21st century.
The 239 people on board were never found and are presumed dead.
Investigations dedicated to finding the plane, the victims, or any substantial evidence of what happened have come up with next to nothing, inviting speculation and conspiracy theories to fill the vacuum.
A new Netflix documentary has helped speculation swirl further.
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A water plant in Kemps Creek, western Sydney, is being managed by a company called Trility, which is owned by the Chinese Communist Party’s Beijing Enterprises Water Group.
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The Bureau of Meteorology officially announced the end of La Nina on Tuesday, after the weather phenomenon brought three years of disastrous wet weather across Australia.
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Journalist Antoinette Lattouf — whose parents moved from Lebanon in the 70s — branded local TV a ‘neo-Nazis wet dream’ after Q+A host Stan Grant blasted the dominance of white faces onscreen
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‘Gang of Immigrants’ Assault, Curse Out School Boys in Finland in Degradation Video
Two young boys were attacked and cursed out by a ‘gang of immigrants’ in Finland, according to reports.
It is unclear exactly when and where the disturbing incident took place but a viral video began circulating on social media on Friday night, Samnytt reports.
Footage shows two boys who are forced to kneel on icy ground by a group of antagonists who appear to be of Middle Eastern descent.
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Europe’s future involves more barbed wire and fences due to an ongoing migration the EU has failed to fix, said Denmark’s new immigration and integration minister, Kaare Dybvad Bek, in a new interview with German newspaper Die Welt. The interview focused on Denmark’s uniquely strict immigration policy, how Denmark and Germany differ on the issue, and why immigration from the Middle East is uniquely problematic for Denmark.
“Yes, I think we will see more fences and barbed wire. Every nation-state must ensure that it is in control of its borders. If a majority in the European parliaments decides on a certain policy, then of course it has to be enforced at some point,” Bek said during an interview with German newspaper Die Welt when asked whether “Fortress Europe” would become a reality for Europe in the future.
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Italy Migrant Crisis: Illegal Entries Have Nearly Tripled This Year
Italian Interior Ministry figures have revealed that the number of illegal entries to Italy has nearly tripled so far this year compared to the same period in 2022, despite promises to curb illegal migration by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The Interior Ministry report asserts that from January 1st to March 10th, a total of 17,592 illegals arrived in Italy, up from 5,976 in 2022 and 5,995 during the same period in 2021. The month of February alone saw 9,465 illegal arrivals this year.
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Italy Blames Russia for Surge in Migration, Accuses Wagner Group of ‘Hybrid Warfare’
Russian mercenaries are responsible for a surge in illegal immigration into Europe and are engaging in “hybrid warfare” against countries supporting Ukraine in the ongoing conflict, Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has claimed.
Speaking on Monday, the Italian minister claimed the Russian Wagner Group, which operates in several African countries and holds considerable political influence, has been facilitating an increase in illegal immigration across the Mediterranean into Italy.
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Mayor Eric Adams will open another two emergency migrant shelters in New York City — one in what was formerly a 24-hour McDonald’s — as illegal immigrants continue to stream into New York.
The mayor has openly expressed his frustration at the lack of meaningful assistance provided by the Biden administration to help curb the issue that has burdened the city’s resources and residents for months.
Now, two more migrant shelters are set to pop up in a busy part of town. The vacant Candler Tower office building in Times Square that was once home to a 24-hour McDonald’s will now house hundreds if not thousands of the city’s illegal migrant population.
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A Polish liberal MEP is making unsubstantiated claims that the Polish government has secret mass graves with migrant bodies near the Belarusian border, and that foresters are helping bury the bodies, a claim flatly rejected by a spokesman of the Polish forestry corporation, who is now suing the MEP for slander.
In an interview with commercial radio Tok FM, MEP Janina Ochojska said that there are “many more victims” of Poland’s border protection efforts than those deaths that have already been recorded. She then referred to what are likely “some mass graves” and said that she would not be surprised if the “bodies were collected so that there is no evidence” when Poland declared a state of emergency at the border, which restricted access to the area.
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UK Immigration Control Bill Faces Neutering as Lawmakers Challenge Key Provisions
UK parliamentarians are reportedly looking at various ways to weaken a government bill aimed at ending the ongoing English Channel migrant crisis.
Officials in both the UK’s House of Commons and unelected House of Lords are reportedly not keen about a new government bill aimed at finally ending the English Channel migrant crisis, with lawmakers serving in both bodies now reportedly looking at ways of tweaking the proposed law.
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Female basketballs have condemned Andrew Bogut for his ‘transphobic’ comments on a ‘biological male’ playing in a women’s league — though he has some high-profile support in his corner.
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Drew Barrymore got down on her knees to pay respect to trans activist Dylan Mulvaney’s struggles with being a woman.
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Calgary City Council Approves Bylaw to Limit Drag Queen Story Hour Protests
Calgary city council has approved two administrative recommendations to limit drag queen story hours protests, citing an increase in “transphobia and homophobia.”
City administration’s urgent recommendations were discussed at a lengthy city council meeting on Tuesday — days after a Calgary pastor was arrested and charged for protesting a drag queen story hour at a public library and following another protest held after a trans woman allegedly exposed male genitals to a teenage girl at a public pool.
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The DeSantis administration is revoking the Hyatt Regency Miami’s alcohol license after one of its facilities hosted “A Drag Queen Christmas” with minors present in the audience.
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation filed a 17-page complaint Tuesday against the show’s venue, the James L. Knight Center, which is affiliated with Hyatt. The show required people under 18 to be accompanied by an adult as a condition of being allowed to attend.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political team released a video Tuesday that shows the graphic results of multiple transgender surgeries alongside President Joe Biden’s comments on “The Daily Show” where he called the Republican’s policies “cruel.”
During an appearance on Comedy Central on Monday night, Biden said that “what’s going on in Florida” when it comes to transgender people is “close to sinful.”
DeSantis’ video of Biden’s remarks features a split screen with Biden on the left and still photos of double mastectomy and skin graft scars on the right. The bottom of the screen reads, “Biden thinks it’s ‘cruel’ Florida banned these surgeries for children.”
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Evangelical Group Sues Providence Schools Over ‘Good News Clubs’
The Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) of Rhode Island is suing the Providence Public School District for denying students access to its Good News Clubs on the same terms as secular clubs.
“They continue to deny equal access to Good New Clubs,” Mathew Staver, lead lawyer for Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, which represents CEF Rhode Island, said. “You cannot discriminate based on a Christian viewpoint.”
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Trump-obsessed New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with state senator Brad Hoylman and assorted New York City Council members intend to show their support for Drag Queen Story Hour for kids by hosting one this Sunday. Only far-left activists in the LGBTQ+ community, calling themselves “NYC community defenders,” don’t want these “cops” to have anything to do with it.
James’ announcement that she would host a “Drag Story Hour” in New York City at the West Village LGBTQ+-centric The Center , specifically targeting families with children, was met with vitriol and anger by activists who state that “Queer Spaces Must Be No Cop Zones,” and demand that James not be part of Drag Story Hour events. A ditigal flier reads “Drag Story Hour Forever,” and “Drag Defense,” as though the Drag Queen Story Hour needs defending from the politicians that both support the undertaking and fund it with taxpayer dollars. An additional event on that day will be the “Queer Antifacist and Abolitionist Celebration.”
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‘Let Them Decide!’ Irish MP Refuses to Gender Newborn Baby, Refers to Him as ‘It’
An Irish lawmaker has said he doesn’t want to limit his newborn baby by labeling them as a boy or a girl, wanting them to have the freedom to decide their own gender.
Paul Murphy, an Irish People Before Profit—Solidarity politician who has represented the Dublin South-West constituency since 2014, sat down with the Irish Times newspaper to discuss his approach to fatherhood.
He explained how he and his partner, Jess, had trouble conceiving but were eventually successful via a third round of IVF and recently gave birth to a baby named Juniper.
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Norway’s medical watchdog has ruled that “not enough research” has been done on the safety of trans drugs and surgery for children, and that such treatments should be regarded as experimental.
Norwegian Healthcare Investigation Board (NHIB/UKOM), a government body with a “mandate… to investigate serious adverse events and other serious concerns involving the Norwegian healthcare services,” published its findings on using drugs and surgery to “treat” transgender minors in an official report this month.
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Polish Court Refuses to Convict Disruptors of Holy Mass
A Polish court has dismissed the prosecution of demonstrators who stormed into a cathedral in Poznan and disrupted Holy Mass by chanting, hurling insults and throwing trash.
The demonstration took place in October 2020 during the protests against the constitutional court’s decision to make abortions on eugenic grounds effectively illegal. The demonstrators stormed into Poznan Cathedral during mass. A total of 32 individuals were charged with disrupting people’s right to worship and public disorder. The judge hearing the case dismissed it on the grounds of the demonstrators having behaved “in a respectful and suitable manner.”
The demonstrators stood in front of the altar with billboards demanding the legalization of abortion. The mass had to be stopped as the demonstrators began chanting, using abusive language toward the church, throwing leaflets and clapping.
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Pope Francis Says Celibacy for Catholic Priests is ‘Temporary, ‘ Ban Could be Reconsidered
Pope Francis says the Catholic Church’s celibacy decree for unmarried men ordained as priests is a “temporary prescription” that could be reconsidered.
“In the Western Church, celibacy is a temporary prescription,” Francis told the Argentinian outlet Infobae late last week, as translated. “I do not know if it is settled in one way or another.”
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UK: Drag Queen Taught 11-Year-Olds About Anal Sex, Parent Complains
The parent of one child has alleged her 11-year-old was taught about anal and oral sex by a drag queen while attending her local school.
The mother of one 11-year-old has expressed outrage after her 11-year-old daughter was reportedly taught about both oral and anal sex by a drag queen while attending school.
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Wales: Seven-Year-Olds Can be ‘Mixed Berry Gender Fluid Muffins’, Teachers Instructed
Young children can be “mixed berry gender fluid muffins,” a government document has instructed teachers in Wales.
A 170-page “Agenda” document detailing how sex education should be taught in Wales reportedly instructs teachers that children as young as seven can be “mixed berry gender fluid muffins”.
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Woke NY AG, Democrat Lawmakers to Host Drag Queen Story Event for Families
Leftist New York Attorney General Letitia James has drawn controversy after she announced that she would host a “Drag Story Hour” in New York City, specifically targeting families with children.
James announced the event on Instagram and Twitter, with the event set to feature drag performers reading to children. The event is titled “Drag Story Hour NYC with New York State Attorney General Letitia James,” and will be co-sponsored by several organizations, including The Pride Center of Staten Island and the Queens Public Library. The flyer for the event invites “families with children.”
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“A Russian fighter jet intercepted a U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea, striking the drone’s propeller and causing it to crash. The U.S. government criticized the Russian action as reckless and unprofessional.”
Russian pilots are reckless, that’s how they roll. I heard stories from the cold war era about young Russian pilots doing stuff with Migs that the Czechoslovak pilots would never do for they would fear death. But not the Russian pilots, they played with the Migs like when you give a fighter jet to a teenager and the teenager makes every effort to reach “the limits”.
My guess is that the Russians were playing around that drone like cats with a mice, and the mice got a heart attack or something. Could be a turbolence, the drone could be hit by jet exhausts, it could be hit by dumping fuel, or all of the above, and even hit by the Suchoy itself. It’s not like there was no tradition in hitting aircraft with another aircraft in Russia. Hitting the drone “slightly” could be cheaper than shooting a baloon with a sidewinder missile.
https://militaryhistorynow.com/2012/07/24/killer-pups-historys-first-air-to-air-dogfighters/