A man went on a stabbing rampage today in a gym in the German city of Duisburg, seriously wounding at least four patrons. The alleged attacker is still being sought by police. There’s no word yet on whether he mistook the gym for a mosque.
The Swedish company that makes Absolut Vodka announced that it was ceasing exports to Russia, in order to forestall a boycott of its brand.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, JW, McN, Reader from Chicago, 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.
Americans Paid $5 Trillion in Taxes to IRS Last Year Alone
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) raked in a record-breaking $5 trillion in taxes last year.
The amount of taxes collected from Americans has soared under President Joe Biden, an analysis of IRS data shows.
Tax enforcement has also risen under Biden compared to President Donald Trump’s tenure.
According to the IRS’ newly released Data Book, the IRS collected a total of $4.9 trillion in taxes for the fiscal year 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022).
At the same time, the IRS issued nearly $642 billion in refunds last year, putting the net amount of taxes collected at around $4.26 trillion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canada: Inflation Rate Falls to 4.3% While Mortgage Interest Costs Rise
Canada’s inflation rate has fallen to 4.3% down from 5.2% measured in February, marking the lowest inflation rate since August 2021 according to Statistics Canada.
The inflation rate for consumers is expected to fall to 3% by the middle of 2023, eventually reaching the Bank of Canada’s 2% target by the end of 2024.
However, food prices continue to plague Canadians as prices went up 9.7% in the year leading up to March, slowing down slightly after a 10.6% rate seen in the previous month.
While inflation has fallen, many Canadians are seeing their mortgage interest costs rise by more than 26% in the year up to March in comparison to 23.9% seen in February. This was the largest yearly increase on record.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Is Bitcoin Racist? SEC Claims ‘Unsophisticated’ Minority Investors Losing Large Amounts of Money
United States regulators such as the Securities Exchange Commission have long warned against Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but now there is another reason to crack down on the investments. According to a new letter sent to SEC chairman Gary Gensler, cryptocurrencies have led “unsophisticated investors,” including “many minorities,” to lose significant amounts of money.
“As a result of targeted marketing, a significant amount of these losses have been borne by unsophisticated investors, including many minority investors seeking rapid investment growth without the knowledge or information to assess the risks associated with such investments,” read a letter from the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) to Gensler.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Disapprove of Big Bank Depositors Getting Bailed Out
A vast majority of Americans do not approve of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) using its reserve funds to rescue large depositors above the insured limit, according to a new poll released by Convention of States Action in collaboration with The Trafalgar Group on Tuesday.
More than 70% of the 1,000 likely voters surveyed stated the FDIC should not spend its reserve funds to rescue big depositors — many in the millions — when they were only covered up to a quarter of one million, according to the report. They were conducted between March 20-22, just over one week after federal regulators announced they would bail out all Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank depositors, including those over the typical $250,000 insured cap using the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US House Committee Publishes Draft Bill That Would Call for the Exploration of CBDCs
The House Financial Services Committee has published a draft bill that would regulate stablecoins. The bill proposes a moratorium on stablecoins backed by other crypto assets until a study is conducted and requests a study on a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The bill follows two major incidents involving stablecoins over the past year. The first was the fall of terraUSD (UST), which was backed by the LUNA token, and the second was the USD coin (USDC) temporarily not being backed by the dollar.
The moratorium on stable coins would last until a study is conducted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An alleged Chinese Communist Party (CCP) operative arrested by the FBI on Monday was pictured meeting with several prominent New York Democrats at swanky dinners and campaign events, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.
Lu Jianwang, whom the FBI arrested Monday for conspiring to act as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is pictured with New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and even attended an apparent fundraiser for New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng, according to multiple Chinese-language news reports and photographic evidence. Lu allegedly operated an overseas police station on behalf of the Chinese government.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Blue States Push for Tax Hikes on Deliveries, Rideshares and Streaming
Taxes on delivery transactions, ridesharing and streaming services are some of the tax proposals being weighed by Democratic state legislatures.
Minnesota Democrats have proposed taxes on package deliveries and rides from services such as Uber and Lyft to provide the state with additional revenue. State Rep. Erin Koegel’s bill would add 75 cent fees to retail delivery purchases beginning in July 2024 and Rep. Frank Hornstein’s bill would add fees to each ride taken with rideshare services, Minn Post reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Bowled Us Over’: Trump Official Says WIV Scientists’ Illnesses Are Most Important Lab Leak Evidence
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Feith testified Tuesday that the hospitalization of scientists is some of the most “probative” evidence that COVID-19 leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
Feith, who served in the Trump administration from 2020-21, co-authored a January 2021 memo alleging “several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019 … with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses.” China claims it detected the first COVID-19 illness Dec. 8, 2019. However, a Senate report asserts Chinese scientists began developing a vaccine for COVID-19 around the time of the alleged autumn illnesses.
“The sick researchers are probably still today the most potentially probative part of this story that we are yet aware of,” Feith told Republican Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko during a House Oversight Subcommittee hearing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Joe Biden Invites Ralph Yarl to the White House, Snubs Nashville Families
President Joe Biden has invited Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old high school student who was recently shot, to the Oval Office once he recovers from his injuries.
The president tweeted Tuesday that he had spoken with Yarl and his family, extending the invitation to meet with him personally. Vice President Kamala Harris also expressed her support and concern for Yarl via Twitter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Donald Trump Returns to Instagram, Facebook With First Set of Posts in Over 2 Years
On Tuesday, Former President Donald Trump posted to Instagram and Facebook for the first time since January 5, 2021.
The post featured a photo of one of his second Digital Trading Card collection, and a message to supporters which stated: “I am pleased to inform you that, due to the great success of my previously launched DIGITAL TRADING CARDS, we are doing it again, SERIES 2, AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW.”
In a second post, Trump said: “I hope everyone notices, & I’m sure the Fake News won’t, that I’m leaving the price of the Trading Cards the same as last time, even though they are selling for MANY TIMES MORE (It’s called the MARKET!), & sold out almost immediately, because I want my fans & supporters to make money, & have fun doing it. I could have raised the price MUCH HIGHER, & I believe it still would have sold well, with a lot more money coming to me, but I didn’t choose to do so. I WILL BE GIVEN NO ‘NICE GUY’ CREDIT?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Twitter, Inc Renamed to ‘X Corp’
Elon Musk’s Twitter has undergone a major rebranding as it transitions to X Corp., following in the footsteps of other big tech corporate name changes. The move comes as company CEO, Elon Musk continues his quest to transform Twitter into an “everything app” similar to China’s WeChat.
According to an email sent to Twitter’s business partners, the company’s official name has been changed to X Corp. The email also instructed partners to use the new name in all official dealings. However, it is still unclear when the change was made.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Proposal Calls for Income-Based Utility Bills, High-Earners Pay Most Regardless of Usage
Californians utility companies have presented a plan in response to a new state law requiring them to come up with a fix-rate bill base on customers’ bills annual income — not how much electricity and water they use.
San Diego Gas & Electric, PG&E and Southern California Edison filed a joint proposal alongside California’s Public Utilities Commission that, if adopted, would fix the rate on income per household.
The fixed-rate proposal would be as follows:
- less than $28,000 — $15 a month
- $28,000 — $69,000 — $20 a month
- $69,000 — $180,000 — $51 a month
- over $180,000 — $85 a month
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Caravan of Protesters Block Akron Roadway After Jayland Walker Decision
AKRON, Ohio (WJW) — Dozens of protesters gathered in Akron Monday night after a grand jury decided that officers involved in the shooting death of Jayland Walker shouldn’t face charges.
A caravan of cars shut down a portion of Wilbeth Road, near where Walker was shot and killed.
Later, the City of Akron tweeted out that S. Main Street is temporarily closed from Mill to State due to protesters.
A large police presence is also in the area.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Carjacking Crackdown Bill Passes Wisconsin Legislature
A bipartisan bill designating carjacking as a criminal offense and creating harsher penalties for people who use a weapon to steal a vehicle received final approval in the Wisconsin Legislature on Tuesday.
Passage by the Assembly sends the bill to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who has said he supports the measure. The Senate passed it last month on a bipartisan 23-8 vote. Evers earlier this month signed into law a Republican-sponsored bill to crack down on reckless driving.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Alderman Overrules Lori Lightfoot on Teen Rioters: ‘Some of Them Could Use a Good Whooping’
Chicago’s failed Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot refused to say the word “mayhem” when asked about the rioting teenagers who took over the city for three nights last week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DC Attorney Sued Over Alleged Stonewalling of Jan. 6 Footage Release
Several major media companies launched a lawsuit last week against D.C. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) and the FBI demanding the release of U.S. Capitol surveillance footage from the Jan. 6 events as related trials continue.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had given Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a Daily Caller co-founder and honorary Daily Caller News Foundation board member, more than 44,000 hours of such footage in February, withholding the videos from every other news organization that requested them, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday. Plaintiffs subsequently submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the footage, but the EOUSA allegedly refused to grant access to it and the FBI allegedly claimed they were “unable to identify” the requested material.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Documents Show Secret Service Surveilled OnlyFans, Pinterest
Government watchdog organization the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) recently obtained documents that revealed that the Secret Service monitors websites that are not usually associated with political content like OnlyFans, Twitch, and Pinterest.
CREW obtained the documents while looking for communications before the January 6 2021 riots at the US Capitol.
The documents revealed that the Secret Service regularly monitored OnlyFans, Pinterest, and other platforms, in addition to the usuals such as, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Most of the accounts were either inactive or private.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Knocks ‘Absurdly Overstaffed’ Twitter, ‘Desperate’ Media in Tucker Carlson Sit-Down
Since Tesla founder Elon Musk took over Twitter late last year, the social media giant has become the center of controversy from free speech debates to censorship revelations. Shortly after taking the reigns at Twitter, Musk decided to let go of several top employees as well as weed out the social media company’s staff.
Despite facing harsh criticism for the move, Musk defended his actions to cut back the “absurdly overstaffed” Twitter Monday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
“We just had a situation at Twitter where it was absurdly overstaffed,” Musk said. “Turns out you don’t need all that many people to run Twitter.”
Last week, Musk revealed that more than 6,000 people have lost their jobs at Twitter since he took over the company last October.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Announces Plans for ‘Truth-Seeking AI’ to Protect Humanity
Elon Musk recently told Tucker Carlson during an interview that he has plans to create a chatbot that would rival Microsoft and Google, bashing the two tech juggernauts for the way they have used and abused AI.
He criticized Microsoft’s support for OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, claiming that they are “training the AI to lie,” going on to say that the firm has become a “for-profit” organization “closely allied with Microsoft,” per the Daily Mail.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The new board controlling Disney’s special district will learn Wednesday if agreements meant to strip them of their powers are valid, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Disney trumped Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in March using an obscure legal loophole, stripping power from the oversight board he had put in place to control the Florida theme park.
The dispute between Walt Disney Company and the state governor erupted in March 2022, when DeSantis passed his ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, banning classroom teaching on gender identity.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fox News Settles With Dominion in Defamation Case
Fox News reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million Tuesday just minutes before a defamation trial was set to begin.
The trial was set to begin Tuesday morning after the judge swore in the jury, but attorneys were delayed from presenting opening arguments as Fox News and Dominion continued to work behind the scenes to reach a settlement. An agreement for less than half of the original $1.6 billion demand was reached late Tuesday, and it was eventually announced by the judge that the case was no longer going to trial.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A group bankrolled by billionaire George Soros is back in Virginia years after initially entering the state to aid two far-left prosecutor candidates up for re-election this year and facing Democratic challengers, new filings show.
The Justice & Public Safety PAC, which has received millions from Soros and his political action committee in recent years, provided $11,500 in in-kind contributions to help Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descanos’s candidacy in late March, according to campaign filings released Monday and reviewed by Fox News Digital.
In Arlington County, Soros’ group pumped $8,000 into backing Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti’s candidacy in mid-March, her filings show. Dehghani-Tafti’s jurisdiction also extends to the city of Falls Church.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Lawmakers to Investigate Leak of Classified Documents
The House Armed Services and Intelligence Committees announced this week that they would begin investigations into the leak of classified materials pertaining to sensitive security matters.
Writing to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday, Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, pressed him for details as to how the leak occurred, Fox News reported.
“Americans and our allies are asking how such a serious leak was able to occur with such ease and breadth,” the Republicans wrote. Authorities have arrested Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, 21, in connection with the leak.
Teixeira allegedly posted a wide array of classified materials on a Discord server dubbed Thug Shaker Central, which included enthusiasts of various war games. Discord is a popular messaging app that caters to gamers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Iowa Senate Passes Controversial Child Labor Bill
Lawmakers in Iowa’s Senate passed a controversial bill Tuesday that would allow minors to work longer hours and work in currently banned roles, like serving alcohol at restaurants, the Des Moines Register reported.
Supporters of the bill — mainly Republicans — said it would give children valuable opportunities to work and get paid, whereas opponents — largely Democrats — said it would harm children.
Although two Republicans defied their party and voted against the bill with Democrats, the measure still passed 32-17 in the GOP-controlled Senate. The bill requires approval from the Republican-controlled House and from Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds to become law.
The bill would allow kids under 16 to work up to six hours a day, which is two more hours than currently allowed for that age group. It would also allow 16— and 17-year-olds to serve alcohol at restaurants, with written permission from their parent or guardian.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mob Randomly Attacks Couple Walking in Chicago: They Said They Were ‘Going to Kill US’
A couple says they were randomly attacked by a mob while walking in downtown Chicago amid the “Teen Takeover” that turned into a violent rampage over the weekend.
“Ashley” and “DJ” told “America Reports” on Tuesday that they had been looking for a spot to get food Saturday night when they found themselves trying to navigate a large crowd. People in the crowd pushed the couple, and when DJ stood up to them, fighting broke out.
“As soon as they pushed me, I told DJ,” Ashley said. “I said, ‘Hey, they just shoved me.’ And he asked them, he was like, ‘Yo, don’t shove her. Who shoved her?’ And as soon as he said that, everything went crazy. … They said they were going to kill us.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netflix Announces End to DVD Mailing Service
It’s the end of an era.
Netflix announced Tuesday that it would be sending its last red envelope on Sept. 29, 2023, ending its DVD mailing service after 25 years.
“Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members but as the business continues to shrink that’s going to become increasingly difficult,” the company said in part of a statement shared with ABC News.
The now-ubiquitous streaming company began sending rented DVDs by mail in April 1998. Nearly a decade after its first disc was shipped out in a red envelope (that movie was “Beetlejuice”, by the way), the company introduced its online streaming and video service in 2007.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Not a Firearms Expert’: Biden’s ATF Chief Admits He Can’t Define What an ‘Assault Weapon’ is
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Director Steve Dettelbach was unable to define the term “assault weapon” during his agency’s Tuesday budget request hearing before a House Appropriations subcommittee.
Dettelbach told Republican Texas Rep. Jake Ellzey that he had expressed support for passing an assault weapons ban in Ohio during his unsuccessful 2018 campaign to become the state’s attorney general, noting that the Biden administration endorses instituting “an assault weapons ban.” Ellzey asked Dettelbach to define an “assault weapon” in 15 seconds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Provisional Ballots May Flip Arizona Attorney General Race for Hamadeh: Analysis
An analysis of uncounted provisional ballots shows the 2022 Arizona attorney general’s race may be called for GOP nominee Abe Hamadeh instead of the now-Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Hamadeh is challenging the election in court, suing Mayes to ensure all votes were counted in their midterm election contest, which Hamadeh lost by just 280 votes, according to an automatic statewide recount.
Last week, Mohave County Superior Court scheduled oral arguments on May 16 for Hamadeh’s motion for a new trial, which he filed after learning that vote total discrepancies in Pinal County were allegedly not brought to the attention of his legal team or the judge in his initial election challenge.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Reinstated Dem Rep Carries Child-Sized Casket Into Tennessee Capitol Building
Reinstated Democratic Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones carried a child-sized casket into the Tennessee State Capitol on Tuesday in solidarity with gun control protestors.
Capitol security barred Jones from carrying the child-sized casket into the House chambers as part of a “Moral Monday” demonstration organized by activist Bishop William J. Barber II. The gesture was intended as a protest against House Bill 1202, which would allow school faculty and staff to obtain enhanced handgun permits to carry concealed weapons on school premises.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rep. Laurel Lee Becomes First Florida Member to Endorse DeSantis
Republican Rep. Laurel Lee became the first member of Florida’s congressional delegation to endorse Gov. Ron DeSantis’ nascent presidential bid.
“As Ron DeSantis’ Secretary of State, I had the honor of witnessing firsthand his unparalleled leadership under pressure, his character, and his commitment to core conservative principles. His leadership and his vision made Florida a shining beacon of freedom. Ron DeSantis fights for what matters, and he wins when it matters most,” she said Tuesday in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rep. Jim Jordan Goes Off on Scientists Who ‘Called Us Names’ Over Lab Leak
Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan blasted scientists who downplayed the likelihood that COVID-19 leaked from a lab, asserting that they were all aware that it was likely to have emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“The fundamental question is ‘why?’ Why did they lie to us, and why is it taking so long for every government agency to admit what we all know? Because belief in a lab leak as the start of this is not a conspiracy theory,” Jordan said Tuesday during a hearing of the House Oversight subcommittee addressing the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
SEC Green-Lights Vote to Probe PayPal Over Political Censorship
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed to a proposal by conservative investors to investigate PayPal’s discrimination against customers based on political and religious views.
The SEC allowed the National Center for Public Policy Research’s proposal to go to PayPal’s next annual shareholder meeting, Epoch first reported.
In a letter to PayPal’s lawyers, the SEC said that the NCPPR’s proposal “requests that the board conduct an evaluation and issue a report within the next year evaluating how it oversees risks related to discrimination against individuals based on their race, color, religion (including religious views), sex, national origin, or political views, and whether such discrimination may impact individuals’ exercise of their constitutionally protected civil rights.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senate Republicans Blocking Democrats From Temporarily Replacing Feinstein on Judiciary Committee
Senate Republicans say they’ll block efforts to temporarily replace Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee, as members of her conference attempt to end the backlog of Biden judicial appointees created by her absence on Capitol Hill.
The committee, which recommends nominees for a final floor vote, has a Democrat majority. But Feinstein’s absence since March, as a result of the shingles virus, has resulted in 10-10 ties among the other members.
At least five GOP committee members — Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), John Cornyn (Texas), Tom Cotton (Ark.), John Kennedy (La.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) — say they will oppose efforts to replace Feinstein or see no reason to take her off the committee, according to The Hill newspaper.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter to Encrypt DMs After Revealing US Govt Had ‘Full Access’ to Private Messages: Elon Musk
Twitter CEO Elon Musk revealed in an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on Monday night that the US and foreign government agencies were given “full access” to direct messages of private citizens on the platform before he bought the company.
Musk told Carlson, “The degree to which government agencies effectively had full access to everything that was going on on Twitter blew my mind. I was not aware of that.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S Food Supply Already Spiked With mRNA, Attorney Confirms
A top American attorney has warned that his team has uncovered evidence to confirm that the U.S. food supply has already been spiked with mRNA technology.
According to activist lawyer Thomas Renz, pigs have been injected with mRNA vaccines since 2018.
Pharmaceutical companies Merck and Moderna developed an mRNA vaccine for swine called “Sequivity” that is already being actively used in the food supply.
Renz warns that the use of mRNA vaccines will soon be expanded to beef and chicken supplies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video of Chicago Woman Surrounded & Attacked by Violent Teen Mob Proves Lightfoot & Johnson Wrong
A shocking video has emerged from the three nights of violent mayhem Chicago experienced over the weekend.
The “Teen Takeover” riots overwhelmed downtown Chicago but Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson tried to downplay the violence.
After the video surfaced, however, it will be much harder for the city’s Democrat leadership to gaslight the people of Chicago.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Washington Post Retracts False Claim That Ralph Yarl Was Killed in Missouri Shooting
On Tuesday, the Washington Post issued a correction for its newsletter after the publication stated that 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was killed during a shooting earlier this month, when he was in fact injured.
“A previous version of this newsletter had an inaccurate headline for the second story. Ralph Yarl, the Black teen shot in Missouri, did not die. The newsletter has been corrected,” the correction note for The Post Most read.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk has been on a tear on Twitter recently, labeling government funded media worldwide as exactly that. On Monday, it was the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s turn to get tagged, and in response, the government lashed out.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with the CBC, took issue with the label, complaining that it was not accurate because the CBC is only 70 percent government funded, supplying 30 percent of their funding from other revenue sources.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Government Workers Make More, Retire Earlier and Get More Time Off Than Private Sector
A new study by the Fraser Institute shows that on average, government employees make nearly 10% more than their private sector counterparts and enjoy a slate of other advantages.
The report titled Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Canada, 2023 Edition comes as the largest union representing public sector workers prepares to go on strike.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly All BC MLAs Vote to Condemn Freedom Convoy, Praise Vaccine Mandates
All but one of the MLAs present at the BC Legislature on Monday evening voted to condemn the Freedom Convoy and applaud lockdowns and vaccine mandates.
“Be it resolved that one year after the anti-vaccine protests in Ottawa and communities including Victoria, South Surrey, Kelowna and Cranbrook, this House denounces the freedom convoy protests and affirms that public health orders, including vaccine requirements, have been an essential tool in B.C.’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the motion read.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Public Servants to Strike at Midnight
The federal government has not been able to reach a deal with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) by their 9 pm deadline and a strike will commence at midnight tonight.
PSAC represents roughly 35,000 workers at the Canada Revenue Agency and 120,000 employees in a variety of departments, including tradespeople, teachers, firefighters, Employment Insurance and Immigration workers.
Canadians can expect serious delays and longer wait times in the last weeks before the tax deadline, especially those filed on paper.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
As Germany Pulls Nuclear Plug, Poland is Set to Build a Network of Small Nuclear Power Stations
Poland is set to construct several nuclear plants powered by small modular reactors (SMRs), the CEO of Polish energy giant PKN Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, announced on Monday.
At a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, officials representing Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE), a joint venture between Orlen Group and Synthos Green Energy, owned by Michal Solowow, signed letters of intent with the U.S.’ EXIM Bank and International Development Finance Cooperation (DFC) on funding for the establishment of Poland’s first two nuclear stations that would feature the BWRX-300 small modular reactors.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Britons Flock to Private Doctors as Socialised Healthcare Fails to Deliver on Time
Private healthcare providers are reporting a surge in demand as a survey shows rising numbers of Britons turn to private providers for healthcare despite the United Kingdom having one of the highest proportions of government health spending on earth.
The United Kingdom’s £180-billion a year National Health Service (NHS) is so struggling to keep up with demand, a full 13 per cent of British households have used private healthcare in the past year. A further 27 per cent have considered using it but didn’t because they couldn’t afford it, with those who can effectively paying twice, once through taxes for a system that fails to deliver and again for direct private provision.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czechia Won’t Join Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia’s Ban on Ukrainian Grains
The Czech Republic has no plans to ban imports of Ukrainian grain and other Ukrainian agricultural products for the time being, Czech Agriculture Minister Zdenek Nekula said in Prague on Monday. The minister believes that the import bans introduced by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia are contrary to the functioning of the EU single market and the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
As Remix News reported earlier, over the past few days, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia put in place bans on cheap Ukrainian grains and other agricultural produce in order to protect local producers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Duisburg: Several People Stabbed in Fitness Studio
At least four people were seriously injured in a stabbing attack in a gym in Duisburg. A police operation is underway in the city.
An attacker seriously injured at least four people at a fitness center in the old town of the western German city of Duisburg on Tuesday evening, police said on Twitter.
Authorities confirmed that an operation led by police from the nearby city of Essen was under way and advised citizens to avoid the area.
A “stabbing or cutting weapon” was used in the attack, the police said. The injured were taken to a hospital, it added.
According to information from Germany’s Bild newspaper, police are suspecting the perpetrator went on a rampage and is still on the run.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
German Court Ruling Against Hosting Company Paves the Way for Privatized Censorship
A German court ruled that hosting website Uberspace is liable for hosting the youtube-dl website. Youtube-dl is an open source tool that allows users to download YouTube videos.
In 2020, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sent a takedown notice to GitHub to remove youtube-dl, alleging the YouTube-ripping tool violated YouTube’s technological protections. Initially, GitHub complied but changed its decision after consulting with legal experts.
The music industry did not give up. It went after youtube-dl’s hosting provider Uberspace, which is based in Germany. The district court of Hamburg ruled in favor of the music industry.
The court ruled that youtube-dl bypasses YouTube’s technological protections and that Uberspace could be held responsible for youtube-dl’s activities, TorrentFreak reported.
Uberspace had received a takedown notice before but did not comply because it was not clear that the YouTube ripper was clearly illegal. But the court said the hosting provider should have known better.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ireland: Woman Believed Father Was an ‘Intruder’ When She Fatally Stabbed Him, Court Told
Julie Flood has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murdering Patrick Flood (94) in Oylegate, Co Wexford
A woman on trial for fatally stabbing her 94-year-old father told gardaí that she heard God say he was not her “daddy” but an intruder who she should stab in the heart.
A prosecution barrister told the 12 jurors at the Central Criminal Court that murder accused Julie Flood was in the throes of a psychotic state when she attacked Patrick Flood in their Co Wexford home on April 12th, 2019.
Shane Costelloe SC, prosecuting, told the court that the experts in the case agree that Ms Flood fell within the legal definition of someone who was insane at the time.
Michael Delaney SC, defending, made three formal admissions to the court on behalf of Ms Flood. He said she stabbed her father with a kitchen knife; that the single stab wound inflicted caused his death two days later; and that the accused was properly arrested and detained by gardaí.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Leaked Docs: NATO Ally Hungary Called Biden Admin a ‘Top 3 Adversary’
Hungary, a member of the NATO alliance alongside the United States, has identified the Biden administration as one of its top three adversaries, according to leaked Pentagon documents obtained by the Daily Caller.
During a Feb. 22 political strategy session, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban identified the United States as one of the top three adversaries to his Fidesz Party, according to intelligence from the U.S. Embassy in Budapest and the CIA referenced in the document. As NATO allies, Hungary and the United States are legally obligated to defend each other from foreign aggression.
[Comment: Prime Minister Viktor Orban is not wrong.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Legacy? What Legacy? Angela Merkel, Queen of Migrant and Energy Crises Gets Germany’s Highest Award
Former Chancellor Anglea Merkel was awarded Germany’s highest honour of merit on Monday despite a questionable legacy including ushering in the European Migrant Crisis and leaving her country in a state of dependence on Russia after her failed green energy push.
In Germany, every Federal Chancellor is awarded a Federal Cross of Merit after leaving office, however, it is up to the Federal President to determine which of the eight levels of merit the chancellor receives. On Monday, it was announced that Chancellor Angela Merkel would receive the highest order of merit, the “Grand Cross” for her 16 years in office.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In a much anticipated speech on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced shortly after the Constitutional Council’s approval that he will go ahead with his pension reform despite nationwide protests.
Macron announced that the controversial pension reform would be enacted in the autumn, then admitted that the law in question had not been approved by the people with a vote in parliament and that it was clearly a reform that would require effort. He claimed the reform was “necessary.”
In a speech that lasted no more than 15 minutes, the French head of state stressed that he did not want to remain deaf to the call for social justice or for a renewal of democratic life in France. He also stressed his rejection of any radical and extremist view of the social crisis because he says it is not the solution.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Macron Begs French Public for 100 Days to Solve National Crisis as Fiery Riots Continue
In an address to the nation on Monday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron begged for 100 days to get his government out of the crisis that has plagued his fifth year in office, however, opposition leaders and the public do not appear ready to relent on the pressure on the Élysée Palace.
With the backdrop of fiery protests in Paris and Bordeaux, President Macron in his first comments since signing his controversial pension reforms last week asked the nation to give his government 100 days to implement an action plan to address the myriad of grievances held among the French people.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
National Emergency Alert Test in UK on Sunday Afternoon Could Cause Mass Panic, Campaigners Warn
Mobile phones in the United Kingdom will be triggered to sound a loud, 10-second siren alert on Sunday afternoon as the British government trials its new emergency alert system.
The system, similar to those already trialed in the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan, will sound the alarm at 3 p.m. to all 4G and 5G mobile phones.
It is expected to be used in the future to warn Brits of climate change disasters, including extreme weather events such as flash floods or wildfires. It may also be used to alert users of terror attacks or civil defense emergencies.
The message will read: “This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new U.K. government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.
“In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe. Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information. This is a test. You do not need to take any action.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistani International Cricketer Charged for Death Threats Against Dutch Conservative Geert Wilders
The Dutch public prosecution office has charged and will seek the extradition of a former Pakistani international cricketer for allegedly inciting the murder of Dutch conservative politician Geert Wilders, the office confirmed on Monday.
Wilders himself identified the accused as former opening batsman Khalid Latif.
The charge dates back to an online video published in 2018 in which the 37-year-old man offered €21,000 for the murder of a Dutch MP.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Smolensk Air Disaster Subcommittee Files Assassination Claim With Prosecutors
The committee investigating the Smolensk air disaster of 2010 has filed evidence with Poland’s public prosecutors showing that the disaster was an assassination.
According to the submission filed by the Smolensk subcommittee, the event on April 10, 2010, was an assassination attempt on the life of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in which 95 other people died . The Tupolew Tu-154M plane crashed in the early morning, packed full of VIPs traveling to commemorate the Katyn massacre committed by the Soviets in the 1940s.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poles Against EU Ban on Combustion Engine Cars
The Council of the European Union passed regulations aimed at reducing the number of gasoline and diesel-powered cars on European roads, with the regulation assuming a 100 percent reduction in CO2 emissions for new vehicles after 2035. The regulation essentially means new gasoline cars will no longer be available for purchase or registration.
From 2035 onward, only electric and hydrogen cars will be available for purchase in the EU. Driving gasoline cars will still be legal, but it will not be possible to buy them.
In a recent poll by United Surveys, respondents were asked whether the new EU regulations banning the sale of gasoline cars was a good decision.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
— after a Just Stop Oil protester climbed onto a table at the World Championship and covered it with orange powder
Mark Allen and Mark Williams fear this year’s attack on the Crucible by climate protesters shows a Monica Seles-style stabbing is possible in snooker.
This year’s World Championships were interrupted when a ‘Just Stop Oil’ activist got on the table in the Rob Milkins against Joe Perry first-round match in Sheffield — before covering it in orange powder.
Another was prevented from trying to glue herself to the other table by referee Olivier Marteel in the Allen v Fan Zhengyi match.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Animal Rights Activists Are Plotting Summer of Protests at UK’s Horse Racing Meetings…
— ‘Animal Rising’ ringleaders threaten more disruption at sporting events after 118 people were arrested over storming of the Grand National
Eco activists have vowed to kick-off a ‘Summer of Animal Rising’ which will see them target more high profile horse racing events and the food industry after storming the Grand National yesterday.
Rights campaigners say the coming the months will see renewed action against factory farming, in which they intend to rescue animals to ‘create a national conversation on our relationship with animals and nature’.
Animal Rebellion, which has now renamed itself Animal Rising, says despite the arrest of more than 100 of its supporters at the horse race in Aintree, it will target further horse racing meetings in Britain this summer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Just Stop Oil made headlines yet again after one of their activists stopped play at the World Snooker Championships by throwing orange powder on one of the tables.
The incident, which occurred during the first round match between Joe Perry and Robert Milkins, led to audible gasps from spectators.
But this is not the first time Just Stop Oil have disrupted high profile events as the group attempt to make their voices heard.
So, who are Just Stop Oil? What are they protesting about? Who owns them and what other events have they targeted?
Read on below for everything you need to know about Just Stop Oil.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Up to 28,000 environmental activists are planning to flood Westminster across the weekend of the London Marathon.
Extinction Rebellion and dozens of other environmental groups are planning to protest for four days from Friday to Monday, an event they are calling The Big One.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Absolut Vodka Suspends Exports to Russia
The Swedish vodka maker says the decision comes after campaigns on social media to boycott Absolut.
The maker of Sweden’s Absolut vodka has said it is ceasing all exports to Russia after calls to boycott the brand flared up in Sweden and on social media.
The Absolut Company said on Tuesday it “has decided to stop the export of its brand to Russia”.
Stephanie Durroux, chief executive of The Absolut Company, said in a statement that the company is exercising its “duty of care towards our employees and partners, we cannot expose them to massive criticism in all forms”.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Putin, Zelensky Make Dueling Easter Visits to Ukraine Front Lines
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the occupied Donetsk region of the eastern Donbass on Tuesday, meeting wounded soldiers and assessing the battleground situation after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin revealed, had toured eastern Ukraine on Monday.
Both heads of state made their voyages on the occasion of Orthodox Easter, the holiest day on the calendar for Orthodox Christians. Both Zelensky and Putin framed their visits, through their respective offices, as a way to thank their soldiers for their work on Easter and to assess the progress of the war.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Owns the Only Plant in the World Capable of Reprocessing Spent Uranium
The war in Ukraine has put into question the future of the reprocessing sector.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
‘Standing Shoulder-to-Shoulder’: Putin Welcomes China’s Defense Minister to Moscow
Russian leader Vladimir Putin welcomed Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu to Moscow for a four-day visit meant to “deepen” cooperation.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese National Arrested in Pakistan After Allegedly Insulting Islam, Prophet Muhammad
Pakistani police arrested a Chinese national on blasphemy charges after he allegedly insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, authorities said Monday. Under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, the offense carries the death penalty.
Police identified the man only as Mr. Tian from China and said he was arrested on Sunday night, hours after hundreds of residents and laborers working on a dam project blocked a key highway and rallied to demand his arrest.
The rally took place in the town of Komela — located close to the site of the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan — in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, according to local police chief Naseer Khan.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allegedly directed operatives to exploit the death of George Floyd and spread anti-democracy messages on U.S. social media platforms, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed on Monday.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged thirty-four Chinese National Police Officers on Monday with allegedly perpetrating a transnational repression scheme targeting United States residents. The DOJ alleges the defendants committed conspiracy to transmit interstate or foreign threats.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price accused Anthony Albanese, Labor governments and the ABC of the ‘dog act’ of ignoring Indigenous child sex abuse, which the Prime Minister denies.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Ian Thorpe has recalled the time he and his partner became victims of a shocking homophobic outburst in a ride share service in Sydney in an incident that left him ‘hysterical’.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Great Pacific Garbage Patch Now Thriving With Marine Life, Study Says
Dozens of different species of marine life that were once believed to have only thrived in coastal habitats have been found living among massive piles of plastic and debris swirling in the Pacific Ocean, according to a new study published in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal on Monday.
Researchers studying the Great Pacific Garbage Patch said they found coastal species such as crabs and anemones on more than 70% of the debris samples collected in the ocean between November 2018 and January 2019.
And these findings now suggest that the plastic and debris spinning in the Pacific may be enabling new floating ecosystems for marine life.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Australian drivers are expected to see more electric cars race into the country after the federal government pledged to introduce a policy.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Hosam Soueid, 36, who raped an 18-year-old woman, suffered two blows to the head in an assault in 2002 and has been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and PTSD.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Dr. Chukwumerije Okereke’s New York Times guest essay argued against climate activists like Bill Gates and George Soros writing, “My Continent Is Not Your Giant Climate Laboratory.”
Okereke, who works as the director of the Center for Climate Change and Development at Alex Ekwueme Federal University in Nigeria, explained in the essay on Tuesday the concept of solar geoengineering, which is supposed to redirect climate damage from the sun’s rays.
Although the concept has been gaining traction in recent years, Okereke criticized efforts by Western countries to persuade Africa to get involved.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Gross Violation’: EU Ambassador to Sudan Assaulted in His Home Amid Fighting Between Rival Forces
American diplomats were fired upon Monday in Sudan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said to reporters at ongoing G7 meetings in Japan.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, which reportedly saw a U.S. diplomatic convoy come under fire, according to the BBC. Meanwhile, European Union Ambassador to Sudan Aidan O’Hara was reportedly assaulted inside his home in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Havana Syndrome: Foreign Adversaries’ Microwave Weapons Capabilities Explained by Physicist
The first cases of what became known as Havana syndrome were reported in 2016. U.S. diplomats and foreign officials in places like Russia, China and Cuba began to suffer from a mysterious illness. Symptoms included headaches, vertigo and brain fog.
“There was a significant amount of head pressure, a lot of pain, eventually stabbing pain to the point that I started blacking out,” said “Adam,” who is the first known person to suffer from Havana syndrome.
Adam, a former government employee whose last name Fox News is withholding for safety, is considered to be patient zero and was first attacked in December 2016 while living in Havana. He said he experienced regular attacks and that his friends and colleagues were suffering the same ailments.
“Usually what would wake me up is, I’d be in a pool of my own blood on my pillow from gushing nosebleeds,” Adam said. “That wouldn’t stop until the head pressure piece would stop.”
Since Adam’s case was reported, hundreds of U.S. diplomats have suffered from the strange attacks. The U.S. government has not yet determined what caused the illnesses. Scientists and doctors who have studied radio frequency energy say it’s likely a microwave weapon could be the cause of the symptoms.
“The majority of the people I know, who I’ve talked to about this, who do know the field, all agree that this is about a syndrome,” physicist James Benford said. “It certainly fits with a microwave beam as the attacking element.”
Benford has a Ph.D. in physics and is an expert in how high-power microwaves work.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Young asylum seekers in Wales could soon receive a monthly payment of £1,600 and taxpayer cash to fight deportation under plans proposed by the country’s devolved Labour government.
The move would see asylum seekers who arrive unaccompanied in Britain as children effectively handed a monthly living wage from the age of 18, in addition to extra cash for legal fees to fight deportation orders.
A letter outlining the intention, which has been signed by three Welsh Labour ministers — Jane Hutt, Julie Morgan, and Mick Antoniw — has been sent to the U.K. Justice Ministry for sign off. The plans are still in the development stage and would need the green light from the U.K. government in Westminster.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British Couple Brushed Off by French Police After Migrants Break Into Their Camper
A British couple says they were repeatedly brushed off by French police after trying to report migrants who had broken into their travel camper, according to reports.
The incident unfolded recently in Caen, a commune in Normandy near the English Channel.
Bruce and Catherine Broughton say they were shopping for wine at a store in the port following a vacation in France when another patron warned them two men had forced entry into their caravan.
The Broughtons say their vehicle showed clear signs of damage which they reported to French officers on patrol.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The village of Rosenthal in eastern Saxony has only 150 citizens, but its population may soon double if a planned migrant center with capacity for 150 is built in the vicinity of the village. Now, citizens are turning to the conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party for help.
The tranquil village is located in a little-known corner of Germany where a large number of ethnic Sorbs live, right on the border of Poland. The village’s obscurity may be exactly why the federal government and the state of Saxony may have thought they could relocate migrants there without much opposition.
None of the migrants headed there will be Ukrainians; instead, they will be Afghans, Syrians, Iranians, and Iraqis. Given that the move will change the culture and demographics of the village virtually overnight, residents are furious and actively fighting against the top-down measure with the help of the AfD.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: 40 Muslim Asylum Seekers Refuse to Eat After Being Served Pork, Police Called After Threats
Approximately 40 asylum seekers in Germany refused food in their asylum accommodation in the coastal city of Rostock, with some throwing their plates to the floor. The incident then escalated after certain migrants began threatening employees at the asylum accommodation, which resulted in a police operation being launched at the location to restore order.
According to a police report, a group of Afghan asylum seekers were served pork, which according to Islamic law, is forbidden to eat. However, the group of men did not just complain about the pork but also complained about what they said was the monotony of the food selection, wilted salad greens, and the sanitary conditions of the facility.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s government advanced plans to crack down on the surge of migration into the country by removing “special protection” status for migrants as hundreds arrived Monday on Sicily’s coast, according to The Associated Press.
The Italian Senate will decide this week on proposed legislation that the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urges to slow down the increasing numbers of incoming migrants that have reached the country’s southern coast since a state of emergency was declared last Monday, according to the AP. The legislation would terminate the permit for “special protection,” enacted in 2020, which allows migrants to stay in the country for two years and possibly renew their license.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Official Slammed After Calling for Constant Mass Immigration to Cover Future Pensions
Mass migration is essential to Italy’s survival and without it the country’s pension system will collapse, Pasquale Tridico, the outgoing president of the country’s National Institute for Social Security (INPS), has claimed.
In an interview with La Stampa newspaper, Tridico warned that “without migrants, INPS accounts will be critical in 20 years.” He claimed that the most advanced nations in Europe “all have many migrants” and that Italy needs “to cover the demand for medium-low jobs from North to South with foreigners.”
“The solution can only be the access of regular and fluid immigration,” he added, insisting that gaps in the Italian labor market can only be filled through foreign migrants and claiming the flow of mass migration must be “constant.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said Tuesday that unaccompanied minors at the southern border are being used for sex trafficking and child labor.
The comments come after whistleblowers said the Biden administration ignored warnings that migrant children were at risk of being exploited for labor or sex trafficking, according to The New York Times. The Department of Labor initiated an investigation into snack factories for child labor violations in February.
“We know that Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement has completely lost track of 85,000 children that have come into this country,” Blackburn told Fox News host Harris Faulkner. “We know that you have got over 250,000 unaccompanied alien children and they can’t find 85,000 of them?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
What was an unacceptable solution a few years ago may now be a necessity, according to the leadership of the European People’s Party (EPP). Party President Manfred Weber has come up with the idea of a border fence to alleviate the migration crisis in Europe, despite having previously criticized the Hungarian government led by Viktor Orban for installing fences in 2016 to stem the migration crisis.
In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Weber said if necessary, border fences should be used to curb mass illegal immigration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The 28-year-old transgender attacker who shot and killed six in a Nashville Christian school March 27, 2023, left behind a suicide note, 19 journals, and other items, all of which have been kept from the public.
Breitbart News reported that the transgender shooter carried legally purchased firearms into the school, where she walked the halls with a pistol caliber carbine looking for victims.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Country Star Brantley Gilbert Rejects Bud Light Tossed to Him Onstage: ‘F*** That!’
Country music star Brantley Gilbert was the latest celebrity to weigh in on Bud Light’s partnership with transgender TikTok star and activist Dylan Mulvaney during one of his concerts this weekend.
Gilbert was tossed a can of Bud Light and yelled “F — — that!” when he realized the brand of the beer, smashing it to the ground while performing onstage at Indian Mountain ATV Park in Piedmont, Alabama.
Mulvaney was announced as a Bud Light spokesperson to promote the March Madness basketball tournament this month, which has prompted ridicule and backlash from the media and the public in recent weeks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Disney Announces ‘Pride Nite’ Amid Ongoing Battle With DeSantis
Disney promoted its upcoming “pride nite” that will be held at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA on June 13 and 15 among the company’s ongoing feud with Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“The first-ever Disneyland After Dark: Pride Nite is coming to @Disneyland during Pride Month in June!” the official Disney account tweeted Monday. “This separately ticketed event celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community & allies will have themed entertainment, Disney characters, specialty menu items & more.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk’s Twitter Lifts Ban on ‘Misgendering’ and ‘Deadnaming’ Trans People
Twitter altered its “hateful conduct policy” Tuesday to lift its ban on “misgendering” and “deadnaming” transgender people.
The previous policy, enacted in 2018, specifically prohibited users from “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” which included using the wrong pronoun or a person’s previous name. As of April 2023, the sentence regarding transgender individuals has been removed from the “Slurs and Tropes” category.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘My Question is Very Simple’: Biden Education Secretary Refuses to Define What a Woman Is
Department of Education (ED) Secretary Miguel Cardona refused to give the definition of a woman when asked during a Tuesday House Appropriations Committee hearing.
After discussing whether students should participate in athletics on the basis of biological sex, Republican Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde asked Cardona three times to define what a woman is during the House Appropriations Committee hearing. Cardona never gave a definition and instead spoke about his role at the ED to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New UN-Backed Legal Recommendations Normalize Sex With Children
Experts and critics around the world are raising the alarm about new international legal recommendations that have received backing from the United Nations (UN) and would legalize sex between adults and children.
A shocking report issued by UN-backed international legal experts appears to open the floodgates to normalizing sex with minors.
“Sexual conduct involving persons below the domestically prescribed minimum age of consent to sex may be consensual in fact, if not in law,” the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) wrote in March.
The recommendation was written with an assist from UNAIDS and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Oregon Dems Demand Insurance Companies Cover Sex Changes — Leave Detransitioners Without Care
An Oregon bill which seeks to mandate insurance companies to the cover experimental sex change procedures specifically excludes detransition-related treatments.
HB 2002 requires that health insurance companies cover “medically necessary” procedures such as hair electrolysis, tracheal shaves, and facial feminisation surgery for trans-identified males, but when one Republican representative proposed adding coverage for detransition-related treatments, it was flatly rejected by Democrats.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Students Demand Catholic College ‘Break From Church Doctrine’ to Establish Dedicated LGBTQ+ Center
Boston College (BC) continues to face calls from students to establish a dedicated center for students who identify as LGBTQ+, following a years-long trend.
BC, a Jesuit Catholic institution, currently has an intercultural center on campus with resources for LGBTQ+ students. Despite this, students are advocating for a dedicated space specifically for students who identify with the LGBTQ+ community.
The Boston Globe reported on April 6 that BC has repeatedly denied requests to establish the center. The Heights, a BC student newspaper, has published articles detailing student requests to create a dedicated LGBTQ+ center from as far back as 2015.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tenured Professor Who Challenged Social Justice Funding Fired in Secret Board Vote
California’s Bakersfield College has fired a tenured history professor formally charged with “dishonesty” for disagreeing with colleagues on diversity issues, including a proposed “racial climate task force” to supersede the gridlocked diversity committee on which he served.
The secretive move against Matthew Garrett followed a contentious public meeting on his fate Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
University Invites Pro-Life Speaker Back to Campus After Protest Forces Evacuation, Turns Violent
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) invited pro-life speaker Kristan Hawkins back to campus after she was shouted down during an on-campus event on March 29, Students for Life (SFL) announced on Tuesday.
Police officers escorted Hawkins, SFL president, and Isabel Brown, Turning Point USA contributor, from the venue after protesters at the March event became unruly, according to video posted on SFL. Hawkins will get another chance to speak on campus on April 26 after the organization’s legal counsel partnered with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group, to send a demand letter alleging VCU did not uphold the speakers’ free speech rights, SFL reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Refusing to sell one’s vodka to Russians is about as ineffectual as refusing to sell oil to Saudi Arabia. Absolut Vodka is ok by American standards, but having spent time there I can say with certainty that the Russians have plenty of brands that are much better.
Anyway, these are the same Swedes that refuse to arm cops escorting murderers to their medical appointments, and tolerate gangs of feral orcs freely using hand grenades in the downtowns of their cities. Not exactly a font of rationality or intelligence.
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“The Swedish company that makes Absolut Vodka announced that it was ceasing exports to Russia, in order to forestall a boycott of its brand.”
WRONG1
Situated in Sweden but owned by French
Pernod Ricard
**************************
Absolut Vodka
Made in Sweden, Skåne County, Kristianstad Municipality
40 % vol.
Product number: Nr 88
132:- per bottle
377:14 kroner per literkr/l
Pure taste with hints of light bread and citrus. Served chilled as schnapps or used as a drink ingredient.
Sugar content <0.3 g/100ml
***************************
Good catch. No more Swedish (French) vodka for you, Ivan!
*
*
WRONG1 = WRONG !
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMPARE
Sheepest booth in Sweden
************************************************
Renat (Purified)
International brand
Bottle 350 ml 37,5 % vol.
Product number: No. 1
112:- per bottle
320 kr/l
Pure taste with hints of grass and citrus peel. Served chilled as schnapps or used as a drink ingredient.
Sugar content <0.3 g/100m
*********************************************
“Sheepest booth”? Have you been sampling it? (sorry to poke fun, butI coudn’t resist.)
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Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Visiting India | Geopolitics
https://youtu.be/KNU36sgyNbg
from:
Amit Sengupta
https://www.youtube.com/@amitsengupta01/videos
*
*
The gentlemen, both Baron B. and his most frequent commentator, the one with the harsh, hard-headed and fearsome moon-mistress, are so damned insightful even about Pernod Ricard’s Absolute Vodka, that they must rightly take the opportunity to give Sweden another well-deserved kick in the [fundament]. Let us become a triplet, by me joining the gentlemen in making the following complaint:
We original Swedes can never accept a government that does not have zero tolerance for anti-Swedishness, and unfortunately this new (2022) government does not seem to take the issue seriously at all.
When member of parliament Pontus Andersson (SD) asks the very justifiable question to Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) about what he intends to do to combat anti-Swedishness, it becomes clear that the government does not take the issue seriously at all.
Strömmer claims that hate crime legislation also protects Swedes, but the fact that no one never is convicted of hate crime against Swedes shows that the legislation is not sufficient.
The fact that the Minister of Justice also dismisses Andersson’s explanation that an establishment steeped in contempt and even denial of the existence of the Swedish people and the uniqueness of its culture drives, anti-Swedishness helps us understand that Strömmer does not understand the seriousness of the situation.
Around the country, Swedes are attacked, harassed, robbed, murdered and raped by non-Swedes for the simple reason that they are Swedes.
Many of those who have been forced to grow up in the politicians’ multicultural experiment can testify to this, and everything from Petra Åkesson’s c-essay “We are at war with the Swedes” to countless statements in the media, music and debates from criminal immigrants makes this clear.
Anti-Swedishness must be taken seriously and the government that does not act vigorously against it is part of the problem.
We Swedes demand that anti-Swedishness be fought.
We demand zero tolerance for all types of anti-Swedishness, whether in the form of name-calling or violence.
Sweden is the Swedes’ country, and anyone who does not respect it should immediately pick up their bags and go somewhere else.
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You Swedes are like the South African’s, the fact you Swedes tried to undermine the whites and supported black marxist groups like the ANC and provided intelligence and support to those marxist groups against the Boers and english there gives me the warm and fuzzies that you are getting paid back for your treachery. The South Africans even got a few of your communist PM’s and spooks made it that much more delicious, too bad you didn’t get the message. The fact that white SA’s walk around with a concealed pistol on their person despite the laws against it and have unearthed their R-4’s from their army days, and are now importing weapons from the US and Europe for themselves and take care of business themselves instead of calling the police to solve their problems, maybe you need to take a page out of their playbook, I might have some respect for you for at least willing to defend yourself against the bloody savages in your midst.
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Government: No action against anti-Swedish hate crimes
There is no reason to make any changes in legislation or otherwise to address the increasing anti-Swedish hate crimes in society or the fact that not a single person has been convicted of this within the framework of existing laws. The fact that these are neutrally written and that the possibility exists in theory is enough, was Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer’s (M) response to a question from the Sweden Democrats.
In Sweden, a wide range of functions are in place in and around the judicial system to highlight and prosecute hate crimes. However, many have felt that the focus has been too great on group affiliations that the political left has considered more worthy of protection than others, and that anti-Swedish hate crimes, which are often committed by individuals in the aforementioned groups, are trivialized and ignored.
Not a single person has so far been convicted in Sweden for hate crimes with anti-Swedish motives. With regard to the law on incitement against ethnic groups, the then JK Göran Lambertz put it out of play for Swedes by interpreting the law as not covering Swedes at all.
Xenophobia was debated in the Riksdag
The Sweden Democrats have sought to remedy these serious shortcomings, and the issue was recently the subject of an exchange of replies in the Riksdag between Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer and Pontus Andersson (SD), who had submitted an interpellation to the Government on the subject.
As an example of anti-Swedish hatred, which according to SD does not receive the attention it deserves given its frequent occurrence, Andersson mentioned youth robberies. These are crimes that predominantly have people of foreign origin as perpetrators but even more predominantly Swedes as victims.
There has long been evidence that Swedes are systematically selected as victims of crimes driven by anti-Swedish racist hatred. SD therefore wants to change hate crime legislation to ensure that it is not only theoretically possible to convict people with anti-Swedish motives for hate crimes, but that this actually happens in practice.
Humiliation robbery: “We are at war with the Swedes”
“We are at war with the Swedes” was the title of a report produced by Lund University back in 2005 that took stock of young personal robbers and their motives and selection of victims. In recent years, so-called ‘humiliation robberies’ have become increasingly common, where the perpetrators not only specifically target Swedes, but where the robbery is secondary and the primary aim is instead to humiliate their victims in various elaborate ways.
In contrast to the trend in Sweden towards an increasing proportion of hate crimes against Swedes, the public debate and society’s functions to address the problem of hate crime are lagging behind and still focus disproportionately on other groups such as immigrants, blacks, Muslims, etc.
Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
The government sees no need to change the law
In the reply to Andersson’s interpellation in the Riksdag, the Minister of Justice listed the entire battery of measures that society has at its disposal to prevent and punish hate crimes. However, the list was general and gave no answer as to what extent – if any – these resources are used to prosecute specifically anti-Swedish hate crimes.
In his reply, Andersson therefore clarified that the interpellation concerned changes in legislation to remedy the backlash and get better tools to convict people for hate crimes with anti-Swedish motives. He also expressed criticism of the Minister of Justice’s statement that no measures are needed because the possibility of convicting someone for anti-Swedish hatred in theory already exists.
Andersson welcomed the Minister of Justice’s announcement of a further increase in competence within the police regarding the problem of hate crime, hoping that this will lead to anti-Swedish hate crimes now being investigated and prosecuted, although Strömmer did not mention anything about such a focus when additional resources are added.
Also affecting immigrants who want to integrate
Andersson also pointed out that anti-Swedish hate not only affects Swedes, but often also those with an immigrant background who try to adapt to Swedish norms and values. He mentioned a report from the immigrant-dominated problem area of Tjärna Ängar in Borlänge, where young Somali girls are forbidden to socialize with Swedish girls because, according to their immigrant parents, they are considered “whores” in their Swedish lifestyle.
Andersson also expressed the hope that the Minister of Justice in this government, as opposed to previous governments, nevertheless shares the Sweden Democrats’ view that racism is something that strikes in all directions and that this kind of hateful perception of groups other than one’s own does not only occur in one direction, as is often erroneously claimed by the political left.
The Minister of Justice’s response was still that the “key word” in Swedish legislation regarding hate crimes is that it is neutral and affects all affected ethnic origins, including Swedes. That the law is so written is enough, Strömmer said, although this is not reflected in how it is practiced when the hate crime problem that is one of the biggest, the one with anti-Swedish motives, does not lead to any measures but is allowed to continue without being prosecuted.
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Published 2023-04-19
https://samnytt.se/regeringen-inga-atgarder-mot-svenskfientliga-hatbrott/