More than half a million demonstrators took to the streets in France to protest the Macron government’s policies. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of doctors are planning to go on strike in England over demands for cost of living wage increases.
In other news, a missile launched from Ukrainian-held territory was shot down in a Russian-controlled portion of eastern Crimea.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, JW, McN, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
England: Tens of Thousands of Doctors to Strike Again Over Demands for Cost of Living Wage Increases
LONDON (AP) — A four-day strike planned by tens of thousands of doctors in England next week could lead to the postponement of a quarter-million medical appointments, a National Health Service official said Saturday.
Dr Layla McCay, policy director at the NHS Confederation, said the impact is expected to be far greater than a three-day walkout last month by doctors early in their career that led to 175,000 appointments and procedures being postponed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Inside Biden’s Plan to Destroy Financial Anonymity With CBDCs
A new White House report praises CBDCs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Let Them Eat Cake: 4 in 10 Poorest French Cutting Meals Amid Soaring Food Inflation
Over four in ten people in the lowest income bracket in France are skipping meals to make do as food inflation has increased over 15 per cent over the past year, alone, a survey has found.
According to an Ifop study for “La Tablée des chefs”, 42 per cent of the poorest French people have begun sacrificing meals, while just over half of respondents said that they have reduced meal portion sizes in order to cope with soaring food inflation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Bill Would Create Missing Persons Alert Only for Black Women, Children
A new bill proposed in California would create an “Ebony Alert” system to specifically notifiy the public when black women and children go missing. While the state already has a missing persons alert system, this one would only be for black women and children.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Clearview AI Scraped Billions of Facebook Photos for Facial Recognition Database
Facial recognition firm Clearview has built a massive AI-powered database of billions of pictures collected from social media platforms without obtaining users’ consent.
In late March, Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That told BBC in an interview that the company had obtained 30 billion photos without users’ knowledge over the years, scraped mainly from social media platforms like Facebook. He said US law enforcement agencies use the database to identify criminals.
Ton-That disputed claims that the photos were unlawfully collected. He told Bussiness Insider in an emailed statement, “Clearview AI’s database of publicly available images is lawfully collected, just like any other search engine like Google.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Defund Police’ Leader Called Out for ‘Insane’ Rhetoric After Woke Austin Mayor Gave Him Key to City
Austin, Texas is one of the major U.S. cities that is suffering the consequences of the Defund Police movement and the left’s anti-police rhetoric from the riots in 2020.
Co-founder of “Save Austin Now” Cleo Petricek joined “Fox & Friends First” Friday to call out a leader of an anti-police group — who was applauded by the city’s previous mayor — who suggested that burglars should do chores at their victim’s house instead of serving prison time.
“Everyone should be held accountable. However, hating police and expressing support for groups that want to abolish police departments should not be taken seriously. They have gone way too far, and they’ve hurt the very communities that all this wokeness was supposed to help.”
According to the New York Post, despite the city setting a record for homicides in 2021 after dramatically cutting its police budget and 911 response times climbing to hours even for serious crimes, Chas Moore, head of the Austin Justice Coalition, believes police and prisons should be abolished.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
George Floyd Riots Rewritten as “2020 Fires”
Remember the George Floyd riots of 2020?
I do. Vast swathes of my city were burned down including a police precinct—a first. The City of Minneapolis actually evacuated and abandoned a police precinct and let rioters burn it down.
It was pretty traumatic for the city. It took days to get the city back under control. The National Guard had to be called out, and even then it took days to retake the city. I lent my neighbor a gun. As a Black man, he was surprised I would and very grateful. We were in it together, protecting each other against a mob. He bought a gun soon after. First time ever for him.
Well my local NBC station has figured out how to describe the destruction during those times. And it isn’t riot.
In fact, nobody did anything at all. What happened was an event that had nothing to do with human agency: it was “the fires.” They just sort of happened.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
George Soros’ Son Makes Frequent White House Visits, Reports Show
Records show that Alexander Soros, the 37-year-old son of major Democratic donor and philanthropist George Soros, has become a “de-facto White House ambassador,” according to records reviewed by the New York Post.
Alexander is also a Democratic Party fundraiser who had at least a dozen meetings with White House officials in 2022, according to updated White House visitor logs.
Some of those meetings were with former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain’s advisor, Nina Srivastava, who worked on President Biden’s presidential campaign.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Justice Thomas Says He Didn’t Have to Disclose Luxury Trips
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday he was not required to disclose the many trips he and his wife took that were paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow.
Describing Crow and his wife, Kathy, as “among our dearest friends,” Thomas said in a statement that he was advised by colleagues on the nation’s highest court and others in the federal judiciary that “this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.” Thomas did not name the other justices or those in the judiciary with whom he had consulted.
The nonprofit investigative journalism organization ProPublica reported Thursday that Thomas, who has been a justice for more than 31 years, has for more than two decades accepted luxury trips from Crow nearly every year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Maine Teenager Pleads Guilty to Terrorism Charges for ISIS-Inspired Plot
BANGOR, Maine — A Waterville teenager has pleaded guilty to a federal indictment that he conspired to provide material support to terrorists — Maine’s first adjudicated ISIS terrorism case.
19-year-old Xavier Pelkey entered his plea in person Friday morning in Bangor Federal Court before U.S. District Judge Lance Walker and now faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
A pair of U.S. Marshals escorted Pelkey in and out of court, his hands and feet shackled, wearing a yellow jail shirt and orange jail pants. Pelkey, who is white, had long brown hair that reached his shoulders and a full beard.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Nobody is Safe’: Former San Fran Fire Commissioner Beaten With Metal Bar
In the latest illustration of San Francisco’s steady descent into bloody, lawless dystopia, the city’s former fire commissioner was viciously beaten with a crowbar — just one day after a well-known crypto tech executive was stabbed to death.
The former commissioner, Don Carmignani, was beaten on the streets of the Marina District, just steps from his residence. A friend says he suffered a broken jaw, fractured skull, and many lacerations of his head and face.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ocasio-Cortez: GOP Implementing a ‘Fascist Takeover of Our Statehouses’
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Friday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that the expulsion of two Black legislators from the Tennessee House of Representatives was part of a larger Republican-led “fascist takeover of our statehouses.”
Cooper said, “I wanted to ask you about what we saw in Tennessee last night. Three legislators who took part in a protest on the floor of the statehouse, not with protesters, but on the actual floor. They had a bullhorn which clearly a violation of the rules of decorum. Not something legislators normally do, or would, you know, make sense to have legislators do for good order of actually hearing people’s arguments? That being said, the punishment for two of them was to be expelled. How do you see that? Do you think that really was about the rules of decorum or something else?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Blasts CBDCs and Digital IDs
Environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has revealed his intention to join the 2024 Democratic presidential race, setting his sights on the White House. This revelation emerged as Kennedy filed documents with the United States Federal Election Commission on April 5.
Kennedy took to Twitter to express his thoughts on central bank digital currencies (CBDC).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros made more than a dozen trips to the White House last year as he follows in his father’s footsteps as a prolific Democratic networker.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Texas Governor Plans to Pardon Army Sgt. Convicted in Austin BLM Protest Shooting
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Saturday that he plans to pardon Army Sergeant Daniel Perry who was convicted on Friday for shooting a man who allegedly pointed an AK-47 at him. The announcement followed a statement by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who sharply criticized Travis County District Attorney José Garza who he described as a “Soros-backed” prosecutor.
“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Governor Abbott wrote in a tweeted statement on Saturday. The governor added that he requested a recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles so that he can issue the pardon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Texas AG Blasts ‘Soros-Backed’ Travis County DA After Soldier’s Shooting Conviction
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton blasted Travis County District Attorney José Garza who he described as a “Soros-backed” prosecutor. The attack on the district attorney followed the conviction by a local jury of Army Sergeant Daniel Perry in connection to the shooting death of a Black Lives Matter armed protester in July 2020. Sgt. Perry claimed self-defense in the case.
“Self-defense is a God-given right, not a crime,” Attorney General Paxton told Fox News on Saturday morning. “Unfortunately, the Soros-backed DA in Travis County cares more about the radical agenda of dangerous Antifa and BLM mobs than justice.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Blocks Engagement on Links to Independent Writer Platform Substack
Update April 8: Twitter CEO Elon Musk said that Substack has been suppressed on the platform because Substack was allegedly caught trying to “scrape a massive portion of the Twitter database to bootstrap their Twitter clone.”
The users of Substack, an email newsletter platform, are unable to embed tweets in their stories and Twitter users are currently unable to like or comment on a tweet that links to a Substack publication on the .substack domain.
Users are sharing screenshots that say, “Some actions on this tweet have been disabled by Twitter,” when they try to post Substack links to Twitter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Files Journo Matt Taibbi Dumps Platform After Elon Musk Restricts Substack Content
Independent journalist Matt Taibbi announced Friday he’s dumping Twitter after it began implementing major restrictions on users sharing content from the popular newsletter platform Substack.
Taibbi, who has made major headlines in recent months with his reporting on the Twitter Files, attempted to get to the bottom of the jarring changes that Twitter users have noticed this week pertaining to the inability to like or retweet links to Substack articles.
“Of all things: I learned earlier today that Substack links were being blocked on this platform. When I asked why, I was told it’s a dispute over the new Substack Notes platform,” Taibbi tweeted Friday.
He continued. “Since sharing links to my articles is a primary reason I come to this platform, I was alarmed and asked what was going on. I was given the option of posting articles on Twitter instead. I’m obviously staying at Substack, and will be moving to Substack Notes next week.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Citizen Gets 20 Years for Joining Islamic State Group
MIAMI — A U.S. citizen who moved his family to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
Emraan Ali, 55, a U.S. citizen born in Trinidad and Tobago, was sentenced Tuesday in Miami federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in November to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Government-Partnered Digital ID Provider Says 100 Million Have Signed Up for a Digital Wallet
Identification provider ID.me announced that one hundred million people in the US have signed up to use its digital wallet. The company called it a major milestone.
The company also announced that 14 federal agencies and 35 state agencies in 30 states are using its services.
It added that 500 nonprofits and private entities have signed up to have documents stored in the ID.me Digital Wallet.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Multiple Bureaucrats Stripped of Security Clearance for Allegedly Spying Since 2017
Since 2017, at least three employees working in Canada’s public service had their security clearance revoked due to allegedly spying or acting on behalf of a foreign country.
This shocking information was revealed by the government in response to an Order Paper question in the House of Commons from Conservative MP John Barlow.
According to the government, two bureaucrats had their security clearance revoked in 2019 due to allegations of spying and another one in 2017. The public servants were employed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Self-Defence Classes Sell Out After Increased Violence on the TTC
A new self-defence class in Toronto aimed at teaching subway riders has completely sold out due to large demand after increased attacks on the TTC.
The Toronto Krav Maga Academy aims to help riders know what to do if faced with an attacker on public transit.
“This seminar will be based on a handful of recent transit attacks that have made the news,” writes their website. “Including attempts to push civilians onto subway tracks, striking and weapons attacks.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Taxpayers Paying $30 Billion More for Government Workers: PBO Report
The Parliamentary Budget Officer’s (PBO) latest report shows that the ballooning public service is costing Canadian taxpayers 32.5% more over the last two years.
Canadian taxpayers are paying $30 billion more than they were in 2019 to sustain costly government employees.
According to PBO Yves Giroux’s report, the rise is attributed to two primary factors. The first being an unprecedented growth in the size of the public sector, while the second is the increase in pay for full-time public employees.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Attacks ‘Highly Likely’: IRA Terror Alert Ahead of Biden Visit to Ireland
Northern Ireland police are working on “very strong” intelligence of an Easter attack plot by the IRA just days before U.S. President Joe Biden is due to start a tour of the two Irish states.
The U.S. President and British Prime Minister will both be in Northern Ireland this coming week to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, but police and the intelligence services are on high alert over plots to launch a terror attack in the coming days. The revelation comes a week after the official threat level in Northern Ireland was increased from ‘substantial’ to ‘severe’, meaning an attack is ‘highly likely’, strongly implying new intelligence over an imminent attack.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Estonian PM Strikes Deal to Form Coalition Government After Last Month’s Elections
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Saturday that her centre-right Reform Party has clinched a deal with two other parties to form a coalition government, five weeks after a general election in the Baltic country.
The party councils of Kallas’ pro-business Reform Party, which overwhelmingly won Estonia’s March 5 parliamentary election with 31.2% of the vote, the centrist Estonia 200 party and the Social Democratic Party said they would form the coalition after agreeing on government programs for the next four years following lengthy talks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France on Fire: Over Half a Million Protest Against Macron Government
Over half a million people took to the streets of France on Thursday to protest Emmanuel Macron’s government.
Well over 500,000 took place on the eleventh day of protest against the Macron government on Thursday, police officials have confirmed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pics: Eastern European Farmers Protest Massive Influx of Ukrainian Grain, Undercutting Local Prices
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Farmers in Romania and Bulgaria staged protests Friday to express their anger over the European Union’s response to a glut of agricultural products from Ukraine that they say are flooding local markets and undercutting prices.
About 100 farmers converged in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, while hundreds more protested across the country in long convoys of tractors. In neighboring Bulgaria, grain producers blocked some border crossings with farm vehicles.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Partners With Disney Company to Produce Documentary
ROME — Pope Francis has teamed up with the scandal-ridden Walt Disney Company to produce a docu-drama in which he says using dating apps like Tinder is “normal” while insisting “the true Church is on the peripheries.”
The 83-minute Spanish-language documentary titled “The Pope Answers” features conversation between the pontiff and ten young people and was released on April 5 on the Disney+ streaming platform.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Italian Birth Rate Plummets to Lowest Level Ever
ROME — Italy’s birth rate has dropped to its lowest level ever, fueling concerns for the nation’s demographic and economic future.
According to a report Friday from Istat, Italy’s Bureau of Statistics, just 393,000 babies were born in 2022, down some 1.8 percent from the 400,249 born in 2021. This figure represents a historic low for the country already suffering from massive brain drain because of emigration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Investigation Shows State Actor Behind Nord Stream Blast
In yet more evidence on the side of Seymour Hersh’s reporting, Sweden has announced Thursday that amid its ongoing investigation into the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, it has concluded that a state actor is the likeliest culprit.
Swedish Public Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist, who heads the ongoing investigation, stated “The clear main scenario” is that a state-sponsored group was behind the explosions.
While not ruling out any scenario at this point, he said the conclusion is based on the explosives used, which are rare and not widely available outside of governments and their militaries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Faces Fines for Not Acting on German Censorship Demands
Twitter is facing fines in Germany for not censoring content deemed illegal under the country’s strict “hate speech” laws.
The federal government announced that it was investigating Twitter’s failures to act on censorship requests.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Ranks Alongside Russia and Mexico in Confidence in Democratic System After Decade of Tory Rule
Only one in six people in the United Kingdom are confident in the democratic process in their country, putting it on par with the likes of Russia and Mexico.
After over a decade of Tory Part rule in Britain, a survey conducted by the Policy Institute at King’s College London in conjunction with the World Values Survey (WVS) found that just 17 per cent of Britons are highly satisfied with how democracy is functioning. Meanwhile, nearly double that figure said that they were dissatisfied with the political process of the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Last Ever’ Animal Rebellion Action Sees Supermarket Aisles Blocked in Bristol
In what has been dubbed their ‘last ever action’, Animal Rebellion “peacefully blocked” supermarket aisles in a series of coordinated ‘actions’ across the country on Good Friday (April 7). The group targeted supermarkets in a number of cities, including Bristol, London, Birmingham and Leeds, ahead of a ‘major announcement’ on Monday (April 10).
During the action, groups of Animal Rebellion supporters could be seen holding mock editions of the Mail on Sunday newspapers, with headlines such as “Nation of Animal Lovers Eat Baby Sheep in Odd Annual Easter Ritual”, said to be a loose reference of the publication’s front page on April 2. The group says that this is the end of its chapter as ‘Animal Rebellion’, with a new name and direction set to ‘emerge’ on Monday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Harry, Meghan, Andrew Banned From Royal Balcony Even if They Do Attend Coronation, Reports Say
Recalcitrant royal Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are allegedly yet to even confirm they will be attending King Charles III’s coronation next month, but even if they do they won’t be welcomed onto the world-famous Buckingham Palace balcony during the day’s festivities.
Three senior Royals have been omitted from the plans of those who will be present on the Buckingham Palace balcony on the day of the coronation, in which tradition sees the new monarch surrounded by close family greeting the crowds outside the Royal palace.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: King Charles Backs Study Into Royal Family’s Ties to the Slave Trade
Buckingham Palace has announced that King Charles has backed a university study into the ties between the British Monarchy and the slave trade of the 17th and 18th centuries.
King Charles III, who is tradition-bound to remain politically neutral as the United Kingdom’s head of state, has agreed to facilitate a study by the University of Manchester with Historic Royal Palaces to examine the Royal Family’s role in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Eco-activists from two militant campaign groups are plotting to disrupt the King’s Coronation, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
An undercover investigation has exposed vegan extremists at Animal Rebellion who are planning to target next month’s Coronation as part of a summer of chaos.
Separately, a Government source last night warned of alarming intelligence that a second plot is being hatched by activists at the larger Extinction Rebellion group.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
One man is dead and seven have been left with injuries after a terrorist car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv on Friday night.
A car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv that left one man dead and seven others injured follows the shooting to death of two British-Israeli sisters in the country’s West Bank amid a spike in violence coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Now Both Ukraine and Russia Say ‘Leaked’ U.S. Intelligence Assessments of War Are ‘Photoshop’ Fakes
A rare moment of agreement between Russian and Ukrainian state media organisations emerged over the authenticity of a cache of allegedly leaked U.S. intelligence documents.
Alleged U.S. Joint Staff briefing documents claiming to discuss casualty numbers and logistics including the provision of military materiel to Ukraine were published on Russian social media on Friday, as reported by Breitbart News, representing a major breach of U.S. security by Russian actors if true. Yet the 100-plus documents, which seemed to suggest that Ukraine was fielding fewer troops than thought and had sustained considerably more casualties than Russia, were instantly called into question, and nowhere more stridently than by Ukraine itself.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Threatens to Blow Up Ukraine Grain Deal Over Western Sanctions
(AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday threatened to abandon a landmark grain deal with Ukraine if obstacles to Moscow’s exports remained.
Negotiated in July by Turkey and the United Nations, the agreement allows Ukraine — one of the world’s top grain producers — to export grain through a safe corridor in the Black Sea.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Shoots Down Ukrainian Missile Over Crimea
A missile fired from Ukrainian-held territory was shot down in a Russian-controlled Crimea, according to a local official.
“A missile launched from Ukraine was shot down over Feodosia,” Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram, without providing any detail on the kind of projectile in question. Feodosia is a town located in the east of Crimea, about 300 kilometres from the nearest Ukrainian-held area.
Russia’s TASS news agency quoted an adviser to Aksyonov, Oleg Kryuchkov, as saying that debris had fallen in a Crimean town, but no damage or casualties had been reported.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Crossing the limits of ‘Mazar Jihad’ in Uttarakhand: While 10 in the name of Kalu Sayyed, another half a dozen Mazars in the name of Sayyid Baba… We have to crush this situation immediately, CM Dhami says…
Upendra Bharti | HENB | Derahdun | April 7, 2023:: More than 1,000 unauthorised mazars, or mausoleums or tombs, have been built on forest land illegally in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami has claimed, calling it ‘mazar jihad’. To make a ‘Land Jihad’ for grabbing the lands under the control of Muslims or to make a plan to include such lands under Wakf property, it’s a new tool to operate as ‘Mazar Jihad’ by the way on another Islamic invasion in Uttrakhand.
In an interview with Panchjanya — the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) Hindi mouthpiece — CM Dhami claimed that “anti-social elements emerge” from these mazars and that his government will take “strict action” against such illegal structures.
“It is indeed true that more than 1,000 such mazars have been built on forest land. These mazars are not of peer babas (holy saints) but are a part of mazar jihad and anti-social elements emerge from them. We’re also trying to find under which officer’s tenure these unauthorised mazars were built,” he said.
Dhami’s statements come as part of the state government’s drive against such mausoleums. Last June, the Uttarakhand government ordered the state’s forest department to identify unauthorised mazars, mosques, temples, and churches that had come up on forest land.
Such illegal constructions (tombs or mausoleums) are grossly affecting the environs of the forest land with consumption and usage of unauthorized water and electric connections…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Two Soldiers Embrace Martyrdom in IED Explosion
ISPR says IED explosion was reported in general area of Bara
RAWALPINDI: Two soldiers embraced martyrdom after an improvised explosive device (IED) “planted on a security forces vehicle” exploded on Saturday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The military’s media wing, in a statement issued in this regard, mentioned that the explosion took place in the general area of Bara, Khyber District.
The ISPR added that Naib Subedar Hazrat Gul (age 37 years, resident of Lower Dir) and Sepoy Nazir Ullah Mehsud (age 34 years, resident of South Waziristan) embraced martyrdom during the incident.
“Sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists in the area,” the statement read.
It further stressed that Pakistan’s security forces are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our soldiers further strengthen our resolve.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Withholds Tweet Worldwide After Legal Demand From India’s Government
Twitter globally withheld a tweet by an Indian Home Minister in response to a “legal demand.” The news was shared by Journalist and Right to Information (RTI) activist Saurav Das, who posted screenshots of two tweets, one of which was a quoted Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah with a notice from the social media platform that said the content had been withheld in “worldwide.”
This is a first as Twitter normally restricts content in the territory that the legal demand has come from unless the tweet has violated the platform’s Terms of Service.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
World Economic Forum Sets Date With Communist China for ‘Summer Davos’
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced it is holding the 14th Annual Meeting of the “New Champions” in Tianjin, China.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Australian Pilot Combines CBDC Project With Carbon Credit Trading
The Australian and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) partnered with Grollo Carbon Ventures (GCV) to allow the trade of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). The project was one of 14 piloted by the Reserve Bank of Australia to investigate potential uses of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
In the project, ANZ and GCV focused on the tokenization of nature-based and real-world assets, and they started with ACCUs. They tokenized already existing ACCUs and issued a stablecoin, A$DC, which allowed the GCV to buy tokenized ACCUs with real-time settlement through ANZ’s smart contracts.
They conducted the transaction on a public and permissionless blockchain using a pilot CBDC to back the issuance of the dollar-backed stablecoin.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Acapulco Shooting Leaves 2 Tourists Dead Near Beach in Mexican Resort Town
A witness said the victims had arrived in Acapulco the day before for the Easter week vacation.
MEXICO CITY — Two men, apparently Mexican tourists, were killed Friday and a woman was wounded in shooting not far from the beach in Mexico’s once-glamorous resort of Acapulco.
Prosecutors in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero said the two men had been visiting a barbershop in the Puerto Marquez neighborhood.
A witness said the victims had arrived in Acapulco the day before for the Easter week vacation. She said the victims were on two all-terrain vehicles when assailants rode up on a motorcycle and opened fire on them. The victims’ bodies were found still aboard the ATVs.
There was no information on the condition of the woman, who was taken to a hospital before police arrived.
Acapulco has been plagued by drug cartel violence since 2006, but in the first months of 2023 the violence has become worse.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
African Migrant With Criminal Record Blocks Bus, Attacks Half Dozen French Officers
An African migrant with an extensive criminal record was arrested after blocking a bus and attacking many responding officers in France, according to reports.
The incident unfolded in the town of Manosque on February 27, but details about the case are just coming to light.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Channel Crisis Continues as 4,500 Illegal Boat Migrants Land on British Soil So Far This Year
The total number of illegal boat migrants that have crossed the English Channel so far this year has reached 4,500 after over 500 arrived this week, despite yet another deal with France to step up patrols.
Amid a series of measures announced by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the people-smuggler-facilitated illegal boat migrant trade has once again ramped up this week, with 437 migrants being brought ashore by UK Border Force on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Airbrushing’ Christian Heritage: Lent Term Scrapped by UK University
A British university has faced accusations of attempting to “airbrush” Christian heritage after it renamed its Lent and Michaelmas terms, claiming they “no longer resonated with the student body”.
Swansea University in Wales has come under fire for renaming its spring and autumn terms from their traditional Christian titles, Lent, the forty days leading up to Easter, and Michaelmas, the feast day of St Michael, representing the renewal of Spring and the end of the harvest season, respectively.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Tuesday, Off Limits host Ian Haworth was set to give a speech at the University of Albany in New York after an invitation from Turning Point USA, an organization dedicated to the principles of freedom and free speech, but was interrupted by Anti-Christian, far-left students who drowned out his presentation with shouts and aggressive pseudo-dance in an apoplectic display that found one enraged activist destroying a Bible.
On Twitter, Haworth posted clips of the disruption, tracking how the activists barged into the room, began shouting and marching, and even screamed “F*ck you TPUSA” after attempts at settling their outbursts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The 15-year-old, who was born female but is transitioning to male, visited the shop in Murraylands, in regional South Australia, last month and asked for a ‘male-style’ trim.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Backlash: Country Star Travis Tritt Dumping Anheuser-Busch From His Tour After Dylan Mulvaney DEA
Veteran country music star Travis Tritt announced Thursday he is no longer having Anheuser-Busch products on his touring hospitality rider. What’s more? Tritt says “I know many other artists who are doing the same.”
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Friday, FNC host Tucker Carlson reacted to an attack on former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who spoke out against transgender females competing in female collegiate athletics at San Francisco State University a night earlier.
Carlson proclaimed that the left, specifically the Biden administration, promoted the transgenderism movement with what he described as “religious extremists.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Judge Halts FDA Approval of Abortion Pill
A federal judge released a decision on Friday evening halting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 2000 approval of mifepristone, the first drug used in a two-drug abortion regimen.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a 67-page opinion stating that the FDA unlawfully approved mifepristone. The Trump-appointed judge put his decision on hold for seven days to allow the “federal government time to seek emergency relief from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Franklin Graham Slams Oregon Law ‘Disqualifying Christians’ From Adopting Children
Prominent evangelist Franklin Graham has blasted an Oregon law excluding Christians from adopting children on the basis of woke gender theory.
“Can you imagine a state disqualifying Christians from adopting children because of their belief in the Word of God?” Rev. Graham wrote Thursday to his ten million Facebook followers. “To me, that would be wiping out the best pool of potential parents — just ludicrous.”
“Well, this is what the state of Oregon has done,” he added.
In its enumeration of “Personal Qualifications of Applicants and Certified Resource Families,” the Oregon Department of Human Services has ruled that prospective adopting parents must “respect, accept and support the race, spiritual beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, disabilities, national origin, cultural identities, immigration status and socioeconomic status of a child or young adult in the care or custody of the Department.”
Because of that law, the Oregon Department of Human Services refused to grant Jessica Bates, a Christian and single mother of five, the certification required to become an adoptive parent. Bates let it be known that she believes that “God gives us our gender/sex and it’s not something we get to choose,” adding that “my faith conflicts” with encouraging children to reject their biological gender.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ireland: Parents Protest Inclusion of LGBT ‘Pornography’ Books in Children’s Section of Library
Concerned parents in Ireland held a protest against the inclusion of LGBT “pornography” books in the children’s section of libraries in the country.
A group of parents gathered in the centre of Swords, Co. Dublin on Thursday to demonstrate against the inclusion of explicit LGBT books in the children’s section of libraries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nike Tells Customers ‘Be Kind, Be Inclusive’ After Dylan Mulvaney Backlash
NIKE told customers to “be kind, be inclusive” in response to the brewing backlash over the company selecting transgender Dylan Mulvaney as brand ambassador to sell women’s attire.
In a pinned comment to one of NIKE’s Instagram posts, the company responded to the barrage of people announcing they would be abandoning the brand for good.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Police Say No Arrests Made After Transgender Mob Assaulted Swimming Star Riley Gaines
No arrests were made Thursday night after a transgender mob assaulted former NCAA women’s swimming star Riley Gaines after she delivered a speech at San Francisco State University, in which she discussed saving women’s sports and highlighted her personal experience competing against biological male athlete Lia Thomas.
Authorities responded Thursday after Gaines was “ambushed” and “hit by a man wearing a dress” after delivering her speech at SFSU. Video shows the transgender mob shouting as authorities usher the former NCAA swimmer away from the danger.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Riley Gaines: ‘I Will be Pursuing Legal Action — They Will Face Repercussions’
Friday, less than 24 hours after she was assaulted by an angry mob in San Francisco, former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to discuss the ordeal.
Gaines had been an outspoken critic of transgender females competing and sometimes dominating female sports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Transgender Golfer’s Victory in Women’s Australian Golf Tournament Sparks Online Outrage
A transgender golfer who won an Australian women’s golf tournament sparked online outrage, with some arguing that this was unfair to biological women.
Breanna Gill, who is a biological male, received death threats after winning the Australian Women’s Classic.
According to Fox News, the death threats caused Gill to delete her social media pages.
Women’s Professional Golfers’ Association (WPGA) Tour of Australasia chief Karen Lunn defended Gill in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: DeSantis Warns “Woke Leftist Ideology is a Threat to Our Freedoms”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned Thursday that unless Americans “hold the line” against the “woke mob” their fundamental freedoms could vanish.
Speaking in Michigan at the Midland County Republican Party breakfast, DeSantis warned “This leftist agenda, the woke ideology is a threat to our freedoms.”
He continued, “It’s not limited to the halls of the legislature. So, yes, we fight the woke in the legislature, but we also fight the woke in the schools, we fight the woke in the bureaucracy, and we fight the woke in corporate America.”
“Our bottom line is we do not surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die,” DeSantis further urged.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Olympic swimmer and outspoken defender of women’s sports Sharron Davies is blasting NIKE’s decision to partner with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney to model women’s sports bras and leggings, calling it “a kick in the teeth to women.”
Ads featuring Mulvaney first appeared earlier this week, showing the activist prancing around in his yard wearing NIKE women’s gear.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Private, Open-Source Plex Alternatives
Plex is a popular home media server solution that lets you seamlessly stream your personal media library to all of your devices. However, the app is proprietary and most users access Plex on their TV via proprietary digital media players such as Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, and Amazon Fire Sticks. These digital media players often collect lots of data on your viewing habits. Many also share this data with advertisers and other third parties that they work with. Some even insert ads on the home screen.
Fortunately, it’s now easier than ever to escape these proprietary walled gardens by using free and open-source media players, media servers, or smart TV interfaces.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fire them all.
But if there are any single women out there who want to make a baby…get back to me…