In the wake of the launch of Ukraine’s much-heralded counter-offensive against Russia, US Army General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said that Ukrainian losses were out of proportion to what NATO had planned for. Meanwhile, Ukraine issued an air defense alert after explosions were heard in the city of Kharkov and the surrounding area.
In other news, Sweden announced that it will allow the deployment of NATO troops on its territory in order to send a message to Russia.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, JW, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, WRSA, 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.
ChatGPT: Students and the Wealthy Lead the Way
Yesterday, the S&P 500 moved into bull market territory (+20.04%) from its lows in October, with (or rather because) most big banks — Goldman, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley — still extremely bearish (because their flow desks are accumulating everything their institutional clients have to sell).
But one thing is certain: as DB’s Jim Reid notes, It couldn’t have done it without the AI hype as over this period the NYFANG+ index is up +65.6% and up +79.7% from its November lows seen close to the launch of ChatGPT at the end of that month.
Six months after its viral launch, ChatGPT has now reached a fresh milestone: according to Reid, a staggering half of people in the US and the major European markets now saying they’ve heard of OpenAI’s chatbot, indicating that the future of generative alternative intelligence may be as much in the hands of consumers as in companies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Malarkey”: Biden Pooh-Poohs Corruption Allegations
U.S. President Joe Biden reacted dismissively on Thursday, June 8th, when a New York Post reporter asked him to comment on whether he, during his tenure as vice president, had accepted a $5 million bribe from Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
In response to these allegations, Biden quipped, “Where’s the money?,” followed by “it’s a bunch of malarkey.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
9 People Wounded in San Francisco Mass Shooting; 1 Remains in Critical Condition
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nine people were wounded in a mass shooting in San Francisco’s Mission District on Friday night in what police said appeared to be a “targeted and isolated” incident.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the shooting happened shortly after 9 p.m. during a party hosted by a clothing store near the intersection of 24th Street and Treat Avenue.
The San Francisco Police Department initially said that all of the victims were “expected to survive their injuries.” But a statement from the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital said one of the victims remained in critical condition as of Saturday afternoon.
Another was said to be in serious condition, four were in fair condition and three had already been discharged. The victims were eight men and one woman ranging in age from 20 to 34, the hospital said.
Police Chief William Scott called the violence “unacceptable.”
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Baltimore’s Top Cop Abruptly Steps Down, Leaves Crime-Fighting Plan in Limbo
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison stepped down this week as the progressive-run city struggles with homicides, a drug crisis, and a troubling rise in violence involving teenagers.
“I have been truly blessed to serve this city of Baltimore… and this opportunity to serve as your police commissioner is one that I will always cherish,” Harrison said Thursday at a news conference.
Harrison’s abrupt exit as Baltimore’s top cop marks the 11th change in leadership since 2000. He was the longest-serving police commissioner in the metro in more than two decades. After nearly three decades in the New Orleans Police Department, he joined the Baltimore Police Department in 2019.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: MTG Reveals FBI Has 2 More Informant Files on Alleged Biden Corruption
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has at least two more FD-1023 forms, which relate to informants, relating to the Biden family’s business ventures. Two more banks have been subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee as a result.
Greene revealed on Human Events with Jack Posobiec that the discovery came after reviewing the FBI informant document on Thursday, which revealed that Biden during his time as Vice President received $5 million from Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company his son Hunter served on the board of.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Trump Slams Biden’s ‘Corrupt DOJ’ Over New Indictment at Massive Georgia Rally
President Donald Trump spoke in Georgia on Saturday, addressing supporters and voters on the heels of the latest politically motivated indictment against him. The current GOP frontrunner was undaunted by the recent lawsuits, and took aim at a political establishment that advocates for the status quo in order to line their own pockets.
“This baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration’s weaponized Department of Justice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country. Many people have said that,” Trump said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Britney Spears’ Family Say They Fear She is on METH and Will Die Like Amy Winehouse…
— Father of her boys Kevin Federline says loved-ones are ‘terrified’ she is on the Breaking Bad drug — son Preston says ‘I hope she’ll listen to us… before it’s too late’
For those hoping the end of Britney Spears’ conservatorship would mark the beginning of a new chapter of happiness and stability for the singer, the past 18 months have proved challenging.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
California Advances Bill to Help Shoplifters Steal
Shoplifting in California may get a lot easier, after the state Senate passed a controversial bill on May 31 that would make it illegal for store employees to confront thieves.
SB 553, authored by Democrat Senator David Cortese (San Jose), requires employers to maintain violent incident logs, provide active shooter and shoplifter training, and to discard policies requiring workers to confront suspected active shoplifters, the Epoch Times reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Colorado Bans Court-Ordered “Brainwashing” Camps for Abused Minors
Colorado has become the first state in the nation to ban court-ordered camps where children are ‘reunified’ with a parent who has been accused of abusing them.
These reunification camps are used by family court judges to settle private custody disputes or divorces involving minors. As part of the order, camp workers are sometimes given temporary custody of the children so they can legally take them from their homes. While at the camp, children are forced into what some have described as a “brainwashing technique” that the camps call “reunification therapy.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Crashed Las Vegas UFO’ Witness ‘Terrified’ by 8-Foot Creatures in His Backyard: ‘100% Not Human’
A “tall, skinny alien creature with greenish color” that was about eight to 10 feet tall was reportedly hiding behind a forklift in a Las Vegas family’s backyard after a potential UFO crashed overnight April 30/May 1.
“I looked at it in the eyes, and my body just froze like having sleep paralysis,” a witness, who didn’t give his name, said in a YouTube video. “He had a weird-looking face, big feet and big shiny eyes and a big mouth.
“I can hear its loud, deep breathing and its stomach kept moving. He would just stare at me, and seconds later, I could move again.”
He called 911 at 12:25 a.m. on May 1 and told the dispatcher that large creatures were in his backyard. “They’re not human. 100 percent they’re not human,” he told the 911 dispatcher in an audio recording. “I swear to god it’s not a joke. It’s actually real.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dad of Teen Killed in Seattle Chop Zone Sues City: ‘Encouraged Lawlessness to Reign’
A father whose teenage son was fatally shot in Seattle’s “CHOP” Zone in 2020 has filed a wrongful death complaint against the city, saying it “encouraged lawlessness” to prevail in the protest area that summer.
Protesters occupied the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone, originally called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, in the weeks following George Floyd’s killing by a police officer in May 2020.
In his suit filed with Oshan & Associates this week, Antonio Mays, Sr., says the city was well aware of the violence in the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest Zone but had abandoned it “without a working plan to provide essential services.” His 16-year-old son, Antonio Mays, Jr., was fatally shot after he had traveled there from California for what he thought was a “peaceful protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dozens of Capitol Police Riot Helmets Were Confiscated Just Before Jan. 6, Former Lieutenant Says
Authored by Joseph M. Hanneman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
Days before violence broke out at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a U.S. Capitol Police captain ordered the confiscation of dozens of riot helmets from officers without the knowledge of Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, a former USCP lieutenant told The Epoch Times.
Former Capitol Police Lt. Tarik K. Johnson said he was ordered to collect “20 to 30” helmets by his immediate supervisor, Capt. Ben Smith. Johnson said there was no explanation for the order, but he assumed the equipment was past its expiration date.
The collection was done within the two weeks prior to Jan. 6, most likely the week of Dec. 28, 2020, to Jan. 1, 2021, Johnson said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leaked Video Shows D.C. Cops Were ‘Rioters’ and Instigators at J-6 Protest
Authored by Victoria Taft via PJ Media
A leaked video shows that at least one Washington, D.C., cop — and likely more — acted on January 6 as apparent agent provocateurs, dressing as protesters, scaling scaffolding outside the Capitol Building, and urging protesters toward the iconic building. See the video below.
Congressman Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) says the authenticated GoPro video raises the question of why police officers, who were identified as intelligence officers, were working to stir up the crowd of protesters instead of working to stop an assault on the Capitol.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Majority of US Cities With Most Murders Are Governed by Democrats
The Finance website Insider Monkey used the latest homicide data to find which US cities have the highest number of murders so far this year. It is no surprise that many of the most dangerous metros are run by Democrats.
Insider Monkey compiled a list of 30 US cities using the FBI’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report and police department data. For simplicity reasons, we’re only concentrating on half of the list — so 1-15.
And what we discovered is that metros between 1-15 were all controlled by Democrats. Not shocking whatsoever, considering their social justice reform policies are backfiring and turning many metro areas into crime-ridden hellholes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Massachusetts Teen Allegedly Sold Gift Cards on Dark Web to Fund ISIS
An 18-year-old boy from Massachusetts is accused of trying to raise more than $1,600 for ISIS by selling gift cards, including Amazon and Dick’s Sporting Goods gift cards, on the dark web — but the teen’s father claimed that his son has been “railroaded.”
Mateo Ventura, from Wakefield, made his initial appearance Thursday in US District Court in Worcester to face a charge of knowingly concealing the source of material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
The teen, who is a student at Wakefield Memorial High School, was ordered held in jail pending a bail hearing next Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More Than 100 Young Children Suffered Seizures After COVID Vaccination: Study
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
More than 100 young children suffered seizures after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new study.
One hundred and four children under 6 years old suffered a seizure within 42 days of a COVID-19 shot, researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other institutions found.
Others suffered strokes, blood clotting disorders, and appendicitis, the researchers said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
RFK Jr.’s Lawsuit Spotlights Alleged Media Collusion to Censor ‘Misinformation’
Major news outlets facing litigation from a group run by Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. would not be protected from the alleged violation of federal antitrust laws, a media law expert says.
“Media outlets do not get a First Amendment exemption from antitrust laws,” Lyrissa Lidsky, chair of U.S. Constitutional Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, told Fox News Digital.
Kennedy’s organization, Children’s Health Defense, filed the second lawsuit this year against news outlets that are members of the Trusted News Initiative, a global coalition of news organizations and tech firms, alleging some of the member organizations violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by censoring information.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Snowden Warns Today’s Surveillance Technology Makes 2013 Look Like “Child’s Play”
Authored by Julia Conley via CommonDreams.org
“We trusted the government not to screw us,” said Edward Snowden.
“But they did. We trusted the tech companies not to take advantage of us. But they did. That is going to happen again, because that is the nature of power.”
With this week marking 10 years since whistleblower Edward Snowden disclosed information to journalists about widespread government spying by United States and British agencies, the former National Security Agency contractor on Thursday joined other advocates in warning that the fight for privacy rights, while making several inroads in the past decade, has grown harder due to major changes in technology.
“If we think about what we saw in 2013 and the capabilities of governments today,” Snowden told The Guardian, “2013 seems like child’s play.”
Snowden said that the advent of commercially available surveillance products such as Ring cameras, Pegasus spyware, and facial recognition technology has posed new dangers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top Biden Administration Official Admits to Lying to Congress
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A top official in President Joe Biden’s administration has admitted to lying to Congress when she claimed not to own individual stocks.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, a Biden appointee, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on April 20 that she did not own individual stocks, instead owning mutual funds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Unabomber Ted Kaczynski Found Dead in Prison Cell
Ted Kaczynski, the convicted domestic terrorist known as the “Unabomber,” was found dead in his prison cell Saturday morning, according to multiple reports.
Kaczynski was found dead around 8 a.m. at a federal prison medical center in Butner, North Carolina, a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told the Associated Press. He was found unresponsive in his cell early Saturday morning and was pronounced dead around 8 a.m., the spokesperson said. A cause of death is uncertain.
He had been moved to the federal prison medical facility in North Carolina in December 2021 after spending two decades in a federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, for a series of bombings that targeted scientists.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Box of 289 Absentee Ballots From 2020 Election Discovered in Michigan Storage Unit
A Michigan official says approximately 300 absentee ballots from the 2020 election were discovered in a storage unit in Genesee County.
Thetford Township Supervisor Rachel Stanke found the ballots thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Just the News reported Friday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trudeau to the Rescue? Justin Flies to Kyiv to Meet With Zelensky as Canada Burns
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday despite political scandals and raging wildfires at home.
The leftist Canadian leader, alongside progressive Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, touched down in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday to recommit to Ottowa’s continued military and financial support for Zelensky’s war effort against Russia amid rumours of the long-awaited and much-hyped counter-offensive.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British Universities Accused of Helping Iran Develop Suicide Drones Being Used in Ukraine
An investigation claims almost a dozen UK universities are collaborating with the Iranian regime on scientific research that has military applications, including the ‘suicide’ bomb drones being used to pound Ukrainian cities daily.
British universities have helped Iran develop advanced technology applicable to drones and fighter jets, an investigation by the UK’s Jewish Chronicle newspaper has claimed. The allegation is a particularly grave one given the present context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which appears to be considerably supported by large quantities of Iranian ‘Shahed’ drones which strike Ukrainian cities.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Consensus Crumbles on AI Act After EPP Amendments
The EU’s landmark AI Act faces an increasingly bumpy road after an inter-parliamentary agreement to prohibit new amendments collapsed this week, as the EPP moved to insert clauses allowing biometric tracking in circumstances involving criminality.
MEPs will vote on the contentious AI Act on June 14th. The legislation aims to impose a rating system on new AI products based on risk and enshrine anti-discriminatory protocols into law. The world’s first AI rulebook, as well as an attempt by the EU to get ahead of the pack on AI regulation globally, the Act easily breezed through the committee stage last month under the assumption that no major new amendments would be inserted.
Lawmakers are particularly anxious that the new technology could be used to discriminate against EU citizens, with Parliament hearing from human rights groups such as Amnesty International, that are keen to prevent the technology from being used for border security.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Digital Snitch’ — Govt Can Remotely Activate Cell Phone Cameras and Microphones, Says French Senate
The French Senate has approved a bill that would allow the state to spy on certain individuals using microphones and cameras installed on their own devices.
A bill handing French authorities the right to spy on certain individuals using cameras and microphones embedded in private electronic devices has passed its first reading in the French Senate, causing uproar amongst elements of the country’s political class.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Leftist Think Tank Calls for Banning AfD
A German think tank has called for the banning of the populist-conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a policy paper released earlier this week, claiming that the party has met the conditions in the German constitution that allows the government to disband political parties.
The German Institute for Human Rights, which receives millions of euros in German government funding, announced its new study on the AfD in a press release earlier this week, arguing that the party wants to “eliminate the free democratic basic order,” and that the AfD is a “right-wing extremist party.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Greens Target Meat Eaters With Advertising Ban
Meat could soon be off menus in German restaurants if the country’s Green Party has its way. The party revealed draconian new regulations to marginalise carnivores nationwide including a hefty new meat tax and advertising restrictions.
Former editor of the popular German tabloid Bild, Julian Reichelt, warned of outlandish new proposals being pushed by the German Ministry of the Environment this week. These proposals form part of a European trend against meat consumption. The proposals are unlikely to lift the German Green Party’s polling numbers, as the party feels the brunt of a collapse in public support.
According to Reichelt, the Green proposals would allow authorities to ban the advertising of meat on the public airwaves and segregate animal-based products at restaurants. German schools could instruct children against eating meat, which is akin to current climate indoctrination by which the reforms are justified on the premise of stopping climate change.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Green Remorse: Germany Cools on EU Boiler Ban
German politicians are increasingly having second thoughts about government policies to phase out gas boilers starting next year as the pro-business FDP united with opposition groups—the CDU and the AfD—to lobby against the new measures.
German lawmakers rushed to pass anti-boiler legislation in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in March 2022, mandating that all new heaters comply with a regulation to be 65% renewable as of 2024.
Effectively banning most current models of gas boilers, this dovetails with an overarching 2029 EU gas boiler ban. Authorities want to wean German consumers off gas-guzzling boilers in favour of electric-powered heat pumps as the country’s supply of gas from Russia looks increasingly in doubt due to sanctions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Was Likely Base of Operations for Nord Stream Sabotage, German Investigation Finds
A fresh report in The Wall Street Journal says that the saboteurs who carried out the Nord Stream pipeline attack likely used Poland as an operating base from which to launch the covert op.
“The probe by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office is examining why the yacht they believe was used to carry out the operation journeyed into Polish waters,” WSJ wrote in a Saturday investigative report. “Other findings suggest Poland was a hub for the logistics and financing of last September’s undersea sabotage attack that severed the strongest bond tying Berlin to Moscow.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Will Allow NATO Deployments in ‘Signal to Russia’
Authored by Kyle Anzalone via AntiWar.com
Stockholm plans to send a “signal to Russia” by allowing NATO troop deployments in Sweden before the country is admitted into the alliance, according to top officials. Turkey is holding up Sweden’s bid to join the bloc.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Defence Minister Pal Jonson announced that Sweden’s military would step-up preparations with NATO in an article published in Dagens Nyheter on Friday. “The preparations may consist of temporary basing of foreign equipment and personnel on Swedish territory. The decision sends a clear signal to Russia and strengthens Sweden’s defense,” they wrote. The joint operations send “a clear signal to Russia that our ability to give and receive military aid is good.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Spectator and Telegraph to be Put Up for Sale
A row over unpaid debts has resulted in The Daily (and Sunday) Telegraph, as well as The Spectator magazine, being put up for sale, according to reports. The titles, considered to be the most conservative among Britain’s mainstream publications (however low the bar is set), have been owned by the Barclay family for just shy of 20 years, but its members have been removed as directors due to a longstanding debt.
A spokesman for the family told The Times that “speculation about the business entering administration is unfounded and irresponsible,” though the initial Sky News report had already ruled this out. (Succeeding coverage has been less certain.) Other papers have highlighted that the sale is not a reflection of the performance of either The Spectator or the Telegraph titles. Instead, Lloyds Banking Group is lining up the launch of an auction, which would be worth around £600 million, over the approach of the Barclay family to repaying a loan dating back more than a decade.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A frustrated motorist tore away a Just Stop Oil banner yesterday and bundled it in the back of his car as the group’s slow march protest caused yet more misery in the capital.
The incident took place at the Chiswick roundabout in west London, with drivers forced to wait in long queues by the eco-zealots’ blockade.
Elsewhere, a motorcyclist drove straight through the same rally, carrying away another of the placards as he did so.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Zuckerberg Must Explain’: EU Demands Answers on ‘Instagram Pedophile Network’
The European Union’s senior commissioner on internal markets has demanded answers from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg over a report in the Wall Street Journal about Instagram’s facilitation of child pornography networks.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s Internal Market Commissioner, said in a Thursday tweet that “#Meta’s voluntary code on child protection seems not to work,” adding “Mark Zuckerberg must now explain & take immediate action.”
Breton will fly to Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park in two weeks to discuss with Zuckerberg.
According to the tweet, Meta will have to demonstrate that they’ve adequately addressed the child porn issue, or ‘face heavy sanctions.’
[Comment: Here, the EU has a (very good) point.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Explosions Heard in Kharkov — Ukrainian TV
MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/. Explosions were heard at night in Kharkov in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian TV channel TSN reported.
A statement on the TSN Telegram channel says that, according to preliminary information, the operation of the air defense system was recorded.
Currently, an air raid alert has been declared in Kharkov, as well as in Kirovograd, Poltava and Sumy regions of Ukraine. Explosions were also reported in the Sumy region and the city of Dnepr.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
The heavy casualties and massive ammunition consumption seen during the war in Ukraine has top NATO commanders worried.
NATO was created in 1949 to stop a massive Soviet invasion of Western Europe, and it has added new members since the end of the Cold War, but many of its militaries shrank in the decades after the Soviet threat disappeared. Now the scale and intensity of the fighting in Ukraine has raised questions about the alliance’s ability to fight a big-unit war against Russia.
“Scale, scale, scale,” US Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told a Swedish defense conference in January. “The magnitude of this war is incredible. The Ukrainians have 37 frontline brigades, plus dozens more territorial brigades. The Russians have lost almost 2,000 tanks. If we average out since the beginning of the war, the slow days and fast days, the Russians have expended on average well over 20,000 artillery rounds per day.”
“The scale of this war is out of proportion with all of our recent thinking,” said Cavoli, who is also head of US European Command. “But it is real and we must contend with it.”
| — Hat tip: WRSA | [Return to headlines] |
Putin Reveals New Details on Positioning Tactical Nukes in Belarus
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has given new details concerning his order to move tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus. Prior and somewhat ambiguous statements from Putin as well as top Kremlin and Belarusian officials had suggested that nukes could already be in Belarus. These past statements have also been subject of widespread speculation and misinterpretation in Western press reports, which was perhaps purposeful on the part of Moscow, or part of strategic ambiguity.
But on Friday Putin clarified the timeline, after he first announced all the way back in March that Russian tactical nukes would be stationed in close neighboring ally Belarus. He told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting Sochi that tactical nuclear weapons will be deployed in Belarus after hosting facilities are ready on July 7-8.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s Gasoline Exports Have Surged by 37% This Year
By Charles Kennedy of OIlPrice.com
Despite the Western sanctions, Russian oil companies boosted their gasoline exports by 37% between January and May compared to the same period in 2022, Russian daily Kommersant reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the data.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Zelensky Announces Ukrainian Counteroffensive Has Officially Begun Against the Russians
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that counteroffensive and defensive actions were underway against Russian forces, asserting that his top commanders were in a “positive” mindset as their troops engaged in intense fighting along the front line.
The Ukrainian leader, at a Kyiv news conference alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, responded to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comment a day earlier that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had started — and Ukrainian forces were taking “significant losses.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
India: Baseball Player Sanjana Ends Her Life Under the Threat of Conversion From Her Muslim Friend.
Akash Nishad | HENB | Jabalpur | June 10, 2023:: Baseball national level player Sanjana Barkade was being pressurized by her friend Abdul Mansuri alias Rajan Khan to convert her under heavy pressure. Before Sanjana’s suicide, Rajan threatened her mother by calling her from an unknown number. In a conversation with Dainik Bhaskar, Sanjana’s mother Geetabai Barkade told that 9 days before the daughter’s suicide, the accused called her and said to make the girl understand to be converted to Islam. Abdul Mansuri alias Rajan also threatened to kill her family if she did not accept Islam.
Father Harnam Barkade alleges that Abdul Mansuri had befriended the daughter by hiding his religion taking a Hindu name as Rajan. Three months ago, when the daughter came to know the truth, she broke off the friendship.
On these allegations of the parents, the police say that a relationship and talks were going on between Sanjana and Rajan for a year. The police are trying to divulge all the points connected with the suicide. On the basis of complaints from the deceased’s family and friends, FIR has been registered and the accused has been arrested. Now, the accused is being strictly interrogated.
Sanjana’s body was found on the morning of June 5 on a noose made of a fan in her room. Her parents had gone to Harrai (Seoni) for a wedding ceremony upon invitation. When they returned, their daughter was found hanging. The family is originally from the Seoni district. Lives in a rented house in Jabalpur city. Sanjana was a student of BA second year in Mankunwar Bai College of the city besides persuading her baseball carrier as well…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Neeraj Srivastav a| ABP Live | Kanpur | June 10, 2023:: A unique case of its kind has come to the fore in Kanpur, where a Muslim youth has believed in Hinduism since childhood and does worship according to the Hindu faith. But after marriage, his Muslim wife and in-laws were so upset that the wife got angry and went to her maternal home. Now the Muslim in-laws are threatening him that he should stop practicing Hinduism and worship, otherwise, they will kill him. The victim’s youth has lodged a complaint with the police.
The case pertains to the Char Rath intersection of Babupurwa police station area. According to Junaid, a Muslim youth living here, when he was young, he lost his eyesight in one eye, then his mother had taken him to the Shobhan Sarkar temple in Shivali, Kanpur countryside. There his eyes were cured by worship and offerings. Since then his faith attracted to Hinduism and since then Junaid and his mother started worshiping all the Hindu Gods and Goddesses with full of devotion…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
10,000 People Evacuated in Philippines as Volcano Eruption Alert Raised
On Friday, Philippine state volcanologists raised the alert to “Level 3,” signaling a possible imminent eruption, prompting military forces, law enforcement, and emergency workers to evacuate 10,000 people near Mayon Volcano.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) told authorities it was necessary to evacuate residents within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of Mayon’s crater, according to CNN Philippines. Mayon is one of the most active volcanos in the Southeast Asia island nation and is regularly monitored by Phivolcs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told reports claims she misled parliament on Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation were ‘not true’ on Saturday.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
4 Kids Lost in the Jungle for 40 Days After a Plane Crash Found Alive in Colombia
Four siblings, including an infant, were found alive and well in the Colombian jungle on Friday — a remarkable 40 days after the plane in which they were traveling crashed, killing every adult on board, authorities said.
The miraculous ending to the saga that has captivated the world was shared by President Gustavo Petro, who told reporters Friday that the children’s incredible tale of survival “will remain in history.”
The scrappy youngsters were ultimately located in the Amazon rainforest by one of the rescue dogs handled by soldiers with the Colombian army who joined the search weeks ago.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The communist countries of China and Cuba have reached a secret agreement for China to set up an espionage base on the island nation, according to a bombshell report.
Citing military intelligence officials, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Cuba, located about 100 miles from Florida, will allow Chinese intelligence to easily monitor American ship traffic and collect a wide range of electronic communications throughout the southeastern United States — where many critical military bases are located.
The U.S. Central Command headquarters, which oversees U.S. military activities in the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia, is at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.
Fort Bragg — now called Fort Liberty — the America’s largest military base, is located in North Carolina.
China will reportedly pay Cuba billions of dollars to construct the base, aimed at scooping up U.S. emails, phone calls, and satellite transmissions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Annecy Stabbing Suspect Charged With Attempted Murder
French authorities said the 31-year-old stabbing suspect did not wish to speak during his time in police custody. Meanwhile, the four wounded children are recovering in hospital.
The man accused of injuring four young children and two adults in a stabbing attack in Annecy, France, was handed a preliminary charge of attempted murder on Saturday.
Regional prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said the suspect “did not wish to speak” during his 48 hours in police custody.
However, he was examined by a psychiatrist and other doctors who deemed him fit to face charges. Drug and alcohol tests also returned negative.
The suspect is a 31-year-old man from Syria with permanent residency in Sweden, where he has a 3-year-old daughter.
Witnesses said they heard the attacker mention his daughter, his wife and Jesus Christ, Bonnet-Mathis said. He also wore a cross and carried two Christian images with him at the time of the attack.
“Presently it is premature to assess his motivations,” she added.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
French Stabbing Suspect Faces Charges as Child Victims Remain in Hospital
(AP) — The man suspected of stabbing four young children and two adults in a park in the French Alps is facing potential charges Saturday, after an attack that reverberated across France and beyond.
The children, between 22 months and 3 years old, remain hospitalized, but the French president expressed hope after speaking to their doctors Friday that their conditions would continue to improve.
The six victims came from four different countries: France, Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nathan and Emma Mills have been ‘absolutely devastated’ over their immigration wrangles in the country they have called home for the past 13 years.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
That’s the Point: German Economist ‘Warns’ Rise of Populism Will Hinder Immigration
A senior economist in Germany has warned that an increase in populism will likely slow immigration into the country, a statement that seems unlikely to deter voters.
Marcel Fratzscher, President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), warned that a “strengthening” of the populist right in Germany would hinder the massive waves of immigration into the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Three Turkish Ship Stowaways Face Weapons Charges
(ANSA) — ROME, JUN 10 — Italian police have reported to prosecutors three of the stowaway migrants whose presence on a Turkish cargo ship sparked an alarm over a potential attempted hijacking that led the Italian special forces to intervene on Friday.
They face charges of bearing weapons.
The Italian authorities have seized two knives and a box cutter.
The 13 male migrants have been taken to a reception centre while the two women stowaways, one of whom is pregnant, are having checks in hospital, sources said Prosecutors will decide whether to press charges for alleged attempted hijacking in the coming days, sources said.
The entire 22-man crew of the Turkish ship Galata Seaways are safe after San Marco Brigade special unit intervened off Naples, where the vessel is anchored.
The captain of the ship sounded that alarm after the presence of the stowaways was discovered.
Investigators are looking into whether the crew were threatened by the migrants.
Sources said the stowaways told the authorities were frightened they would be repatriated after being discovered.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Commits Another £150 Million to House Ukrainian Refugees in Britain
The British government has pledged an additional £150 million to help Ukrainian refugees find housing and work in the UK as a part of its ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme.
In an announcement on Saturday, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities announced that it would be committing £150 million ($188 million) more in taxpayer money to assist Ukrainian families rent their own homes and find employment in the United Kingdom.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Japan’s Parliament Erupts in Scuffle Over Immigration Reform
Several scuffles broke out in Japan’s parliament on Friday after a bill to revise the country’s immigration law was passed — enabling authorities to quickly deport foreign nationals seeking refugee status in the country.
Left-wing political leader Taro Yamamoto, a former actor, attempted to block passage of the bill by using physical force — flinging himself toward other lawmakers to try and stop the vote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Academic Journal Editor Faces Cancel Attempt for Allowing Debate on Transgenderism
By William Hurley of The College Fix
Transgender activists come for journal editor because he published research that undermines their arguments
The editor of a journal on sex and gender is facing calls for his removal because he published an article that undermined claims of the transgender movement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An Armenian American was the victim of “hateful vandalism” on Friday in Glendale, California. The man’s car was keyed with pro-LGBTQ sentiments and a derogatory phrase against people of Armenian descent.
According to a news release, The man parked his car at 9:00 pm Wednesday, and when he returned Friday morning the words “IT’S OK TO BE QUEER,” “PRIDE,” STOP HATING,” and “LGBTQ” were carved into the paint of the car.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Friday, hundreds of concerned parents, children, and allies gathered in Ottawa to take part in the Education over Indoctrination protest against LGBTQ content in schools.
During the protest, kids from Muslim families fed up with gender indoctrination in their classrooms stomped on Pride flags, garnering cheers from the crowd.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Moves to Provide Surrogates to Gay Male Couples in the Name of ‘Fertility Equality’
California Bill SB 729 seeks to redefine “infertility” to be a status, as opposed to a medical condition. Changing the definition to “a person’s inability to reproduce either as an individual or with their partner without medical intervention” would classify gay men as infertile.
The bill, which passed the Senate last month, would require insurance companies to cover in-vitro fertilization procedures. With the change in definition, this would also include forcing the firms to cover surrogacy for gay males.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CIA Slammed for ‘Dystopian’ Pride Tweet
The CIA is the latest entity that has nothing to do with LGBTQ+ to demand everyone celebrate ‘Pride Month,’ despite having previously conducted ‘homosexual investigations’ and described gay people as “having mental or emotional problems”.
“Pride Month is an occasion for all of us at the Agency to pay tribute to the rich history, community, and mission contributions of our LGBTQ+ officers,” the CIA tweeted, adding a bunch of phrases to spell out WELCOME and an image of Langley HQ in rainbow colours with ‘PRIDE’ and ‘CIA’ arranged on top of it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GOP “Wrecking Ball” Erodes Support for Woke ESG Shareholder Proposals
Conservatives have been a “wrecking ball” to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing movement, as well as other trends, including DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and CRT (critical race theory). A growing number of Red states have pulled billions of dollars from BlackRock’s management as they disapprove of the world’s top asset manager’s ‘woke’ investing policies. Now investor support for ESG proposals slides to a six-year low, a wake-up call for BlackRock’s Larry Fink.
A recent count of votes compiled by the Sustainable Investments Institute through the end of this week shows the average backing of resolutions centered around ESG, DEI, and CRT has dropped to about 22% at annual shareholder meetings, down from a peak of 33% in 2021, according to Bloomberg. Support for sustainable investing is at the lowest level since 2017.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
How ‘Child-Friendly’ Drag Events Can Expose Children to Sex Offenders
Authored by Jackson Elliott via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
Drag events targeting children can be a hunting ground for sexual predators, according to a therapist with a long career in treating sexual predators.
A relatively recent phenomenon “Drag Queen Story Hour,” which first appeared in San Francisco, now is happening around the nation—at public libraries, in eateries, at performance venues, in parades, and even at schools.
These events often include men in women’s clothing performing erotic dances, wearing skimpy or suggestive costumes, and telling sexually charged jokes.
These shows sometimes mask sexual predators and facilitate the sexual grooming of children, experts told The Epoch Times.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Newly Amended California Bill Could Punish Parents Refusing to ‘Affirm’ Child’s Gender Identity
A California state bill was recently amended so that parents in custody battles may be liable for child abuse if they do not affirm the gender identity of their children.
AB 957, which passed in the State Assembly on May 3, originally proposed that courts deciding custody cases must consider whether each parent were gender-affirming of the child in question.
The amendment has added to the state’s standard of what constitutes parental responsibility for child welfare, requiring that parents must be affirming of a child’s gender identity if they are to be judged fit for providing for “the health, safety, and welfare of the child,” in a court of law.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
North Carolina Republican delegates voted Saturday to censure U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis for allegedly straying from conservative values with his stances on immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.
At the state party’s annual convention in Greensboro, delegates accused the senator of violating key principles of the Republican platform. The censure needed two-thirds majority to pass, and there were 1,801 voting delegates present.
Tillis, who has served in the Senate since 2015, is known for his willingness to compromise with Democrats on issues such as immigration, gun violence and LGBTQ+ rights. He worked on the Respect For Marriage Act last year, which gave federal protections to interracial and same-sex marriages.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Oregon Library Cancels Drag Queen Story Event Following Action Planned by Antifa to Fight Protesters
A public library in the Portland, Oregon suburb of Tigard has cancelled a Drag Queen Story Hour event planned for this upcoming Sunday after it was revealed that Antifa was going to to stage a counter-protest against concerned parents.
Officials even went so far as to announce that the Tigard Public Library would be closed for the day “out of an abundance of caution.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Over a Thousand People Attend ‘Interfaith Coalition’ Against Woke Gender Ideology in Ottawa
On Friday, over one thousand concerned parents, children, and allies gathered in Ottawa to take part in the Education over Indoctrination protest against the promotion of LGBTQ content in schools.
Organizers Josh Alexander and Chris Elston, better known as “Billboard Chris,” managed to draw in a diverse group of supporters, including many Muslims who joined their Christian neighbors.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Jarrett Stepman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
The institutional Left senses that its dominance over our societal mores faces a sudden and unexpected challenge. It is responding with predictable derangement.
The Human Rights Campaign, a powerful and well-funded left-wing advocacy group, declared a “national emergency” for “LGBTQ+” people on Tuesday.
“LGBTQ+ Americans are living in a state of emergency. The multiplying threats facing millions in our community are not just perceived—they are real, tangible, and dangerous,” HRC’s president, Kelley Robinson, said in a press release.
“In many cases, they are resulting in violence against LGBTQ+ people, forcing families to uproot their lives and flee their homes in search of safer states, and triggering a tidal wave of increased homophobia and transphobia that puts the safety of each and every one of us at risk.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rogan: “When I Go to Target I Don’t Want to See F***ing Tuck Pants”
Podcast king Joe Rogan summarised how most Americans feel about having LGBTQ+ stuff shoved in their faces everywhere they look.
Rogan addressed the issue Tuesday, noting “People are going ‘ENOUGH, ENOUGH.’ Stop shoving this down everybody’s throat. When I go to Target I don’t want to see like f***ing tuck pants, like they’re designed to help you tuck your dick… That’s not normal, I don’t want that right in front of everybody. It’s weird.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Target’s market cap continues to plummet losing $15 billion in just over three weeks as backlash continues over ‘tuck-friendly’ transgender swimsuits.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK’s National Health Service to Stop Routinely Prescribing Puberty Blockers to Children
Britain’s National Health Service will no longer routinely prescribe puberty blockers to children amid concerns over a lack of evidence on the impact of the so-called gender-affirming drugs.
In what is being described as a historical moment, the UK’s state healthcare provider will no longer be prescribing children with life-altering puberty blockers except in exceptional cases or in the context of clinical research.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An adjunct professor of sexuality studies, Melanie Rose Nipper, 28, stood by her grading practices Thursday — in what looks to be the latest blowup involving leftist lessons in public schools.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
“California Bill SB 729 seeks to redefine “infertility” to be a status, as opposed to a medical condition.”
Next, the CA Senate will debate whether insanity is a medical condition or a politial party.
“Next, the CA Senate will debate whether insanity is a medical condition or a politial party.”
Where’s the debate?
Yes, somehow these poor refugees have the funds to travel across the breadth of Europe to get to England, where of course everyone speaks Ukrainian.
It begs the question of “why not Paris?” At least in Paris the shopping is better, judging by the actions of the wife of the Rat of Kiev, the food is much better, and the lovers are more talented (allegedly) than those in England.
I would be in favor of importing Ukrainian women, who although legendary for their mercenary predilections, are an esthetic improvement over local talent wherever they happen to find themselves. And with so many Ukrainian males sent to their deaths by the Rat of Kiev, one can expect pretty Ukrainian females to be a primary export from the former Ukraine for many years to come.
I suspect ulterior motives behind the new push against meat eating by German Greens. They are scared to no end of tackling the Muslims’ practice of slaughter without stunning, because they know what the backlash would be like. Animal rights groups have been remarkably silent about this for years already, as if they didn’t care at all. More likely nobody wants to look too closely, because reality is far more ugly than this generation can bear. Exemptions from the law which actually forbids this barbaric practice have been established in various regions on various levels, but the legal situation is untenable. So, are they trying to fix this by a blanket ban? Besides, Jews also do it and those you may not criticize under any circumstance.
That’s a fair point, but I’ve seen footage of animals being cruelly abused in halal slaughterhouses in theUK and (I think) Syria, yet find it difficult to imagine the same happening in kosher ones.
Both faiths’ dietary rules were no doubt intended to reduce the risk of contaminanation in a hot climate with no refrigeration, but logically are redundant now.
Dietary restrictions aren’t the issue, this is everybody’s individual choice. The fact that different laws are applied to different folks under the same juristiction is untenable. It violates the most fundamental principle of a state of law. They know it but dare not even have a public discussion about it, much less correct it by declaring these exemptions as unconstitutional and enforce it.
Will NATO the European EU ,American arms companies, and senile corrupt Biden family with the help of unelected in my opinion real ruling elite leading the world into a third world war? If the Ukraine and Russia were forced to come to the table for peace by a threat of cutting aid to that Mafia midge running the Ukraine ,and a sick dying leader of Russia take his cut of the country those in power would lose alot of taxpayers money on war weapons aid to “refugees” and money rebuilding the Ukraine using American taxpayers money to black rock. We still have North and South Korea for the past 70+ years ,it is far from perfect ,but is better then a third world war .
While it would be good if the regime in the soon-to-be former Ukraine were to sue for peace to stop the pointless slaughter of Ukrainian males, it is the height of wishful thinking to believe that Putin is sick or dying or that his removal would result in a more dovish figure taking charge.
The most likely successors to Putin includes figures like former president Medvedev, Foreign Minister Lavrov, current Chechen president and leader of the Chechen fighters in the SMO Kadyrov, or longshots like Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, who are not exactly known for being pro-western or pro-globalist elite.
The war is not going to end in a stalemate or any kind of frozen conflict simply because the war is existential for Russia, which cannot allow a NATO country with American missiles and nukes only a couple hundred miles from Moscow, or American naval vessels based in Odessa the run of the Black Sea. The best that the West might be able to salvage from this debacle will be the westernmost portions of Ukraine being joined to Poland, Hungary, and Romania, with Russian annexation of the rest of Ukraine to include the entire Black Sea coastline, and the majority of the country including Kiev annexed as well to prevent leaving anything that the West might base missiles and potentially American bases upon.
Take more water with it in future.