Massive wildfires continue to burn in Canada, and smoke from them has descended in a toxic cloud on the Chicago area. Meanwhile, dangerously unhealthy levels of smoke have been recorded in Europe, and New York State is expected to face another round of air quality issues due to the Canadian smoke.
In other news, a private jet has brought Yevgeny Prigozhin to Belarus, where the former Wagner Group leader will begin his exile.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, JW, LP, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Austria’s FPÖ Calls for Three-Year Rent Freeze as Families Struggle With Cost of Living
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has called on the country’s government to introduce a rent freeze until 2026 to provide real relief to those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
At a press conference on Thursday, federal party chairman Herbert Kickl and FPÖ building spokesman Philipp Schrangl called housing a “basic need,” and accused the governing Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) of siding with “real estate magnates” who are hiking prices at a time when ordinary people can least afford it.
The pair lamented that “housing is becoming an unaffordable luxury for ever larger sections of the population,” and insisted those in power are making political decisions “against the interests of the population.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany ‘s GDP fell by 0.3 per cent from January to March, embarrassing the German government which had boldly doubled its growth forecast for this year.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Inflation Caused by Lockdown Money Printing and Govt Handouts, Admits Central Banker
The decisions by governments around the world to engage in massive spending sprees and money printing during the Chinese coronavirus crisis is the central cause for persistent inflation, a leading central banker has admitted.
The head of the Swiss-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Agustin Carstens has acknowledged that governments and central banks throughout the world were to blame for the current economic hardships felt by working and middle-class people through inflationary policies such as governments giving massive handouts to businesses and workers to stay home during the lockdowns and central bankers engaging in quantitative easing schemes to generate more currency.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland’s Policy of Zero VAT on Food Extended Through 2023
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Monday that the zero VAT rate on food will be extended until the end of 2023 in an effort to reduce inflation for Polish citizens. This is one of the measures of the so-called Anti-Inflation Shield. He emphasized the government’s commitment to reducing taxes and supporting Polish families.
As emphasized by the prime minister, “fuels, energy, food, all these key product categories have been covered by our shield, which protects Poles from price increases.”
Government spokesperson Piotr Müller said on Monday that the prime minister’s decision was based on macroeconomic analyses.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
1st Amendment: Supreme Court Raises Bar to Convict for Online Threats
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with a man who made extensive online threats to a singer, ruling 7-2 that prosecutors must prove that a person making said threats is aware of the threatening nature of their communications.
The Court ruled in favor of defendant Billy Raymond Counterman, who was convicted in Colorado of stalking after sending repeated messages to female musician Coles Whalen — including “die” and “ off permanently,” which she says made her fear for her safety. Counterman’s conviction was based on an objective test over whether a reasonable person must believe his comments constituted “true threats,” which aren’t protected by the 1st Amendment. His attorney argued in front of the USSC that the test should instead focus on the speaker’s intent, because Counterman didn’t intend to threaten Whalen.
In the ruling authored by Justice Elena Kagan, the court found that while true threats of violence aren’t protected under the 1st Amendment, states must prove that a criminal defendant has “disregarded a substantial risk that his communications would be viewed as threatening violence.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
2 Arrested After People Seen Stomping, Dancing on Cars for Hours Near Lakeview CTA Station
CHICAGO (WLS) — People were seen stomping and dancing on cars Monday night into Tuesday morning in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.
The scene unfolded near the Belmont Red Line stop. Belmont Avenue was shut down for hours as hundreds blocked the street.
“I came out of my show, and I looked down the street, and there was just a mob,” said Dominic Rescigno, whose car was damaged.
Rescigno was performing improv at a nearby theatre, when he saw the large crowds begin to gather around 9:30 p.m., preventing him from reaching his car.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Air Quality in Chicago Area at Unhealthy Levels Due to Smoke From Canadian Wildfires
CHICAGO (WLS) — Smoke from wildfires burning in Canada are leading to very hazy conditions and plummeting air quality in the Chicago area Tuesday.
The air quality for much of the Chicago area Tuesday is in the unhealthy category for all people, not just those with respiratory ailments.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Approves $500M Ukraine Military Aid Package for Counteroffensive Campaign
WASHINGTON — The US will send another $500 million in military aid to Ukraine as Kyiv works to reclaim Russian-occupied territory in its ongoing counteroffensive, the White House announced Tuesday.
The aid will include the usual artillery, missiles and ammunition — as well as 30 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, 25 Stryker armored personnel carriers, and mine-clearing equipment as Ukrainian forces work to free Moscow-held terrain in the east and southeast of the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Four climate protesters were arrested Tuesday morning after hopping the fence surrounding a controversial East Boston electrical substation construction site and sitting down in a gravel lot for a picnic.
Virginia Fisher, Marie Hansen, Gregory Mangan, and John Walkey, members of the civil disobedience group Extinction Rebellion Boston, were protesting construction of the substation, according to Brian Okum, a spokesperson for the organization. All four have been charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing, Okum said.
The Boston Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for further information about the arrests Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Crews Enter University of Idaho Students’ Home Slated for Demolition After Quadruple Stabbing Murder
Work crews pictured entering and exiting crime scene at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho
MOSCOW, Idaho — EXCLUSIVE: Work crews were photographed entering and exiting the King Road home Tuesday where four University of Idaho students were killed in a 4 a.m. home invasion on Nov. 13, 2022.
The six-bedroom rental home was once a staple in the university’s Greek Life scene, situated near a row of fraternity and sorority houses, which are all on school property.
It was slated for demolition after the victims’ landlord donated the property to the school, which plans to erect a memorial garden somewhere on campus that has not yet been made public.
“We are beginning to prep the house by removing all the personal items for families to claim, if they wish,” the University of Idaho’s senior director of communications, Jodi Walker, told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “This will take a couple weeks.”
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Pedro Gonzalez, a rising conservative influencer and politics editor of Chronicles magazine, regularly in 2019 and 2020 sent racist and antisemitic messages, Breitbart News can reveal after reviewing months’ worth of his private messages.
More recently, Gonzalez has become perhaps most well-known as one of the most active and strident pro-Florida Gov. Ron Desantis influencers on Twitter.
Gonzalez responded to the Breitbart News investigation after this article was published by claiming he is a target of Trump and that is why these messages became public. He did not address any of the content of the messages but did admit that they were “from a different, dumb season of my life.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Harvard University physics professor just concluded a two-week project dredging the depths of the Pacific Ocean in search of the remains of the first confirmed interstellar object to fall to Earth — an object he hypothesized could be a form of extraterrestrial technology.
Professor Avi Loeb — famous for his 2017 stance that the bizarre interstellar object ‘Oumuamua could be an extraterrestrial object passing Earth — announced that his research team wrapped up their $1.5 million expedition.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Committee Passes Rule Banning Pentagon From Funding Pro-Censorship Organizations
In a move to limit the influence of organizations involved in rating or indirectly causing online censorship, the House Armed Services Committee has greenlighted a regulation that forbids the Pentagon from allocating funds to such entities. This development took place during the early hours of Thursday when the committee approved the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Jail Guard Misconduct Led to Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Suicide, Scathing DOJ Report Finds
A series of missteps by the federal Bureau of Prisons — including too many bed linens being left in a jail cell — enabled Jeffrey Epstein to commit suicide nearly four years ago while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, a new probe found.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz said that a “combination of negligence, misconduct and outright job performance failures” allowed the convicted pedophile to take his own life on Aug. 10, 2019 in the Lower Manhattan jail cell at the since-shuttered Metropolitan Correctional Center.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Assigned Hunter Biden Plea Was Nominated by Trump But Also Donated to Hillary, Romney, McCain
The Delaware federal judge likely to sign off on Hunter Biden’s guilty plea next month was nominated to the bench by former President Donald Trump — but was backed by the First State’s two Democratic senators and has donated to both parties.
US District Judge Maryellen Noreika was randomly assigned to preside over a hearing on the first son’s plea deal, which is set for July 26 in Wilmington federal court.
Between 2005 and 2014, Noreika donated $15,500 to candidates across the political spectrum, per Federal Election Commission records.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Machete-Wielding NYC Professor Who Allegedly Threatened NY Post Reporter Gets Court Date
The District Attorney’s Office in the Bronx has set a disposition date for Shellyne Rodriguez, a machete-wielding New York City professor who allegedly threatened to “chop up” a New York Post reporter, Fox News Digital has learned.
A spokeswoman for the DA’s office said a status hearing was held Monday to confirm that the DA’s office was in compliance with all the discoveries and evidence in the case.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Killed in Fatal Shooting Over Seating Dispute at New Mexico Movie Theater
A New Mexico man is facing a murder charge after allegedly fatally shooting another man over a seating dispute at an Albuquerque movie theater, police said.
Enrique Padilla, 19, allegedly shot and killed Michael Tenorio, 52, around 9 p.m. Sunday at the Cinemark Century Rio movie theater in northeast Albuquerque at a showing of the new comedy “No Hard Feelings” after a confrontation broke out over seats, according to a news release from the Albuquerque Police Department. Tenorio was with his wife, and Padilla was with his girlfriend, police said.
Movie theater staff unsuccessfully tried to help resolve the dispute before it escalated, police said. Before the shooting, Padilla allegedly threw a bucket of popcorn at Tenorio and his wife, and Tenorio allegedly pushed Padilla toward a wall, according to police.
At that point, Padilla allegedly fired “several shots” at Tenorio, who collapsed, police said.
Tenorio’s wife told police she saw a green laser beam coming from what she believed was a handgun just before the shooting.
An off-duty police officer who was at the theater tried to perform life-saving measures on Tenorio, but he died at the scene as a result of his wounds, according to police.
About 20 witnesses called police about the shooting, according to the criminal complaint.
Padilla’s girlfriend also allegedly physically fought Tenorio’s wife before both Padilla and his girlfriend fled the scene. It was not immediately clear Tuesday whether Padilla’s girlfriend could also face any charges.
Padilla was later found “hiding behind a bush outside of an emergency exit at the theater,” according to police, who said that he “was wounded and asked a bystander to call 911 because he had been shot.”
It is unknown how Padilla was shot, the criminal complaint says. Tenorio’s wife said he did not have a weapon and no witnesses saw him with one, according to the criminal complaint.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
NEO Asteroid Nearly the Size of the Washington Monument Set to Zip Past Earth
An asteroid estimated to be roughly 525 feet (160 meters) in diameter, or about 30 feet (9 meters) shy of the height of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., will zoom past Earth early Wednesday morning — though it does not appear to pose any threat.
NASA is tracking an asteroid classified as a near-Earth object, or NEO, named 2013 WV44.
According to the space agency’s website, NEOs are “comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York AG’s $250M Fraud Lawsuit Against Ivanka Trump Thrown Out by State Appeals Court
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million lawsuit alleging Ivanka Trump engaged in business fraud while at the Trump Organization has been dismissed by a state appeals court.
The five-judge appellate panelruled Tuesday that James’ claims against the former first daughter fell outside the state’s statute of limitations, while more recent allegations of wrongdoing occurred after Ivanka had stepped back from the family business to work with her father in the White House.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Newsmax Employees Raise Alarm About Being Forced to Hand Over Phone and Cloud Data
The aftershocks of Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against Fox News, which culminated in a colossal settlement, are now reverberating through Newsmax. As part of Smartmatic’s defamation suit against Newsmax, multiple employees of the right-leaning cable network are being subpoenaed for their personal and work-related communications.
Smartmatic, a voting technology company, alleges that Newsmax intentionally circulated erroneous information regarding Smartmatic’s involvement in the 2020 presidential election. The lawsuit posits that Newsmax had falsely conveyed through various platforms that Smartmatic was “part of a nefarious conspiracy to rig the election.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NYT Confirms IRS Whistleblower Claim About Hunter Biden Probe, Buries in 21st Paragraph of Report
The New York Times confirmed one of the bombshell claims made about the Department of Justice’s mishandling of its probe into Hunter Biden but buried it deep in its Tuesday report.
After Biden pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax violations and entered a pretrial diversion agreement regarding the felony gun registration charge, the House Ways and Means Committee released testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who alleged that President Biden’s son received preferential treatment by the Justice Department.
IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley claimed that U.S. Attorney David Weiss alleged to multiple witnesses that he was told by the DOJ that he could not bring charges against Hunter Biden in California and Washington D.C. Attorney General Merrick Garland denied there being any interference in the probe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A professor is suing Pennsylvania State University for race discrimination after he was subjected to instruction that the English language is racist and the embodiment of “White supremacy,” along with additional tirades against White people in professional development trainings, according to a lawsuit.
Professor Zack De Piero “was individually singled out for ridicule and humiliation because of the color of his skin,” the lawsuit, filed by The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pennsylvania Court Rejects Republican Effort to Throw Out Mail-in Voting Law
A Pennsylvania state court on Tuesday rejected the latest Republican effort to throw out the presidential battleground state’s broad mail-in voting law that has become a GOP target following former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud.
It is the latest of several refusals by a state court to invalidate Pennsylvania’s 2019 mail-in voting law, enacted barely months before the COVID-19 pandemic began and Trump began attacking mail-in voting.
In the lawsuit filed last year, 14 current and former Republican state lawmakers contended that the court must invalidate the law because two earlier court decisions triggered a provision written into it that says it is “void” if any of its requirements are struck down in court.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The victims were stabbed and beaten to death, officials said.
It was supposed to be a day of celebration with the renewal of the wedding vows they took 50 years ago, but when Bruno and Gilda “Jill” D’Amore failed to show up for the ceremony at their church on Sunday, a friend went to their Newton, Massachusetts, home and discovered the couple and Jill D’Amore’s 97-year-old mother stabbed and bludgeoned to death, authorities said.
Now, questions are swirling around why a 41-year-old man arrested Monday and charged in the triple homicide allegedly targeted the three elderly victims, described by their parish priest as “salt of the earth people.”
The suspect, Christopher Ferguson, was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Newton District Court on one count of murder and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. Ferguson’s attorney, Dmitry Lev, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
The single murder count is based on an autopsy by the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which ruled 73-year-old Jill D’Amore’s death to be a homicide, Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Nicole Allain said in court. The autopsies for Jill D’Amore’s husband, 74-year-old Bruno D’Amore, and her mother, Lucia Arpino, are scheduled to be completed later Tuesday, and prosecutors said they anticipate filing two more murder counts against Ferguson.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Records: 1,400 Voters Flagged as Foreign Nationals in North Carolina
The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) flagged more than 1,400 registered voters as foreign nationals prior to the 2014 midterm elections, records obtained by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) reveal.
In a detailed report, PILF researchers unveil the extent to which the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993, known as “Motor Voter,” has made it easier for states to wrongfully register foreign nationals to vote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rumble Signs the Quartering, Adds a New Cultural Commentary Live Show
Rumble, the growing video platform, has snagged cultural commentator The Quartering to host a live show. Rumble is making an effort to diversify its content pool of exclusives, pulling in commentary on movies, TV, media, gaming, and other cultural topics.
Jeremy Hambly, the commentator and entrepreneur behind The Quartering, has built a large following on YouTube over the years.
The Quartering boasts a 1.55 million YouTube subscribers, amassing over one billion total views, and has also racked up 124,000 subscribers on Rumble. The Quartering fanbase predominantly enjoys his content that features a gamut of subjects ranging from video games to a no-holds-barred analysis of today’s culture and headline news.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sam Bankman-Fried Loses Bid to Toss Criminal Charges Over FTX’s Collapse
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Sam Bankman-Fried’s bid to throw outmost of the US government’s criminal case accusing the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar fraud.
The decision by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan paves the way for an Oct. 2 trial of Bankman-Fried, a 31-year-old former billionaire.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senate Report Hammers FBI, Homeland Security Over ‘Massive’ Jan 6 Intelligence Failures
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ignored a “massive amount” of intelligence indicating the true scope of protests planned for Jan. 6, 2021, according to a new report.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released a report on the issue Tuesday, finding that both organizations had downplayed or ignored plans by certain right-wing groups prior to the pro-Trump storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Panel Chairman Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said the issue was “largely a failure of imagination to see threats that the Capitol could be breached as credible.” For instance, law enforcement received one tip claiming that the Proud Boys were planning to “literally kill people.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Supreme Court Rules State Lawmakers Don’t Have Final Say on Federal Elections
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state legislatures do not have the ultimate authority to govern federal elections, handing a defeat to North Carolina Republican lawmakers who had tried to check the power of the state’s highest court to throw out congressional maps.
In his majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Elections Clause of the Constitution gives states wide authority to set the “Times, Places and Manner” of votes for congressional office.
However, Roberts added, that clause “does not insulate state legislatures from the ordinary exercise of state judicial review.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Top US Officials Have ‘First-Hand Knowledge’ of UFOs: Sen. Marco Rubio
High-ranking US government officials have “first-hand knowledge” of a secret Pentagon crash retrieval program for UFOs, Sen. Marco Rubio has claimed.
Rubio (R-Fla.), who serves as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told NewsNation Monday that “serious” whistleblowers — who “have held very high clearances and high positions within our government” — have come forward to the panel about several incidents in recent years.
“Some of these people still work in the government,” the 52-year-old Rubio told the outlet. “And frankly, a lot of them are very fearful, fearful of their jobs, fearful [of] their clearances, fearful of their career, and some, frankly, are fearful of harm coming to them.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Toxic Smoke From Canadian Wildfires Heading to NY — Again
Unhealthy air quality is expected to grip New York again this week as winds push in more toxic smoke from the raging Canadian wildfires.
While residents will not see the dramatic, dark yellow haze that suffocated New York City earlier this month, air-quality levels are expected to drop — potentially to “very unhealthy” or “hazardous” levels in some parts of the state — Wednesday into Thursday, officials warned.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tucker Carlson: ‘Wars for Democracy Always Cancel Democracy in the Process’
Tucker Carlson blasted the establishment’s narrative that American support for the Ukraine war effort is about “democracy,” and claimed that “wars for democracy always cancel democracy in the process,” during the latest installment of his Twitter show.
In an episode titled “Irony Alert: the war for democracy enables dictatorship,” Carlson played several clips of politicians like Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), who claimed supporting Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine in the fight against Russia is about upholding “democracy.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
White House Blames Technical Glitch for Removal of Jean-Pierre’s Hostile Exchange With Reporter
A reporter known for his clashes with the Biden White House has accused it of purposefully deleting a heated exchange with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre from Monday’s official live stream.
“I’m Black, I’m an immigrant and I’m the little guy… I’m just trying to do my job,” the White House correspondent for Today News Africa, Simon Ateba, told Fox News Digital.
The missing portion, which was later restored after Fox News reached out for comment, featured Ateba accusing the White House of discriminating against him.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Files Lawsuit After Charges Against Her and Son Dropped in West Pullman Restaurant Shooting
CHICAGO (WLS) — A Chicago woman has filed a lawsuit after charges against her and her son were dropped in a deadly shooting at a South Side restaurant.
Carlishia Hood, 35, was flanked by her attorneys in Bronzeville during a news conference where they announced that they have filed a complaint against the city of Chicago and five police officers.
They claim Hood was falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted and that she has also suffered emotional distress.
“On June 18 of this year, my life changed, my son’s life changed,” Hood said. “Never in a million years would I have imagined being brutally attacked, beaten and then arrested.”
This comes after the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped all criminal charges against her and her 14-year-old son.
The charges stemmed from an incident at a hot dog stand on June 18 in the 11600-block of South Halsted Street.
Police said Hood was arguing with a man in line. That’s when police said her 14-year-old son came in. As he is watching from the doorway, police and witnesses said the man arguing with his mother, who has been identified as 32-year-old Jeremy Brown, repeatedly punches Hood in the head.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
YouTube Escalates Its Attack on Robert F Kennedy Jr., Censors Another Interview
YouTube has taken down another interview featuring Democratic Presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr., raising eyebrows and fueling debate over the role of tech giants in controlling information. The interview, a spirited chat with Al Guart, a former New York Post reporter, was removed for allegedly breaching the platform’s “community standards.”
This has further ignited concerns over censorship and its potential ramifications on democratic dialogue.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Trojan Horse for Patient Data? UK NHS’s New Tech Alliance With Data Company Raises Alarm Bells
Lord Markham, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care in the UK, confirmed during a session at the House of Lords that information from family doctors (GPs) will be integrated into the Federated Data Platform (FDP), an emerging technology platform that is part of a £480 ($610.27) million procurement process. Notably, Palantir, a US company known for its intelligence-based technology, is a frontrunner in the procurement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Green Consensus Cracks? Nature Restoration Law Crippled After EPP Revolt
The wheels came off the European green consensus as a coalition of populists and centre-right EPP MEPs were able to frustrate a proposal that would radically limit where and how European farmers could operate during a heated session of the Parliament’s environment committee in Brussels Tuesday, June 27th.
The Nature Restoration Law (NRL), which is designed to prevent agricultural production on up to a fifth of land in the EU, failed to muster a working majority to pass committee after EPP politicians lent their weight to a campaign to defeat the bill in a heated 44 to 44 vote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Good Samaritan Thrown Onto Train Tracks by Foreign Robbery Suspect
A man who attempted to stop a fleeing thief was shoved onto train tracks and nearly run over by a tram in France last week, according to reports.
The harrowing incident unfolded on June 22 in Nantes, a large city in the department of Loire-Atlantique.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German EPP Leader Weber Sparks Outrage in Poland After Calling for Governing Party to be Replaced
Manfred Weber, the German politician and leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), has angered Polish government officials after declaring that his party is the only power capable of “replacing” Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and leading the country “back to Europe.”
In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Weber added that he would like to build a “firewall against Law and Justice.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Fury as Tourist Carves Graffiti on Walls of Rome’s Colosseum
ROME (AP) — Italy’s culture and tourism ministers have vowed to find and punish the tourist who was filmed carving his name and that of his apparent girlfriend in the wall of the Colosseum in Rome, a crime that in the past has resulted in hefty fines.
Video of the incident went viral on social media, at a time when Romans have already been complaining about hordes of tourists flooding the Eternal City in record numbers this season.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Knife-Wielding Tunisian Migrant Says He Wanted to ‘Kill a Dirty Frenchman’
A Tunisian migrant armed with a knife threatened to kill passers-by in the French city of Toulouse and, according to a witness who understands Arabic, the perpetrator said he wanted to “kill a dirty Frenchman.” The 22-year-old suspect, Daddis B., was quickly arrested by police thanks to surveillance systems in the area.
According to a police source, Daddis B. threatened four people with a knife, including three teenagers close to a local restaurant on the corner of Boulevard de Strasbourg and Rue Bayard where they witnessed a particularly violent scene at around 12:45 p.m. on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: FVD Lawmaker Leads Initiative to Block WHO “Pandemic Treaty”
A lawmaker for the conservative, anti-globalist Forum for Democracy (FvD) party in the Netherlands has spearheaded a parliamentary initiative to block the World Health Organization (WHO) global pandemic treaty, through which lawmakers around the globe will sign over their countries’ national sovereignty to the global health authority.
MP Pepijn van Houwelingen’s parliamentary request, which was backed by thirty lawmakers from a collection of right-wing parties, including his own Forum for Democracy (FvD), Party for Freedom (PVV), Farmer Citizen Movement (BBB), JA21, Reformed Political Party (SGP), and Belang Netherlands (BVNL), has blocked the cabinet from approving the new “pandemic treaty,” the Dutch news outlet NieuwRechts reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch police arrested a father and his daughter on Thursday on suspicion of sending more than €5 million to Hamas, the Palestinian militant movement on the European Union’s list of terror organizations.
The pair, aged 55 and 25, were arrested at a property in the town of Leidschendam, while a search of an affiliated business in Rotterdam resulted in the seizure of a bank account holding around €750,000, the public prosecutor revealed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Smoke From Raging Canadian Wildfires Hits Europe as Record 18.7M Acres Burn
Smoke from the Canadian wildfires has traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and reached Europe as part of the worst fire season in history for the northern forests, officials say.
The smoke that left New York City covered in an orange smog earlier this month was spotted arriving in the United Kingdom on Monday, with pictures from space depicting the arrival of the haze, according to the UK Met Office.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The EU Wants to Make it Legal to Install Spyware on Journalists’ Devices
In a contentious turn, EU leaders have unveiled draft legislation permitting national security agencies to deploy spyware on journalists’ phones in certain circumstances. The move has obviously triggered an outcry from media and civil society organizations, who argue that the draft European Media Freedom Act could be a perilous weapon against the press.
Sophie in’t Veld, a Dutch Member of the European Parliament (MEP) who has been integral in the European Parliament’s inquiry into the use of Pegasus spyware against journalists and prominent figures, termed the reasoning behind the draft as mendacious. “I think what the council is doing is unacceptable. It’s also incomprehensible. Well, it’s incomprehensible if they are serious about democracy,” in’t Veld remarked.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The UK is Slowly Rolling Out a Digital ID System
The UK is heading towards a national digital ID system. After more than two years of relative silence, the Government Digital Service (GDS) is shedding light on the GOV.UK One Login program, an ambitious digital identity service. Tom Read, GDS Chief Executive, and Natalie Jones, Director for Digital Identity, recently articulated the vision and the current state of the program, describing it as a transformative shift aimed at easing the public’s interaction with government services.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Disgraced COVID Tsar Matt Hancock Claims Lockdowns Weren’t Strict Enough
Disgraced former Health Secretary Matt Hancock suggested that “more stringent” lockdown measures should have been imposed during the Chinese coronavirus crisis.
Appearing before a public inquiry into the British government’s handling of the Chinese coronavirus, the head of the response to Covid-19, Matt Hancock, admitted that the government’s strategy was “completely wrong”.
However, rather than admitting the failures of the Communist Chinese-inspired strategy of locking down the country, the ex-health secretary suggested that the government should have imposed more draconian restrictions and instituted them quicker.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: St Paul’s Cathedral Removes Post Branding Sir Winston Churchill a ‘White Supremacist’
Following outrage and accusations of revisionist history, St Paul’s Cathedral has taken down posts that branded — without evidence — British wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill as a “white supremacist” and dubiously claimed that Lord Horatio Nelson had a “personal commitment” to slavery.
In a post on its website detailing three prominent state funerals at the 17th-century London Cathedral, St Paul’s declared that despite fending off the Nazis, Sir Winston Churchill was an “unashamed imperialist and white supremacist”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Erdogan Demands Sweden Stifle Kurdish Protests for NATO Approval
Sweden and Finland both applied for entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) military alliance in 2022 but so far, only Finland has been given approval this year, with Sweden struggling to convince key members to approve the country for membership.
Primary among the countries against Sweden’s prospective NATO bid is Turkey, which initially claimed last year in May that Sweden supported terrorist groups like the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has carried out many terror attacks in Turkey, killing over 2,000 people, including 609 civilians, since July of 2015.
Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has this week added yet another barrier to Sweden’s entry into NATO, telling the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg that Sweden must stop protests by PKK supporters in the country in order to secure approval from Ankara, a report from Reuters notes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spurned by Biden, ‘Pariah’ Saudi Arabia Joins Middle East in Backing Putin Through Wagner Mutiny
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed support to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Tuesday following the bizarre events of this weekend, when the head of the Wagner mercenary group threatened to march into Moscow and take over the Defense Ministry.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Criminal Investigation Against Rebels Dropped as Wagner Hands Over Weapons to Russian Government
Russian prosecutor claims the investigation against mercenary warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin and his allies has been dropped, meanwhile the exact whereabouts of the Wagner boss remains unknown as his troops hand over their heavy military equipment to the Russian government.
Russia appeared to have reneged on its alleged deal with warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin to give him safe passage to Belarus when the state prosecutor said on Monday the investigation was ongoing and he still faces armed rebellion charges. Yet — if the Russian government is to be believed — the bargain may still be observed, with the FSB announcing on Tuesday morning that it had now dropped its investigation, having found no charges to answer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A jet linked to Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin landed in Belarus from Russia on Tuesday, days after he called off his armed rebellion against the Russian military.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed an Embraer Legacy 600 jet, bearing identification codes that match a plane linked to Prigozhin in U.S. sanctions documents, descending to landing altitude near the Belarus capital Minsk, Reuters reported. It first appeared on the tracking site above Rostov, the southern Russian city Prigozhin’s fighters captured on Saturday.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed the jet carried Prigozhin to exile after the Kremlin said it made a deal where Prigozhin would move to Belarus and his fighters would not be prosecuted. Lukashenko said Tuesday that Prigozhin has moved to Belarus and that Wagner Group troops would be welcome to stay in the country “for some time” at their own expense, according to the Associated Press.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lukashenko Warns of Belarusian ‘Combat Readiness’: ‘If Russia Collapses, All of Us Will Die’
The president of Belarus touted his country’s “combat readiness” during the short-lived revolt staged by the Wagner Group.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told state news outlet Belta that the Wagner Group mercenaries’ mutiny attempt last week threatened the national security of the nation and demanded military preparedness.
“I gave all the orders to bring the army to full combat readiness,” Lukashenko told the outlet, according to translations from The Moscow Times.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prigozhin Has Moved to Belarus, and Russia Won’t Press Charges for Mutiny
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to set the stage for financial wrongdoing charges against an affiliated organization Prigozhin owns
Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the private army of prison recruits and other mercenaries who have fought some of the deadliest battles in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, escaped prosecution for his abortive armed rebellion against the Kremlin and arrived Tuesday in Belarus.
The exile of the 62-year-old owner of the Wagner Group was part of a deal that ended the short-lived mutiny in Russia. President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed Prigozhin was in Belarus, and said he and some of his troops were welcome to stay “for some time” at their own expense.
Prigozhin has not been seen since Saturday, when he waved to well-wishers from a vehicle in the southern city of Rostov. He issued a defiant audio statement on Monday. And on Tuesday morning, a private jet believed to belong to him flew from Rostov to an air base southwest of the Belarusian capital of Minsk, according to data from FlightRadar24.
Meanwhile, Moscow said preparations were underway for Wagner’s troops fighting in Ukraine, who numbered 25,000 according to Prigozhin, to hand over their heavy weapons to Russia’s military. Prigozhin had said such moves were being taken ahead of a July 1 deadline for his fighters to sign contracts — which he opposed — with Russia’s military command.
Russian authorities also said Tuesday they have closed a criminal investigation into the uprising and are pressing no armed rebellion charge against Prigozhin or his followers.
Still, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to set the stage for financial wrongdoing charges against an affiliated organization Prigozhin owns. Putin told a military gathering that Prigozhin’s Concord Group earned 80 billion rubles ($941 million) from a contract to provide the military with food, and that Wagner had received over 86 billion rubles (over $1 billion) in the past year for wages and additional items.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Putin Opens Probe Into Rebel Wagner Group Leader Who Got $2b in Government Funds
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said he is opening a money probe into rebellious Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose businesses received $2 billion from the government in the past year.
While the Kremlin said Prigozhin would be pardoned and exiled over his weekend attempted coup, the Russian president said officials will be scrutinizing not only Wagner’s finances but also his Concord catering company, which earned him the nickname “Putin’s chef.”
Speaking to Russian troops who faced off against Wagner over the weekend, Putin said Prigozhin’s mercenaries had been “fully financed” by the state, receiving about $1 billion from the Defense Ministry for their budget from May 2022 to May 2023.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Coup Leader Was Warned He Would be ‘Crushed Like a Bug’ if Troops Reached Moscow
Wagner Group commander Yevgeny Prigozhin was warned his troops would be “crushed like a bug” if they reached Moscow during their coup attempt, it was revealed Tuesday.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he told the mercenary leader that his men would be utterly destroyed, while describing how he negotiated a deal for Wagner to halt the mutinous march in exchange for immunity, CNN reported.
Lukashenko detailed his frenzied back-and-forth phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prigozhin on Saturday to try to halt the coup attempt, during which the Wagner chief mainly swore.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Zelensky regime’s goal in Ukraine appears to be “the extermination of its own population,” according to a Ukrainian soldier who served on the frontlines in Bakhmut.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Has ‘Highly Likely’ Retaken Territory Occupied by Russia Since 2014 for First Time: UK Intel
Ukrainian forces are now pushing over the defacto border established in the 2014 Russian invasion, taking back long-occupied territory in the Donbas region for the first time, the United Kingdom says.
There have been “small advances” — which is on trend for the progress of the counter-offensive so far, per reports — around Krasnohorivka near Donetsk city, an area that has been occupied by Russian and pro-Kremlin forces for nearly a decade.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wagner Chief Says He Had No Plan to Overthrow Putin’s Government
Prigozhin didn’t disclose his whereabouts since announcing late Saturday that he was calling off the assault
Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin broke his silence for the first time since leading an armed rebellion to insist he had no intention of ousting President Vladimir Putin’s government.
“We did not have the goal of overthrowing the existing regime and the legitimately elected government,” Prigozhin said Monday in an 11-minute audio message on his press service’s Telegram channel. “We didn’t want to spill Russian blood.”
The march on Moscow by Wagner troops to within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the capital on Saturday was a protest aimed at bringing to account those responsible for “enormous mistakes” in Russia’s war in Ukraine as well as to prevent the “destruction” of his mercenary group, he said.
Prigozhin spoke out hours after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was shown on state television Monday at what the Defense Ministry said was the forward command post of Russia’s ‘Zapad’ group of forces in the war zone in Ukraine. The Wagner founder has heaped abuse on Shoigu for months, accusing him of bungling the invasion of Ukraine and of attempting to “destroy” Wagner.
Putin hasn’t been seen since early Saturday when he denounced the revolt as “treason” in a TV address to the nation and threatened “harsh” punishment that never transpired. Instead, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal for Prigozhin to end the revolt in return for Putin allowing him to travel to Belarus and dropping criminal mutiny charges against the Wagner leader and his fighters.
Putin spoke by phone with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who expressed support for the Russian leader’s actions, the Kremlin said in a statement Monday.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Spy Balloons Also Spotted Over Japan, Taiwan: Report
Chinese spy balloons have been tracked over Japan and Taiwan after similar aircraft traversed the US earlier this year, according to a new report.
Photos have captured apparent Chinese crafts passing over northern Japan and Taiwan’s capital Taipei in recent years, the BBC’s “Panorama” program reported Monday.
The UK outlet partnered with Wisconsin-based artificial intelligence company Synthetaic to produce new images to document that the China balloons “had been not just a one-off, but a continuing effort dating back at least five years,” according to former CIA East Asia analyst John Culver.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Xi’s Belt and Road Pet Project is a Victim of the War in Ukraine
It is in China’s interests that the war in Ukraine ends as soon as possible. The longer this conflict continues, the more the volume of goods transported through the Belt and Road declines. The rail connection through Russia into the EU was to enable China to expand into Europe’s markets and also boost Poland’s dry port in Malaszewice.
Owners of logistics companies complain that business is down even compared to last year. They have cut the number of vehicles by 30 percent and the number of drivers by a third. According to the Eurasian Rail Alliance, which handles transit traffic on the route between China and Europe, the fall in traffic on the Belt and Road so far in 2023 has amounted to a drop of nearly 45 percent versus last year, which saw a fall of nearly 40 percent from 2021.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Prime Minister remained confident Australians will return a Yes vote in the referendum due to be held in Spring.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Australia Mulls ‘Fake News’ Fines for Big Tech
Social media companies like Twitter and Facebook could be hit with substantial fines under new draft legislation from the Australian government to crack down on the spread of “misinformation” and fake news on their platforms, The Age reported.
Under the proposal put forth by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), social media companies will be required to keep records showing their efforts to curb the spread of such information online. Repeated failures to do so could see them facing fixed fines numbering in the millions of dollars.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An ABC political reporter has claimed on national television that the genocide of Aboriginal people is ‘ongoing’. Indigenous leaders have slammed Dana Morse’s remarks as ‘false’.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Department store Big W has used a very woke response to slap down a customer who gave a one-star review to a $12 book explaining the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Karl Stefanovic Unleashes at Reckless Teens Targeting His Home: ‘I’ve Got Them on Tape’
The Today show has become fired up about Australia’s youth crime crisis as he opened up about his family’s own terrifying experience at their Sydney home.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
High-end suburbs are turning to 24-hour private security patrols in an attempt to deter a spike in youth crimes.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Czechia: The Flood is Upon Us After Voting Through EU Migration Pact
The so-called refugee quotas proposed seven years ago were an attempt by the German government to escape from its own incompetence. Then Chancellor Angela Merkel ultimately refused to close Germany’s borders to the hundreds of thousands of migrants who had flocked to the country via Hungary and Austria.
With the help of opposition from the Visegrad Four, the quotas proposal failed that time, but they are now being implemented without much resistance and without attention. Despite initial protestations from a coalition of nations led by Italy, the opposition collapsed at the last minute and only Hungary and Poland ended up voting against the plans. Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan voted in favor.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czech Police Sting Smuggling Gang Responsible for Bringing at Least 1,000 Migrants to Europe
Czech authorities detained 14 individuals on Tuesday suspected of facilitating large-scale illegal migration from Turkey to Czechia and the rest of the European Union.
The National Central Office against Organized Crime (NCB) in Czechia has been monitoring the group’s activities since 2021 under the code name “HATIN,” as they built up evidence against the men who now face up to 16 years in prison.
It is estimated the group was responsible for orchestrating the illegal immigration into Czechia of hundreds of migrants over the last few years and received more than €1 million in revenue from their smuggling operation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Huge Visa Change Will Let Unemployed Migrants Stay in Australia for Longer
Skilled migrants will be able to stay in Australia for longer if they find themselves out of work under new Visa changes.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
There is a solution to migration, but the EU does not want to implement it, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at a joint press conference in Bratislava on Monday after a meeting of the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four group, which consists of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland.
The Hungarian prime minister said that Hungary’s position on illegal migration remains unchanged. According to him, the solution, which is also laid down in Hungarian law, is that if someone submits an application for entry to the territory of the EU and the application has not been assessed, that person must be physically outside EU borders.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A lot of questions have been asked about the state of the Visegrad Four (V4) alliance, consisting of Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary. The war was a major problem for the V4, as Hungary adopted a very different position from the rest of the group. Czechia and Slovakia have been through a period of political turbulence, with attitudes toward the war becoming an internal political issue.
This is why the V4 summit in Bratislava on June 26 was awaited with some apprehension. What emerged from the summit was a clear signal that despite the shocks of the past year, the V4 group is once again arriving at some common positions.
This was not the case, of course, in terms of the war.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is halting a program that offers taxpayer-subsidized health care benefits to illegal aliens after realizing the tremendous cost to the state’s taxpayers.
The program, which secures taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits for illegal aliens, was launched last year with help from Pritzker. As Breitbart News reported, Republicans across Illinois had warned the program would soon cost taxpayers billions in costs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Policing Migrants: A Fool’s Errand in Padua
Rayen Wasti, a 20-year-old Tunisian man living illegally in northern Italy, has been known by police for some time due to his criminal activity. His reputation earned him an order to avoid accessing the area around the city of Padua’s train station—described by a local paper as “the favourite area for his violence.” But the police order did nothing to stop the man from trespassing. He is now “seriously suspected” of having committed five acts of sexual assault.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sending Illegal Migrants to Rwanda Could Cost UK Over $215,000 Each
The UK’s expulsion of illegal migrants to Rwanda may cost London about £169,000 (about $215,410) per deportee, compared to an estimated saving to the taxpayer of between £106,000 and £165,000, the UK’s Home Office has said in its economic impact assessment report into the Illegal Migration Bill.
The report reckoned that to be cost-effective, the measures would need to have enough of a deterrent effect to cut the numbers trafficked on dangerously-overloaded small boats by 37 percent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lush was today accused of encouraging human traffickers after unveiling an ‘all refugees welcome’ poster featuring a small boat.
The cosmetics chain was criticised over a new campaign featuring an image of a craft similar to the ones used by cross-Channel people smugglers to ferry tens of thousands of migrants across the dangerous route.
The poster, produced in partnership with Refugee Action, says ‘wherever you’re from, however you got here, all refugees are welcome’ — despite ministers making it illegal to come to Britain in a small boat to claim asylum.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London Mayor’s Claim the City Was ‘Built by Migrants’ Revised by Twitter Community Note
London mayor Sadiq Khan suffered the ignominy of having his bold claim that London was “built by migrants” revised by a Twitter Community Note.
In a tweet posted on June 21 to commemorate “Refugee Week,” the Labour politician suggested the U.K. capital was constructed by migrants and refugees, and called on Londoners to stand against the “hostile, draconian and immoral immigration policies” adopted by other European nations.
“We must show more compassion towards those fleeing their country for a safer life,” he added.
The tweet in question has since become subject to a Twitter Community Note, a new system introduced under U.S. billionaire Elon Musk’s ownership of the platform that allows contributors to provide further context to misleading tweets.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Gone, Gone” Girl: Anheuser Busch Fires Pro-Trans Marketing Execs Who Destroyed Brand
Anheuser-Busch has fired two marketing executives who were placed on leave after destroying the Bud Light brand with an advertising campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
According to the Daily Caller, Group VP for Marketing Daniel Blake, and Bud Light Marketing VP Alissa Heinerscheid are “gone, gone” after initially being placed on leave, per an anonymous source.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gay Pride Month Extended to Entire Summer
Transgender ‘Admiral Rachel Levine’ announced that gay pride month is to be extended beyond June to last the entire summer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Google Drops Drag Show Sponsorship in Wake of Christian Employee Petition
Google is distancing itself from a drag show in San Francisco after hundreds of employees signed a petition calling the performance a “direct affront to the religious beliefs and sensitivities of Christians.”
The tech company removed a “Pride and Drag Show” scheduled for Tuesday from its series of LGBTQ Pride events that it sponsored annually after the group of employees took offense with its lead performer, drag artist “Peaches Christ,” according to internal discussions viewed by CNBC.
The petition accused Google of religious discrimination for sponsoring an event and a performer that sexualizes and disrespects the Christian faith.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Grocery Store Chain Prompts Customers to Donate to ‘DEI Awareness’
A Washington state grocery store chain is prompting its customers to donate to raise “awareness” for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Fox News Digital obtained photographs of a self-checkout lane at Haggen, a grocery store chain owned by produce giant Albertson’s, that prompted customers to donate money to raise “DEI awareness.”
“Would you like to donate to help advocate for DEI awareness?” a screen displays, prompting donations of $1, $3, $5, and “other” amounts while also allowing shoppers to opt-out.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police bodycam footage shows a white man crying because he fears being called racist after calling the cops on a black guy who was brandishing a knife and threatening to kill him.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of interfaith parents, including Christians and Muslims, rallied outside the headquarters of the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland Tuesday to demand that their children be given the right to opt out of the district’s controversial LGBTQ curriculum.
MCPS, which is the wealthiest district in Maryland, announced last year efforts to include an LGBTQ-inclusive reading list as part of its English language arts curriculum.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Legal Report Gives Opening to Paedophilia
An international legal association is all but calling for the legalisation of paedophilia.
The Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists recently published the report “Principles for a Human Rights-Based Approach to Criminal Law Proscribing Conduct Associated with Sex, Reproduction, Drug Use, HIV, Homelessness, and Poverty.”
While the progressive organisation has drawn little attention to its report, released in March, conservative legal experts warn that it represents a yet more dangerous push for the sexualization of children and for removing long-standing protections for children in line with the World Health Organisation’s guidelines on sex education.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Seattle Pride Parade Booth Encourages Kids to Throw Toy Bricks at Pictures of Republicans
An organization at the Seattle Pride parade hosted a booth on Sunday encouraging kids to throw toy bricks at pictures of notable Republicans.
In a video captured by Katie Daviscourt of The Post Millennial, a man cheers and converses with a young child who repeatedly attempts to throw a plush toy brick into the middle of a display painted to look like a wall.
The center of the wall has a large hole with a sign that reads “Basket of Deplorables” and features pictures of notable Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. and Rep. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Admiral’ Rachel Levine, The Biden administration’s transgender Assistant Secretary for Health, has declared that “gender-affirming care” (blocking puberty, removing genitals, or adding fake genitals) is necessary to keep people, including children, mentally healthy and to stop them from killing themselves.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: ‘Family Friendly’ Pride Event Features a Bunch of People Simulating Oral Sex
A ‘Pride’ event in Denver this past weekend that was advertised as ‘family friendly’ apparently featured nearly naked people gyrating around on stage and simulating oral sex while a ‘song’ played featuring the lyrics “how do you eat that dick?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Hungary, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia Say They’re United in Opposition to EU Migration Pact, But Hungary and Poland Are Only 2 That Voted Against it”
– that’s because both Czech Republic and Slovakia are under a occupation governments who work day and night against the interests of their own citizens. I can’t speak for Slovaks, but here in the Czech Republic it’s becoming increasingly clear that nothing, and I mean NOTHING the current Ukrainian Government of the Czech Republic does is in the interests of the Czech People.
It was pretty bad under our former Mafia Boss Prime Minister – Andrej Babis, a corrupt bilionaire who made his money on government handouts and subsidies. But the current Prime Minister, the current czech “president”, the interior minister and all – they seem to have been chosen to run the Czech Republic into the ground – and allowing these migrant quotas to pass is “just another stab in the back” of the 90% of Czech population who are against it.
But the Czechs pay attention. Pushing Arab and African refugees into the Czech Republic is something that really heats up the debates among average Czechs – and it is considered as “just another hostile act against the Czechs” by this foreign, Ukrainian goverment of the Czech Republic, so much so even old retired military leaders and old politicians and businessmen are stepping up preaching – “look people, our government is under enemy control!”
I seem to remember some 5 – 6 years ago the EU did send a quota of migrants to the Czech Republic but it was subsequently reported that they had left and moved to Germany. A spokesman for the government said that it would be illegal to ‘detain’ migrants in the country – due to the EU Schengen ‘open borders, free movement of people’ system, they can go anywhere they want.
I remember when that horrible woman Angela Merkel brought Muslim terrorists into Germany to destroy her country and to join the European Union. One of the German citizens handed her a rolled up German flag and she threw it to the ground.
That woman was a terrorist as well. Some said that she was Hitlers daughter.
yea but it was like 1500 “refugees”, and the czech police locked them all up in “refugee camps” without leave, and no money, just food and shelter – and then let them conveniently jump the fence and run for the German Paradise.
This time it’s different. This Ukrainian Government of the Czech Republic seems to finally open the floodgates. There is a word that the EU plans to bring another 50 million refugees – and “we all have to do our part to help them!”
PS: I call our government “Ukrainian”, because that’s what they are. They hang Ukrainian flags on top of Czech Government buildings and National Museums and Theatres – and their only real interest seems to be to make Czechs poor through increased taxes, lowered retirements, LGHDTV+ and support for Ukraine and shaming the Russians as if we, the Czechs, had the upper hand against that nuclear armed state… Challenging Russians to a fight – that’s something so un-Czech like it’s clear they are just NATO lapdogs.
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Democracy must prevail in Ukraine:
Pelosi
https://youtu.be/e353ZOucU4g
This might get interesting…
https://www.friatider.se/koran-ska-brannas-i-stockholm-i-eftermiddag
Translation with deepl.com:
Koran to be burned in Stockholm this afternoon
Published 28 June 2023 at 12.22
The police have granted permission to burn a Koran outside the Stockholm mosque at Medborgarplatsen in Stockholm at 13.30 today.
– We will burn the Koran. We will say: wake up Sweden,” Salwan Momika, who applied for the permit, told TT.
Momika, an immigrant from Iraq, is one of those who have previously been denied permission to burn the Koran in Stockholm.
Earlier this year, Säpo and the police effectively banned Koran burning, citing the threat to Sweden and “Swedish interests”. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that he would not allow Sweden to join NATO as long as Koran burning is allowed.
However, courts later overturned the police’s decision to deny licences for Koran burning.
A large Eid celebration is taking place in the mosque with a large number of visitors. Police have called in reinforcements from all over the country, according to TV4.
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https://swebbtube.se/w/vd16FruRrrR2pTj8xbEnG7
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EXCLUSIVE INSIDE A 15 MINUTE CITY!
Oxfords Orwellian Surveillance Grid
https://swebbtube.se/w/hXr6awwMyCCAEUzeQGTrkb
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NO NATO?
Turkey rages against Koran burning
Published on June 28, 2023 at 18.17 in Fria Tider
Today’s Koran burning in Stockholm is top news in Turkish media, and representatives of the Turkish government now condemn Sweden in strong terms.
The Turkish newspaper Hürriyet leads its website with an article entitled “New scandal in Sweden”.
The background is that an Iraqi critical of Islam, Salwan Momika, was allowed to burn a Koran outside the Stockholm mosque on Wednesday afternoon.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan wrote on Twitter that this was a “heinous act” to which – he suggested – the Swedish government was “complicit”.
“I condemn the heinous act in Sweden against our holy book, the Holy Quran. It is unacceptable to allow these actions and refer to freedom of expression. To tolerate such terrible acts is to be complicit,” Fidan tweeted.
Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunc wrote on the same platform that it is “scandalous” that the police in Sweden allowed the burning of the Koran. He considers it particularly bad that it took place while Muslims were celebrating their Eid holiday.
“To allow such an act, which deserves to be condemned, is an open attack on our faith, especially for us Muslims, when we are in this holy holiday”.